Despite two Power 5 conferences cancelling their 2020 fall seasons altogether, Auburn will still open fall camp Monday.

The SEC is trudging forward with its previous preseason camp plan, not allowing cancellation announcements from the Big Ten and Pac-12 on Tuesday to affect its trajectory toward playing football in just over a month.

And if the SEC says there will be football played, until told otherwise, Gus Malzahn and his staff will continue to prepare the Tigers for their 2020 campaign.

Per conference regulations, SEC teams can begin preseason camp Monday, with a 40-day window to complete 25 practices before each team's respective seasons begin Sept. 26. The stretched-out practice period aims to allow programs to have fall-back days in case of COVID-19 issues within their ranks.

Each week of camp must include at least two off days. The first five days will be an acclimatization period, with the first two days in helmets, shells added for the next two days, and full pads donned on the fifth day.

And when the Tigers finally put those pads back on, a handful of players will bring just as many questions to the table as answers.

Auburn's star players can easily be identified, but who are the Tigers whose 2020 seasons could go in a variety of ways? Here are five defensive wild-card candidates for fall camp whose 2020 impacts on the team can be best defined as unpredictable.

Is this the role former 4-star athlete Matthew Hill sticks at?

A record-breaking wideout from Georgia, Hill was obviously slotted into the Tigers' receiving corps upon his arrival. The 6-foot-1 Hill hasn't been a bust by any means — he appeared it just two games his true freshman season, won offensive MVP at the following Auburn spring game, then recorded eight catches last year while contributing efficiently as one of the Tigers' better special-teams players.

Yes, Hill is only a redshirt sophomore, so Auburn has plenty of time to figure out how to use him properly. But Malzahn wants to make use of his high-end athleticism sooner rather than later, hence Hill's move to defensive back this offseason.

Hill was offered to play safety and nickelback at Clemson, among other programs, before ultimately sticking with his Auburn commitment to contribute on offense. Both Auburn's receivers room and its secondary are equal parts loaded, but Malzahn hopes a change of scenery will positively affect Hill and the Tigers in the long run.

Auburn fans have seen over the past two seasons how much usage a reserve player can receive on the back end of the defense, seeing as Jamien Sherwood and Smoke Monday appeared in and positively contributed in enough games to make them well-known players by the time they're set to take over starting jobs this fall. Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be looking to cycle in the next wave of backups now that Sherwoood and Monday are set to be promoted, and Hill could fit the mold of a good backup safety with his size and speed.

Hill could immediately slide into a valuable reserve slot in 2020, or he could need more time to grow within the defensive system and with his new position mates. Regardless, the potential is there, and Malzahn is willing to be patient.

Devan Barrett finds himself in a similar position as Hill — formerly one of the best offensive prospects in the nation hoping to find a home on defense.

Barrett was a prized signing for Malzahn in 2017 as the No. 8 running back in the nation. He began his AU career in the backfield in 2017 with a respectable true freshman season, tallying 21 touches, 112 yards and a touchdown from scrimmage.

Since, Barrett has bounced around the roster, seeing time split out as a receiver in 2018 in addition to his tailback duties before making the full-time move to cornerback last fall, when he appeared in seven games but did not record a tackle.

Heading into 2020 fall camp, Barrett hopes to compete for one of the two starting cornerback slots left vacant by Noah Igbinoghene and Javaris Davis. He'll be met there by highly ranked JUCO transfer Marco Domio, along with a host of youngsters hungry for increased playing time, such as Nehemiah Pritchett, Jaylin Simpson and Zion Puckett.

Like Hill, Barrett has been solid on special teams for the past two seasons. But Barrett, a true senior, doesn't have the luxury of time on his side. The 2020 season is, quite literally, now or never for the former blue-chip recruit.

Again, Steele loves to utilize depth in his secondary. It's likely Barrett will move up a few rungs on the depth chart at corner and make some meaningful game appearances. The ultimate goal will be a starting spot, however, making the cornerback competition in fall camp between the veteran and the handful of freshmen and sophomores one to watch.

We weren't treated to any spring practices this year, and therefore we didn't hear the annual T.D. Moultry hype train leave the station.

Like Barrett, Moultry's 2020 season at Auburn will be his last. The former 4-star pass rusher notched five tackles for loss and three sacks through his first two seasons before falling off last year with just one sack, as then-true freshman Derick Hall began to receive the majority of first-team looks at the Buck edge rusher spot.

And the competition won't be thinning out much into 2020 fall camp. Hall looks to be the man to beat, and even with Nick Coe gone to the NFL, Auburn added outside linebacker Romello Height in its 2020 class, while former 4-star pass rusher Colby Wooden will be looking to contribute after an illness hindered his first season.

Moultry will have his chances. He's the most veteran member in new outside linebackers coach Al Pogue's room. And given the inexperience of players like Height and Wooden, Moultry should begin camp at No. 2 on the depth chart.

Hall came in and saved the day at Buck last season as it became apparent Moultry and Coe weren't producing as expected. If Moultry can be a strong 1-2 punch with Hall, maybe tallying a handful of TFLs and some sacks his senior season, he would aid Auburn's defensive front in a big way, allowing its younger players to develop as planned.

It's tough to call Jordyn Peters a wild card, since he's been such a steady veteran for the Tigers in recent years — especially on special teams. But when it comes to the 2020 season, the unknown for Peters lies in how much he'll see the field.

Peters joins the host of other Tigers looking for their big breaks in a secondary that is replacing four starters. The senior from Muscle Shoals, Ala., has seen time at both safety and nickelback in previous seasons, and is easily the most veteran member of the secondary in terms of years in Steele's system.

So why isn't he receiving more preseason buzz to possibly take over one of the vacant slots? Remember that last year, a foot injury held Peters out of, in his words, "99 percent" of spring ball and summer workouts, and he still wasn't a full go by the time fall camp rolled around. Auburn had envisioned a larger role for Peters in 2019 before those ailments held him back.

Now fully healthy, there's no reason to believe Peters can't make a serious push his senior year for a spot in Auburn's secondary rotation, even amongst the flashy newcomers.

Wooden was expected to lend a hand in Auburn's pass-rushing equation last season before a bout of mononucleosis put a damper on his true freshman campaign.

As Wooden began to recover, however, Auburn's coaches and players raved about his skill set and focus, with Marlon Davidson saying that, after Wooden beat the sickness, he improved quickly on his previous physique, becoming bigger and stronger than he was before.

As with the secondary, the edge rusher and defensive end positions have received an influx of new contenders. But even with the addition of Height, freshmen Daniel Foster-Allen, Zykeivous Walker and No. 1 JUCO prospect Dre Butler to the mix, Wooden should still be a factor.

At 6-foot-4 and 268 pounds, Wooden is athletic enough to come blazing off the edge, and stocky enough to put his hand down and kick over to the strong side.

"He’s leaner and he’s more powerful and explosive, and you can see it when you come to practice,” Davidson said last year. “You be like, ‘Yeah, Colby, you got your juice back now.’"

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