Brodarious Hamm making early case to be 6th man of Auburn's OL

Nobody on Auburn’s defense wants to see Brodarious Hamm pulling around at guard.

Hamm is a redshirt sophomore reserve along Auburn’s offensive line. He appeared in just two games last season. Few non-Auburn folk know his name.

But everyone in the Auburn locker room does. Hearing it makes their skin crawl.

“When you go in the locker room and say Brodarious, everybody just starts looking around because he’s instilled time after time, if he catches you pulling, he’s going to make sure that you feel him,” Auburn linebacker K.J. Britt said of Hamm on Friday.

“When he was at guard, me and Brodarious probably had about five licks, and I remember after about two or three of them of those licks, I remember going back to the huddle like, ‘Where am I at?’ He has that effect on everybody.”

The rest of the SEC may soon get to know Hamm quite well. Auburn’s current starting offensive line consists of all seniors. It sets up for a massive overhaul at the position group next year. Gus Malzahn will need guys to step up.

Hamm is getting a jump start on that in Auburn’s 2019 fall camp. The 6-foot-5, 312-pounder worked at right tackle Friday after spending most of his practice reps his true freshman and sophomore seasons at right guard.

“Well, we always like to have our guys be able to play guard and tackle, especially the older guys,” Malzahn said of Hamm’s move to tackle. “It was just one of those deals that we feel like giving him some tackle reps, too. But you see we kept him on the same side. Usually when you keep them on the same side, the transition is not as tough.”

Hamm’s new role at backup right tackle previously belonged to Austin Troxell, a former blue-chip prospect who will miss all the 2019 season with the third knee injury of his career. Prince Michael Sammons, a junior, was slated to rotate at the position, but he’s also expected to miss all of fall camp with an undisclosed injury.

In the past Malzahn had called Troxell his sixth-best offensive linemen. At SEC Media Days, the head coach said finding that No. 1 lineman among the backups will be his second-most prioritized position battle of camp, behind quarterback.

“That’ll be a big factor over the course of the season because the reality of five guys staying healthy every game is not real high,” Malzahn said. “You know, last year we had some injuries and all that. That’ll be a big factor, and that’s something that we’re really looking forward to seeing in fall camp.”

Hamm’s teammates think he could be that sixth man.

“Brodarious is one of those guys who comes in and works a lot,” left guard Marquel Harrell said Friday. “A lot of extra work on the side, I'm excited for Broadrious, just to see his growth,

The Tigers’ new-look second team offensive line Friday set up with Hamm at right tackle, true freshman Keiondre Jones at right guard, sophomore Nick Brahms at center, redshirt sophomore Tashawn Manning at left guard and redshirt sophomore Alec Jackson, a former interior defensive lineman, at left tackle.

That lineup could be, and likely will be, tinkered with by position coach J.B. Grimes. It’s only been a day of camp. But it’s still overwhelmingly clear that next year’s starters will be a completely unproven group.

“It's important just to have quality depth,” Harrell said. “And like with our new guys competing, they're learning, they're getting better every day.”