Braden Smith may be the most vicious and determined guard Auburn ever has produced.

Not a member? Join AuburnSports.com!

He has remarkable strength and has enough athleticism to maintain that strength while bending his body in various ways. He carries his assignments to almost absurd lengths at times; Smith has been known to cockroach hapless defensive tackles 10 yards behind the play. It's funny to watch when you're not the guy on the bottom. Smith is savage.

So why is Auburn going to play him outside this fall?

There are two reasons. The first involves the Tigers' relative lack of game-tested, tried-and-true tackles, of which Auburn has exactly one right now: Darius James. Auburn needs at least two. Austin Golson has played outside, though position coach Herb Hand really likes him at center. That leaves Smith, who spent the early part of his career shuffling between guard and tackle searching for a perfect fit.

At 6-foot-6, Smith is very tall for a guard. He looks like a tackle and the idea always has been to use long, tall guys outside. Yet he's been better inside — "blocking in a phone booth," coaches would say — because he's better able to get head-up with defenders in close quarters and then he does his thing. He eradicates them.