Everything we saw and heard on Day 6 of Auburn fall camp
How is the defensive front looking? Which players are standing out? Wednesday's practice report has all of that, and more.
RB Jarquez Hunter and EDGE Jalen McLeod (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)
There was a moment during Wednesday morning’s practice where defensive tackles coach Vontrell King-Williams was running a drill with a movable sled.
A newcomer on Auburn’s defensive front made an error early in his rep. A few seconds later, he started slowing down, clearly frustrated by what happened.
That got King-Williams fired up.
“Hey! HEY!” King-Williams yelled at the player. “You’re gonna mess up! You’re gonna make mistakes! But I’m not coaching effort!”
The player went back and did the drill again. This time, he didn’t make the same mistake — and he played all the way through the whistle, to King-Williams’ approval.
“That’s what we want!” King-Williams boomed. “That’s what we want!”
The moment showed exactly what has been said about King-Williams since he took over for Jeremy Garrett, who is now in the NFL. He’s a first-year position coach at a spot with plenty of question marks and plenty of pressure to improve.
But Hugh Freeze promoted King-Williams from Garrett’s analyst to his replacement for a reason: He’s exactly what the Tigers wanted up front.
“I know I advocated for him specifically,” nose tackle Jayson Jones said after practice Wednesday. “I love Vontrell and his energy. Even last year, it was never about him. It was always about somebody else. You really saw that and he really meant that. When you see that as a player, you want that person as your coach.
“That’s the reason why I advocated for him. Everybody loves him in the d-line room. I love him. I wouldn’t want anybody else to coach me this year.”
King-Williams’ interior defensive line was front-and-center for most of Day 6’s practice viewing window, which was around 40 minutes long. They were in constant motion, often mixing it up with Josh Aldridge’s edge rushers, as they work to find who will be the playmakers in a deep position group.
Here’s everything we saw and heard about the defensive tackles — along with the rest of the Tigers — in Wednesday’s practice window and player interview session.
DT Isaiah Raikes (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)
Auburn is legitimately four-deep across its defensive front
When you watch Auburn’s defensive front in practices, you can really get a good look at how much more depth the Tigers have in the trenches compared to recent years.
“This year, we’re three-, four-deep at every position,” Jones said. “So that gives everybody enough chances to breathe, and it gives everybody enough work. … If you go four-deep (at) one spot, somebody’s not getting reps, and, obviously, somebody’s not going to be happy.”
The Tigers have four distinct position groups along its defensive front: Defensive end, nose tackle, defensive tackle and the Buck. And they’re four-deep with scholarship players at all four positions.
Here’s who is lining up at each spot in fall camp: