AUBURN — Seth Williams went to block Owen Pappoe during the spring game last weekend. When he did, that's when he learned for certain, the Auburn linebacker isn't your average freshman.

The 6-foot-3, 224-pound wide receiver doesn't encounter many people able or willing to physically affect him on a football field. But Pappoe? He certainly felt the true freshman during A-Day.

"I came in there to block him one time. He gave me a little hit to the head," Williams said. "He showed he's not going to shy away from contact."

Pappoe came into Auburn as one of the most highly-touted prospect in program history. He has been a household name in the recruiting sphere since his freshman year at Grayson. Still, late in his recruitment, questions started to raise about Pappoe's size and physicality — whether he had the makeup to play linebacker in the SEC.

He has silenced those questions this spring.

For starters, Pappoe has fully embraced Auburn's strength and conditioning program. He came in as an early enrollee in January and has already put on nine pounds to move up to 219. Pappoe said during his recruitment the 230s were his early objective, and he's on the right path to get there.

Pappoe's entire spring approach — the workout routine, the dedication to the playbook, the willingness to learn and be coached — is what has impressed his head coach.

"He’s come on. He doesn’t act like a freshman and the moment is not too big for him," Gus Malzahn said. "I think he had a really good spring, especially for a freshman."

Pappoe may not be listed as a starter this fall, but he won't be shorted opportunities.

It became clear this spring that starting middle linebacker K.J. Brit would be the Deshaun Davis replacement, of sorts. Many believed it would be a starting linebacker rotation — when Auburn has two on the field — of Britt and Chandler Wooten. Instead, Wooten has spent more time as a backup middle linebacker to Britt, which was reflected in the A-Day lineups. It has been Zakoby McClain and Pappoe who have taken on the other linebacker role, which makes sense given the sideline-to-sideline ability of both.

It was McClain who earned the first-team nod to start A-Day. But Pappoe will receive his chances. His fellow linebackers understand why.

“Athleticism. He can run. He’s real smart, even though he can run, like I said, he knows how to think for himself," Britt said. "He’s learning the defense, he’s learning it well, so that’s a good thing that stands out about him, too.”