AUBURN | The tight ends caught four or five passes in Saturday’s scrimmage according to Gus Malzahn. They caught a combined three passes all of last season.

That’s the difference first-year offensive coordinator Chad Morris has already made with Auburn’s offense.

“He likes to throw to the tight end, utilize 11 personnel, utilize 12 personnel, which has two tight ends,” Malzahn said. “He's done that some throughout this first week. He's changing things out. I think it's a good change. We've got some guys that are competing for those positions.”

Junior John Samuel Shenker returns at tight end after catching those three passes for 21 yards and a touchdown last fall. He’ll be joined on the field by Tyler Fromm and Luke Deal, who both redshirted as freshmen last fall, along with two newcomers.

And those two 2020 signees, Brandon Frazier and J.J. Pegues, are already making a positive impression. Frazier, who is 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds, caught at least one pass in the scrimmage. Pegues, who is 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds, could also help the Tigers at H-back or even Wildcat quarterback.

“It's real hard to in just one week to say anybody has stood out, but the two freshmen coming, one thing I can tell you is they're very talented. They've got the talent,” Malzahn said. “Now, experience, getting use to the physicality of the game and everything with it, we'll see how that goes. Getting them enough scrimmage reps these next couple of weeks.”

Auburn will take off Sunday and Monday before practicing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. The Tigers will hold the second of four scheduled scrimmages next Saturday.