For the first time in his four years on the Plains, Kaleb Kim is Auburn's unquestioned starter at center.
The senior from Buford, Ga., is healthy for the first time in what admittedly feels like forever. And he feels that the coaches will notice a difference when they turn on the tape this week.
"Right now, I'm feeling as good as I've felt in a really long time," Kim told reporters Sunday. "So I felt like first day of pads, it will really show on film, I was really able to get after it. Be on a healthy knee."
On Sunday the Tigers threw on the shells for the first time in camp, and their head coach was thrilled to have his man in the middle of the offensive line feeling good.
"... I don't know how many times he was truly 100 percent healthy last year," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's really stepped up his leadership and taking charge of the offensive line. That's been real encouraging."
Kim, who just graduated with a marketing degree from Auburn on Saturday, began 2018 as the starter at center. The combination of his early struggles and a knee injury sent Kim to the bench in favor of freshman Nick Brahms after Week 3. However, Kim returned for the last five games of the season, in which Auburn's offense saw improvement in both run- and pass-blocking.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Kim then earned the respect of offensive line coach J.B. Grimes in the spring for his leadership and toughness while still recovering. In the following months, he's healed up to full strength.
"Really all summer, I felt pretty good," Kim said. "So I was really able to get after it in the weight room and really strengthen it back up and get a lot of the strength back that I lost just from not being able to use it fully. And it's definitely made a huge difference."
Malzahn has repeatedly called Kim one of the smartest players on the team — a notion that was echoed by Kim's right-hand man Sunday.
"He’s just such a smart guy," right guard Mike Horton said, "so he makes my job a lot easier.
Auburn's starting offensive line is slated to start all seniors, but it's a group that struggled with consistency last season. They did, however, help orchestrate a record-setting, 63-point outing in a Music City Bowl victory over Purdue.
They spent the past few months working out as a unit to ensure that the offense will roll into the 2019 season on that high note.
"I would say just about every day we were working on something," Kim said of the offensive line this summer. "Whether it's installing plays or just basic footwork stuff. And that's definitely helped a lot as far as our unity and how we mesh together.
"... I mean, we just kind of have a feel for each other and our styles of ball. We obviously last year, we were able to come together and mesh and I think we picked up where we left off."
