AUBURN | Nehemiah Pratchett has been one of Auburn’s best players over the past four seasons.

But he’s aiming to make his fifth year his best. And one of the biggest steps forward is becoming a more vocal leader.

“He's come out of his shell, he's having an elite camp,” said secondary coach Zac Etheridge. “Just seeing his work ethic, making plays on the ball, communication but he's not shy. He's a different player and these guys have stepped up to the challenge.

“Knowing that they can be a good group but nobody knows who they are so they're taking that challenge ahead of themselves and they're showing up every day to compete against these receivers.”

In 42 career games at cornerback, which includes 31 starts, Pritchett has totaled 92 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack, 24 pass breakups and two interceptions.

He returned a blocked field goal 80 yards for a touchdown against Alabama State in 2021.

“Just trying to be consistent each and every day,” said Pritchett. “Don't let a bad day determine how everything goes for the rest of the week. You make mistakes, just shake it and you'll be ready to go.”

Pritchett is part of a very talented and experienced secondary. Pritchett, senior cornerback D.J. James, junior nickel Keionte Scott, senior safety Zion Puckett and senior safety Jaylin Simpson have combined for 83 starts in 168 games.

That experience brings a lot of expectations and when Hugh Freeze didn’t see enough consistency and big plays from the group earlier in camp, he put them on notice.

“I get where he was coming from because at the beginning, we wasn't getting as much production,” said Pritchett. “So towards the end of fall camp we started getting our hands on more balls, creating more turnovers.”

Auburn opens the season Sept. 2 against UMass at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.