Auburn Football Fall Camp Standouts | Auburn Tigers Football 2024

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football we have talked extensively about this Auburn program over the last couple of days but a lot of our conversations have gone to what Auburn has done on the recruiting Trail we are kicking off in less than a month we got to dial back in to what this Auburn team is looking like in 2024 loaded them out of Intel in terms of players that are standing out breaking out during fall Camp want to get into some of those players that are starting to create a lot of Buzz I think more importantly talk about what that means for this Auburn program heading into 2024 my initial take on what you're hearing out of fall Camp is that I think Q fre just has a better sense and understanding of what this team is going to be in 2024 and who the difference makers are going to be you go back 12 months ago at this time we were still talking about who is going to be Auburn starting quarterback in 2023 this roster was a complete mystery not only to but I think it was a mystery to Hugh FZ and this coaching staff it just sounds like they have a better sense of who their difference makers are going to be and that matters right it felt like H frees and Auburn were just kind of figuring it out as it went along during the 2023 year lot more confidence in this Auburn roster it is clearly more talented than it was last year but I think more importantly we just have a better sense of what this Auburn team's going to be and who the difference makers are going to be for this Auburn program really excited to get into it before we doing as always to the Auburn fans whether we're talking recruiting talking 2024 the amount of support yall continue to show to the fellas it truly does mean a lot if y'all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel much more importantly would love to hear from you guys in the comments section on what players are standing out for y'all I know every single one of y'all has read the Auburn fall Camp notes as well without further Ado let's get into this one I want to start with you know an obvious conversation but I think a really important conversation that is we have quarterback one I think that going through fall camp with your quarterback figured out and giving pton Thorne the opportunity to really take command of this offense that matters again going back 12 months ago to this day we were still talking about who is going to be the starting quarterback for this Auburn program I think pton Thorne having commanded the offense Hugh freees understanding a little bit more of what Payton Thorne Exel and his capabilities it kind of goes both ways right pton Thorne understanding the offense more but also the offensive coaches and the play callers understanding what pton Thorne does best and being better able to put him in situations to be successful it's a storyline that is kind of obvious but I don't think talked enough about you talk about reasons that we think this Auburn program and specifically the offensive side of the football takes a massive step in the right direction I think it starts with the quarterback just being a little a little bit more confident and the play callers having more confidence in the quarterback number two massive upgrade at wide receiver this is probably the biggest storyline surrounding this Auburn program I was very vocal all off season that last year Auburn they might had the worst pass catching room in the SEC in 2023 it is a strong suit of this Auburn program heading into 2024 we always said if you give Payton Thorne the weapons on the outside we've seen Payton Thorne play really good football going back to that Michigan State season in 2021 Payton Thorne's going to have the weapons in 2024 and it sounds like cam Coleman and Keandre Lambert Smith are just a little bit different and that's not a shot at a guy like Robert Lewis or true freshman Perry Thompson Sam Jackson getting a little bit of Buzz during fall Camp as well but to have true two true wide receiver ones heading into 2024 that's massive CU you go back to last year who was the wide receiver one in this Auburn offense it was the tight end raldo Fairweather who we all think's a really really good tight end in the SEC but when you're offense your passing attack is going through the tight end it's really hard to manufacture explosive plays on a consistent basis kandre Lambert Smith and cam Coleman really balance each other out exceptionally well cam Coleman's just a freak Show for a lack of better terms I mean just the size the athleticism the play strength working down the field he's going to give Auburn a little bit more access to pushing the the ball down the field and then kandre lamber Smith what you hear out of him is Elite route Runner Smooth Operator High football IQ knows how to create separation when to sit his routes down there's a nice balance between these two Elite pass catchers within this Auburn wide receiver and I expect them to both be heavily involved in this offense and then you kind of sprinkle in the other guys like Robert Lewis or Sam Jackson Who again seems to be just a playmaker with the football in his hands those guys be more uh kind of rotational roles guys that are good at specific things but you have your two wide receivers that you can really run this passing attack through number three takeway Percy Lewis slimming down a little bit this was probably the biggest story that we had about Percy Lewis we know he can Rog grade in the Run game this is one of the most big physical imposing offensive tackles we'll see in the SEC he's going to be a massive asset in the Run game think the one question we had about Lewis is all right is he going to be elite in pass protection against some of those Elite pass rushers that we are going to see in the SCC and because of how heavy and big he was we had some of those question marks I like to hear Percy Lewis slimming down a little bit getting a little bit lighter on his feet a little bit more athletic I think that's really good news for Auburn then you look at the center position and you talk about Conor Lou Conor Lou being the guy at Center is almost as big of a storyline as pton Thor being the the guy at quarterback Connor Lou is going to be