Auburn Football: Week 2 Spring Practice Report

AUBURN, Ala. —  Don't look now, but the Auburn Tigers are already one-third of the way through their 2016 spring practices.

Last Thursday night, head coach Gus Malzahn's team wrapped up its second week of camp before pausing for the university's spring break.

When the Tigers return to the field on March 22, they'll have three weeks of practice remaining, including the annual A-Day Game at Jordan-Hare Stadium on April 9.

"I just really challenged our guys over spring break to keep their cardio, to work on their own," Malzahn said. "We’ll come back and have 10 practices. They’ll be very important practices. ... When we come back, our guys should have a foundation offensively and defensively to start scrimmaging and tackling."

With no football on the Plains this week, now's a good time to recap the second week of action and the highlights from Thursday night's post-practice interviews.

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A new attitude

At the end of the second week of spring practice, several Auburn players said they could feel something new in the air—and they weren't talking about the warmer temperatures that have made their way back to the Plains.

"There's just a different feeling out there," H-back Chandler Cox said. "It's a good feeling. ... It's totally different than what it was last year. I don't know what it is. I don't think anyone knows yet. But there's something brewing in the air. Something good."

Starting center Austin Golson felt it, too. He compared the feeling to what he had in the preseason practices before his high school, Alabama powerhouse Prattville, won a state championship.

"I don't think anybody is dreading practice," Golson said. "Last year, I remember that we had some guys [saying], 'Man, I can't wait until spring break.' Nah, today we were like, 'Man, I can't wait to get out there and practice, and then we can worry about spring break.'"

The new buzz around the football complex is a welcome sight to Malzahn, especially after a disappointing 2015 campaign.

Through the sizable coaching staff turnover and a number of notable starter departures, Malzahn likes how his team has come together and worked early in spring ball.

"When I look back on the first five days, I'm really pleased with our energy," Malzahn said. "I'm really pleased with our focus. We've repped everybody on the team, we've repped three groups primarily. The guys want to be coached."

Star defensive end Carl Lawson said that energy began before last season's finale, when the Tigers knocked off a high-powered Memphis team in the Birmingham Bowl. According to Lawson (via Auburn Gold Mine), that momentum carried into winter conditioning and is now evident on the practice field this spring:

The different vibe from some of Auburn's new defensive coaches has been a boost for the program in Lawson's eyes.

"I like Coach [Kevin] Steele's coaching style," Lawson said. "He's making us put in effort without having to do all the screaming and stuff. When we got that, I honestly feel it makes us want to compete."

But does Lawson feel like Auburn needs to keep practicing this week in order to keep that momentum going?

"I won't say that," Lawson said with a big smile. "I like spring break."

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Lawson leading the way

While Lawson was quick to say he would enjoy his time away from the practice field, the Georgia native is just glad he's getting any opportunity to compete again.

After missing all of the 2014 season with a knee injury, Lawson said he felt his hip "crack" on the fifth play of the 2015 season opener against Louisville. But he wasn't going to let that keep him down in the Georgia Dome.

"Adrenaline was going, so I was just gimping around on the field. ... I didn't know what had happened until they told me," Lawson said. "I sat out for a whole year, I wasn’t coming out until I couldn’t play no more. I really wanted to play."

Lawson would miss the next six games with the hip injury, returning in a close loss against Ole Miss. Even though the Tigers went 3-3 with him back on the field, the defense was better in virtually every category after his comeback:

Statistic	With Carl Lawson	Without Carl Lawson
Total YPP	4.85	5.91
Passing YPG	206.57	244.67
Rushing YPG	173.14	232.20
PPG	22.00	27.67
Sacks	12	7
TFL	30	23

But Lawson said he never felt completely healthy last year. That's not the case anymore, and it's drawing the attention of his coaches and teammates.

"He really is looking 100 percent," Malzahn said. "He's a handful, not just in the pass game rushing the passer, but he disrupts stuff in the run game. If the offensive line can get used to blocking him, we feel like we can block anybody in our league."

