AUBURN | One of the reasons Roger McCreary returned for his senior season was to up his draft stock.

He’s certainly done that as ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper currently lists the Auburn cornerback No. 19 overall on his Big Board.

What McCreary might not have known is how much of his time on the field this season would be spent learning. New defensive coordinator Derek Mason has added a number of zone coverages to the Tigers’ schemes, which is a big adjustment to a secondary that played man almost exclusively under Kevin Steele the previous five seasons.

“I felt like that was great for Coach Mason to come in and teach us the zone,” said McCreary. “You can tell, like, that was our problem at the beginning of the season playing zone, since we hadn't played that much. That was the problems of our secondary — learning zone, learning where our help's at.

“That's great for more for the next level because teams in the NFL play zone and everything. So I feel like it's great that he came and taught us more.”

That learning process for McCreary is still ongoing and, of course, the skills he learned playing press man are certainly useful in the right situations.

“Well I think Roger’s gotten better since we’ve been here as a staff. And I think that’s Coach (Zac) Etheridge, Coach Mason, I think the things that we’re doing on the defensive side are helping him,” said Auburn coach Bryan Harsin. “I also think that he’s progressing himself as a player. So he’s trying to improve and make strides every week in his game. So, he’s been steadily getting better from that standpoint. And I do think he gives us the ability, when we do have a one-on-one, if there is a man situation, we feel like he can handle whoever it is that he needs to cover. I think we try to mix that up as much as we can as well, but he does a good job that way. He’s been on special teams. He’s helped us in those areas.

“But still, he’s like everybody else. He’s still got, in my opinion, a long way to go in this season to really maximize his ability and also just his understanding of the game.”

McCreary said much of the bye week for the defensive backs was used continuing to learn and execute AU’s zone defenses. One of the keys to improving has been increasing the communication.

The group will face a big test this week with Ole Miss and quarterback Matt Corral, a Heisman Trophy candidate. They’ll need the front seven to slow down the run game and apply pressure to Corral while being multiple on the backend.

“That's Coach Mason's main thing. He always wants to pressure and confuse the quarterback,” McCreary said. “Pressure them when we play man. When we play zone, we're going to confuse them.”

No. 18 Auburn hosts No. 10 Ole Miss Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.