Auburn opened up practice on Saturday for fans and the media to get a first-hand look at the team.
Saturday's practice marked just the third of spring practice under Bryan Harsin, with Wednesday's practice being canceled due to severe weather.
Saturday's practice was a first look at the new position coaches and how each position group is shaking out so far.
Quarterback
As expected, Bo Nix handled the first-team duties for Auburn. Nix looks to have cleaned up a few areas of his game, but still had some mistakes. He underthrew a wide-open Kobe Hudson on a wheel route and still struggled with throwing off his back foot from time-to-time. During the 7-on-7 drills to end practice, whenever the first team wasn't on the field, Nix was talking to Bryan Harsin and getting some instructions.
Grant Loy was at practice, but was injured and unable to go through any of the main drills.
With Loy out, walk-on Trey Lindsey handled second-team quarterback duties during practice and made some errant throws, but looked comfortable out there.
Dematrius Davis was visibly short out there, and listing him at 5-foot-10 might be an overstatement. His height didn't matter too much, as he handled third-team duties and seemed fine. When flushed out of the pocket, he was able to make some plays and his throws looked crisp.
Chayil Garnett ran the fourth-team and Sawyer Pate received a few snaps.
Running Back
Tank Bigbsy was the clear No. 1 running back and he was basically tied at the hip to Nix during practice. Anytime the offense was out there as a unit, it was Bigbsy and Nix. He looked as good as ever, and looked like the best player on the field.
Shaun Shivers operated as the backup running back and looked explosive during his time on the field. Shivers gained 10 pounds according to the updated spring roster, and looked a little bigger on the field.
Devan Barrett wasn't out there much, but Harsin said afterward that Barrett's been dealing with a knee injury and is still working his way back from it.
Walk-on Jay Sharp got a decent amount of action during practice.
Wide Receiver
With Seth Williams, Eli Stove and Anthony Schwartz all headed to the NFL, it was a different look on Saturday.
During most practice drills, it was Kobe Hudson, Elijah Canion and Malcolm Johnson Jr. getting the first-team reps. Though, Ja'Varrius Johnson got his fair share of reps, too.
Both Shedrick Jackson and Ze'Vian Capers were at practice but did not participate in most of the drills due to injury.
Second-year receiver J.J. Evans suffered an injury during Saturday's practice. He was spotted limping to the sideline, and later seen with ice wrapped around his knee and being checked out by a trainer.
Tight End
John Samuel Shenker was not at practice as he's at Ole Miss for the baseball game.
A fair amount of two tight end sets were used with one being used as a blocker
Surprisingly, Tyler Fromm got a fair amount of reps on the first-team.
J.J. Pegues was used primarily as a blocker and didn't run many routes. Pegues absolutely smacked Zakoby McClain on a block in the later portion of practice, with McClain hitting the ground hard.
Offensive Line
The first-team offensive line was the same as it was for most of 2020. Alec Jackson at left tackle, Tashawn Manning at left guard, Nick Brahms at center, Keiondre Jones at right guard and Brodarious Hamm at right tackle.
Defensive Line
The first-team defensive line was a mixture of Tyrone Trusedell, Colby Wooden, Derick Hall, Jeremiah Wright and T.D. Moultry. Moultry got a lot of work at edge, but did drop back into coverage several times to play linebacker.
Caleb Johnson, Zykeivous Walker, Marquis Burks and Jaren Handy got work as the second-team defensive linemen.
Linebacker
It was the usual suspects with Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain handling starting linebacker duties. Both looked bigger and comfortable running the defense.
Chandler Wooten was back and was the third linebacker for the team.
Defensive Backs
Auburn came into spring practice with a deep, talented group of defensive backs. Saturday showcased what Derek Mason plans to do with all of them.
As Smoke Monday said on Friday, Ladarius Tennison was getting a lot of work at safety.
Mason ran a lot of sets with Roger McCreary, Jaylin Simpson and Nehemiah Pritchett, with Tennison and Monday playing safety.
Marco Domio was limited during practice and didn't participate in most drills.
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