As fall camp approaches for Auburn football and Bryan Harsin, a look at the depth chart and some under the radar players who could make an impact this season or rise up the depth chart.
Auburn’s starting linebackers are set. Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe make up one of the stronger linebacker duos in the country. Behind them, Chandler Wooten is returning as a veteran backup of the group.
Cam Riley earned some praise in the spring for his performance, but he’s still the pick for Auburn’s under the radar linebacker this season.
Riley, who’s listed at 6-foot-5, 219 pounds, is a slightly undersized outside linebacker for Auburn. During his 2020 freshman season Riley got pushed around a little bit, but also showed flashes of his potential. Riley appeared in 11 games and totaled nine tackles.
Auburn’s new coaches and player praised Riley during spring practice, but he went down with an injury and was unable to play in Auburn’s A-Day game.
“Cam can be as good as Cam wants to be,” Wooten said. “He has a lot of potential. Of course, he's very lengthy. He's got long arms, lots of range, lots of speed. So, you know, as long as he continues to keep his head down and work, Cam can be as good as Cam wants to be. The sky is the limit for him, for sure.”
If Auburn needs to bring in an extra coverage linebacker, Riley could be the guy off the bench.
While his impact might not end up being huge in 2021, Riley and Wesley Steiner have the makeup for a potential starting linebacker duo once Pappoe and McClain are gone. Getting Riley and Steiner as many snaps as possible this year will be huge for Auburn to see what it truly has in its future linebackers.
As for Steiner, he appeared in nine games for Auburn last year and had three tackles. On A-Day he had four tackles and looked strong.
The two young linebackers are both players to look out for in 2021.
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