AUBURN | Going into his sixth and final year at Auburn, Jeremiah Wright has a lot of reasons for optimism.

Wright returns as a starter at right guard and the winner of the Ken Rice Award for the team’s best blocking offensive lineman last season.

It was also Wright's first injury-free spring.

“It means a lot, just taking it all in, all my hard work not going unnoticed,” said Wright of the award. “Just a chip on my shoulder to keep working, getting better and to keep my head down and be patient, be humble, trust the process.”

Wright is also excited about the potential of this year’s offensive line, which includes seven players that have combined for 152 career starts. The group includes returning starters from last season in Wright, Dillon Wade, Connor Lew, Izavion Miller and Tyler Johnson, along with Virginia Tech transfer Xavier Chaplin and USC transfer Mason Murphy.

Lew and Chaplin missed spring recovering from injuries, but both are expected back at full speed this summer.

“I'll just say, everybody needs to watch out because whoo,” said Wright. “Gonna be a lot of big bodies back up front, and I'm kind of ready to see how everything's gonna look when finally, everybody's back healthy. A lot of competition and everybody pushing each other to compete and win that starting job. So I'm kind of ready for that.”

It’s taken three years, but offensive line coach Jake Thornton finally has a unit with experience and depth. Chaplin should give the Tigers a true left tackle, which they’ve lacked for at least the last five seasons.

"Just guys that have been in the fire and played against real competition, it just brings stability,” said Thornton. “They know how to go practice, they know the level of intensity they have to practice with because they've done it before in a live setting.

“The more starts that you've got, the more guys that you have that have experience, the better opportunity you've got to go and put the five guys out there that help you win ballgames.”

Auburn opens the season Aug. 29 at Baylor.