Auburn Football 2012: 5 Players Under the Spotlight in Spring Practice

Auburn kicks off their spring practice on March 21 in preparation for the spring game that take place on April 14. Every time these practices are set to take place, we should always be looking for certain things: players who need to step up or things for the team to do better with which they struggled last season.

The Tigers are coming off a decent 8-5 season and are returning majority of their team, with a 18 combined starters coming back. But like every college season, there are players that end up leaving and there are players that will have to step up and replace them.

Spring practice provides players the opportunity to earn their spot on the depth chart, and these players really need to step it up in the next month.

Here are five players we should keep an eye on during spring practice.

WR Trovon Reed

The Tigers' passing game last season was ranked 105th in the country, which is completely unacceptable if they expect to compete in the SEC. Regardless of who is the starting quarterback this year, the Tigers need to find weapons at the receiver position. Emory Blake returns, but somebody else needs to step up as well.

Enter sophomore Trovon Reed, who was a 5-star prospect in 2010. He is still raw at the receiver position, as he played quarterback in high school, but his big-play ability makes him so dangerous. Put the ball in his hands and there's a good chance something great will end up happening. With his speed, he'll be able to stretch the field and make this offense a lot more productive than it was last season.

Look for him to improve on the 21 catches he had last year.

CB Jermaine Whitehead

Auburn had the worst secondary in the SEC last season, allowing 218 yards in the air a game. One of the bright spots in the secondary was Jermaine Whitehead, who is a 4-star recruit out of Greenwood, Mississippi.

As a true freshman last season, he finished with 31 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception. He has good size for a coverage corner at 6'0", 183 pounds, and he has great speed to keep up with even the fastest receivers in the conference. He also has fantastic ball skills and will make a quarterback pay for any mistake he makes.

Auburn's secondary is filled with upperclassmen, but watch Whitehead compete for a lot more playing time this season. He will likely develop into a difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball. 

QB Kiehl Frazier

Remember Cam Newton and what he did for the Tigers in 2010? Well, Frazier has the ability to become a quarterback similar to Newton.

He's a 5-star quarterback from the 2011 class, has great size at 6'3" and 215 pounds and has terrific arm strength. He also has the ability to absolutely kill you with his legs, as he runs the 40 in the 4.5 range. Does any of this sound familiar?

The problem is that he's only a sophomore and hasn't seen much playing time. He'll be competing with Clint Moseley this spring, but I think it's safe to say that most Tiger fans would prefer Frazier.

After all, he is the more exciting player, and he can kill you in more than one way.

C Reese Dismukes

You can answer the quarterback position and have all of the weapons in the world on the offensive side of the ball, but if you don't have a solid offensive line, it all means nothing. Auburn allowed 32 sacks last year, which was tied for 95th in the country.

That's why we must keep an eye on sophomore center Reese Dismukes. He played in every game last season, but will really have to step up his game this year if this line is going to get better. He will be looked upon as one of the leaders of a unit that's already losing two starters as it is.

In the SEC, you have to be strong up front to slow down these relentless pass-rushers, and it all starts with Dismukes at the center position.

RB Mike Blakely

Blakely had to sit out last season due to transferring from Florida, but he's ready to go this season. He's a former 4-star recruit, who has fantastic speed and is excellent at catching the ball out of the backfield. He'd be another playmaker on an offense that struggled to score points last season.

With Michael Dyer transferring to Arkansas State, the running back position lost a lot of depth. Look for Blakely to step up and help contribute right away to the ground game for the Tigers.