Once expected to become an early entrant into the 2016 NFL draft, Lawson decided to return to the Plains for the upcoming season alongside defensive tackle and fellow Class of 2013 star Montravius Adams.

The reason for his decision was simple.

"I need to get better as a football player," Lawson said. "That's pretty much it. And I've got a lot to prove, a lot to prove to myself, nobody else. I still have a lot of stuff I want to accomplish."

As Lawson continues to improve on his already game-changing skill set—he rattled off a laundry list of areas he wanted to work on in the spring—he will be looked at as the unquestioned leader of his position group and the defense as a whole.

With Lawson and Adams back, along with a handful of key players from last season and a few instant-impact pickups in this year's recruiting class, Auburn's defensive line is as deep as it's been in a long time.

So for Lawson, the No. 1 attribute he wants to work on over the next few weeks is leadership.

"That's what you need," Lawson said. "It's a main focus for me trying to become a leader, especially in my redshirt junior season. ... The more leaders you have, the more champions you have, the better team you have."

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Rewinding the running back battle

A lot of deserved focus has fallen on the quarterback position so far this spring for Auburn, but there's another battle brewing in the backfield, too.

According to Malzahn, both Jovon Robinson and Roc Thomas are splitting first-team carries at running back as they battle to replace Peyton Barber as the No. 1 rusher.

"Right now, both of those guys we have confidence in," Malzahn said. "They're rotating with the first group. ... We feel good about both those veteran guys."

Robinson, a senior who was the No. 1 player in junior college for the Class of 2015, caught fire late last season for Auburn.

After only playing in two of the first seven games of the season, Robinson rushed for 90 or more yards in five of the last six, including a 159-yard effort against Texas A&M and a 126-yard Birmingham Bowl performance—both wins.

A bigger back (6'0", 230 lbs) with a good amount of shiftiness and burst in the open field, Robinson is the favorite to become Auburn's lead running back in 2016.

"Jovon has been in the offense for one year, and now you can tell he's more confident than he was," Malzahn said. "We can do some more things with him."

But don't count out Thomas, the junior who has created some explosive plays with his speed and agility in his first two seasons with the program.

Consistency has eluded Thomas up to this point in his young career, with injuries and ball security becoming problems several times. He also brings an added receiving threat out of the backfield and has experience in the slot.

"Roc has had a good start so far, too, and he has a really good understanding of the offense after being in the system for so long," Malzahn said.

Outside of the race for the No. 1 job at running back, Auburn has cross-trained H-backs Cox and Kamryn Pettway at the position during the first two weeks of camp.

With sophomore Kerryon Johnson out for the entire spring following shoulder surgery, the Tigers could use some added depth at the position.

Pettway, who said earlier in camp that he wants to be a short-yardage replacement for Barber, was a traditional power running back in high school, while Cox was more of a fullback.

"It's definitely a good time, running the ball," Cox said. "I'll do whatever I have to do to help this team. I'll contribute either way, whatever I have to do."

Even if Pettway and Cox don't log significant playing time in any rushing role this fall, they are expected to play bigger roles in the Auburn offense after impressing in their freshman seasons. 

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Quick hits

• Malzahn expects the injured trio of safety Rudy Ford, defensive end Paul James III and versatile defensive back Josh Holsey to return to practice after spring break.
• Auburn's quarterbacks could go live in practices next week. Malzahn said those practices will start to feature full tackling instead of just "thudding."
• Cox's first impression of new quarterback John Franklin III was short and sweet: "Wow, he's quick." Malzahn also described the JUCO transfer signal-caller as someone with the "wow factor" when he takes off running.
• Malzahn on new wide receivers coach Kodi Burns: "He's all over those young receivers. He's running as much as they are out there."
• Both Malzahn and Golson mentioned the impressive work so far this spring of Kaleb Kim, a redshirt freshman offensive guard who is getting work at center.
• As Kerryon Johnson sits out the spring with his injury, Malzahn said the sophomore has done his part helping coach up his teammates, specifically early enrollee Malik Miller, who played with Johnson in high school at Madison (Alabama) Academy.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.