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Thursday, October 26, 2017

The Auburn Defense Prepares for "Amen Corner"

photo by Julie Bennett of AL.com sports

It is no secret what the next chapter of Auburn's schedule means. Auburn is now 6-2 and is only two TDs from being undefeated this season.  Of course, I consider the game in College Station against Texas A and M a week from Saturday to be the beginning of Auburn's quest to navigate "Amen Corner" successfully. I really believe that the early kickoff will favor the Auburn Football team. 



Video courtesy of Justin Ferguson & SEC Country

Here are some of my views on the Auburn defensive unit going into the game with the Aggies:

Auburn is now 14th in the USA in total team defense. They are allowing 302.8 yards a game and 15.6 points a game which ranks 11th in the USA.

Auburn has 25 sacks for this season and Jeff Holland leads the team with 8 sacks. I expect Jeff Holland and Nick Coe to continue to perform well coming from the edge. Derrick Brown continues to harass opposing QBs and seemed to be in the backfield on every play in the Arkansas game. I would watch for Dontavius Russell at defensive tackle. I have noticed that he is often double teamed which allows an Auburn linebacker to make a play. I counted at least 27 tackles by the defensive line against Arkansas which is much higher than average in the SEC.

The linebacker unit is led by Deshaun Davis who has 19 solo tackles and 21 assists and Darrell Williams who has 17 solo tackles and 21 assists. Tre Williams has been injured, but was able to play a few series in the Arkansas game. This line backing unit is one of the best in the SEC when they are all on the field together. 

In the secondary, Javaris Davis and Tray Matthews were not able to play in the Arkansas game.  I hope that both players are back by the Texas A and M game. Their leadership will be needed in future games. Nick Ruffin, Daniel Thomas, and Jamel Dean have played well in their absence and have made some key tackles and provided good pass protection. 

 I commend Kevin Steele for building and directing this Auburn defensive unit. Here is the current Auburn defensive depth chart.

BUCK 
Jeff Holland , junior 
Paul James III , redshirt-junior 
T.D. Moultry, freshman

NOSE TACKLE 
Dontavius Russell, redshirt-junior 
Byron Cowart, junior 
Tyrone Truesdell, freshman

DEFENSIVE TACKLE 
Derrick Brown , sophomore 
Andrew Williams, redshirt-junior

DEFENSIVE END 
Marlon Davidson , sophomore 
Nick Coe , redshirt-freshman 
Markaviest Bryant, freshman

STRONG-SIDE LINEBACKER 
Darrell Williams, junior 
Richard McBryde, redshirt-sophomore

MIDDLE LINEBACKER 
Deshaun Davis , redshirt-junior 
K.J. Britt, freshman 
Chandler Wooten, freshman

WEAK-SIDE LINEBACKER 
Tre' Williams, senior 
Montavious Atkinson , junior

NICKEL 
Daniel Thomas , sophomore 
Jeremiah Dinson, redshirt-sophomore 
Jordyn Peters, freshman

BOUNDARY CORNERBACK 
Javaris Davis, redshirt-sophomore 
Jamel Dean, redshirt-sophomore 
John Broussard Jr., redshirt-freshman

STRONG SAFETY 
Tray Matthews, redshirt-senior 
Nick Ruffin, senior 
Jeremiah Dinson, redshirt-sophomore

FREE SAFETY 
Stephen Roberts, senior 
Daniel Thomas , sophomore 
Jason Smith, redshirt-senior

FIELD CORNERBACK 
Carlton Davis, junior 
Traivon Leonard, freshman

Keep the faith and War Eagle!

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