Film Room: Breaking down Auburn's new-look defense in the A-Day Game

Two- and three-man fronts. LBs and DBs moving everywhere. AN EDGE RUSHER COVERING A RECEIVER. It's a new era on defense, too.

(Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

Let’s get the obvious question out of the way.

How much could you really learn about Auburn’s defense in the A-Day Game?

It’s a fair question. Due to the first-team vs. second-team nature of the spring game, Auburn’s starters on defense weren’t put to any extreme test.

The quarterbacks were a former Bowling Green transfer who missed some time earlier this spring with injury and a brand-new early enrollee who couldn’t showcase his full range of talents as a dual-threat. The running backs were walk-ons and a former cornerback who didn’t play last season. The wide receivers and tight ends were reserves who didn’t see much action in 2020 and, again, walk-ons. No one on the offensive line had considerable in-game college experience.

So there might be a tendency to gloss over Auburn’s defensive performance from last Saturday. The starters only faced 24 snaps in three quarters before rotating out of action. The bigger and more intriguing storylines were on the of…