responsible for a lot of these pass protections and getting the offensive line right Conor Lou as a freshman played really good football we kind of we've banged the table for Conor Lou all offseason physically Conor Lou is ready to rock and roll we don't have any question marks about that but Conor Lou emerging as a quote unquote Veteran Center that understands the game at a higher level going into year two of his college football career I think that's a really big storyline having that Veteran Center I know he's only a sophomore but a more experienced confidence Center not necessarily physically but more importantly between the ears getting this offensive line set in pass protection and making sure we're picking up pass rushes and Blitz packages I think that's a really good storyline to hear out of fall camp now going to the defensive side of the football the thing I want to highlight the most is the emergence of Malik blockton as a true freshman our biggest question mark about Auburn specifically on the defensive line was the depth on the inside now I think Hugh freees did an elite job making sure this team's deep enough right Isaiah Rays coming in the portal Trill Carter Gage Keys you suddenly look at it and say I don't know if we have a legitimate game record a guy that's going to go top 200 in the NFL draft that being said we feel pretty good about our two and three deep on the inside of the defensive line and we feel even better about it hearing that Malik blockton is going to play for this Auburn program as a true freshman he's up to 290 pounds I think he's a phenomen Al athlete for his size to hear that he's holding up physically along the line of scrimmage against what I think is a quality Auburn offensive line that he's going to be seeing in Fall Camp makes you feel pretty good and kind of mitigates some of those question marks about this Auburn program on the inside of the defensive line the other guy he got a shout out as a pass rusher Kieran Crawford coming from Arkansas State feel like this one was a massive transfer portal Edition that nobody really talked about you're talking about one of the better pass rushers at the group of five level last year for Arkansas State he's a little bit bigger than Jaylen McLoud a little bit better in against the run to hear him continue to emerge as a guy that can be rotated in this defense I'm suddenly looking at the Auburn defensive line and saying I feel pretty good about the depth which is a really important conversation it's never flashy to have the conversation about depth we know we have two dudes and jayen McLoud and Krick fol but if you want to win eight plus games the SEC you got to make sure you're deep especially when you're playing some of those better teams along the line of scrimmage guys like Malik blockton kieron Crawford kind of stepping up breaking out I think that's a really big storyline the last thing I want to talk about on this defense we got two other things I want to talk about one you continue to hear what the defensive players say about this new Auburn defensive scheme with DJ Durkin coming in it's aggressive and I think DJ Durkin is walking into an Auburn defense that has the ideal Personnel in terms of how he wants to operate specifically in the front seven where you have two linebackers and Eugene Assante and Austin Keys who are very good pass rushers you go back to the film of DJ Durkin at Texas A&M he wants to use his linebackers as pass rushers consistently and I think he's got two really good linebackers to kind of do that you're hearing some good things about Demarcus Ric too it sounds like physically this kid is ready to play in the SEC as a freshman now I think it continues to be is he understanding the defense is he going to be consistent with his run fits in the checks I am excited to see what this Auburn defense looks like with these linebackers that can really get after the passer because DJ Durkin is gonna ask him to do it and I think they are certainly capable of doing it at a high level going back to the secondary probably the biggest question mark on the defensive side of the football in terms of the rotation this is kind of we feel and this is what you're hearing out of fall Camp is one Auburn's a little young in the secondary but you have a lot of talent there and I think bringing in someone like jiren Thompson who's just played so much football during his career kind of anchors that secondary a lot of the young players are saying hey we're looking to jiren Thompson as kind of the veteran leader within this Auburn secondary couple storylines that I'm following one keante Scott continues to work at the boundary I think he got you know excuse me potentially really really good quarterback combination with Ken Lee and Keon Scott and it sounds like Antonio kite is and JC Hart for that fact are kind of working their way up the depth chart and again what was one of our bigger question marks hey what does the quarterback spot look like after Kay and Lee and Keon Scott to hear good things about Antonio kite and JC Hart JC Hart extremely talented absolute blazing cornerback that can play the football in the air I think that makes you feel pretty good champ Anthony think sounds to be emerging at that star position it it sounds like Auburn's kind of figuring out what this rotation is going to be in that defensive back end which is really important you wanted to figure that out as quickly as possible because you want these guys getting a lot of reps with each other understanding the chemistry and kind of what this defense is going to look like the sooner that this Auburn Team figures out what that secondary rotation is going to be I think the better this secondary is going to be in the 2024 year that's what we got from Auburn coming out of fall Camp again as the pads continue to get put on we'll get a little bit more Intel on the line of scrimmage play so to speak the offense and defensive line there's a lot of positives coming out for this Auburn team during fall Camp again a lot of story lines on the recruiting Trail we still got to go win some football games Saturday in the fall we'll cut it there appreciate you guys rocking with the fellas again if yall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys and we'll talk to y'all later