Notebook: Auburn football observations from Tigers' final 2025 spring practice

[ASFN Admin]

AUBURN — The final practice before Auburn football's A-Day festivities took place Thursday, and the media had access for nearly two hours.

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Here's a rundown of the day's observations, including the latest injury updates, positional rotation breakdowns, and a look at the players who stood out.

Auburn football: Injury updates​

• CB A'mon Lane-Ganus: Wasn't wearing a yellow non-contact jersey, but had a wrap around his right thumb.
• CB Champ Anthony: Looked incredibly fluid during positional drills, seemingly unencumbered by last year's season-ending leg injury.
• LB Demarcus Riddick: Had a yellow non-contact jersey in his belt loop for most of positional drills. Put it on for live reps, but was still an active participant.
• TE Hollis Davidson: Hugh Freeze said earlier this spring that Davidson was less than 100% health-wise. He appeared to be rehabbing during Auburn's positional drills and didn't participate during live reps.
• QB Jackson Arnold: Went down during live reps after scrambling out of a broken pocket. Looked to have tweaked his right hamstring, but he walked off under his own power. Arnold didn't return for the remainder of practice.
• EDGE Jamonta Waller: While he wasn't wearing a non-contact jersey, Waller was hardly a participant during Thursday's practice. He was sidelined for the remainder of Auburn's 2024 season with a foot injury in October.
• CB JC Hart: Appeared to be a full participant at practice despite having a non-contact jersey hanging from his belt loop.

Auburn football: Positional rotations​

• Quarterback
  • During early positional drills, Jackson Arnold took first reps while Deuce Knight took second. An end-around hand-off drill, Arnold was paired with Eric Singleton and Malcolm Simmons, and Knight with Perry Thompson.
• Cornerback
  • During one-on-one reps, Auburn's order of cornerbacks was as follows: Kayin Lee, Jay Crawford, Blake Woodby and Raion Strader.
• Offensive line
  • During positional blocking drills, Auburn's order of offensive line was as follows:
    • First reps: Izavion Miller (LT); Dillon Wade (LG); Bradyn Joiner (C); Jeremiah Wright (RG); Mason Murphy (RT)
    • Second reps: Favour Edwin (LT); DeAndre Carter (LG); Connor Lew (C); Seth Wilfred (RG); Tyler Johnson (RT)
    • Third reps: Tai Buster (LT); Isaac Boulger (LG); Dylan Senda (C); Harrison Clemmer (RG); John Henry Flatt (RT)
      • Note: Virginia Tech transfer Xavier Chaplin was an active participant in these drills. However, he was off to the side repping and had no indicators (e.g. non-contact jersey) of health-related issues.
• Seven-on-seven
  • First group: Jackson Arnold (QB); Jeremiah Cobb (RB); Cam Coleman (WR); Eric Singleton (Slot); Horatio Fields (WR); Preston Howard/Brandon Fraizer (TE)
  • Second group: Deuce Knight (QB); Damari Alston (RB); Sam Turner (WR); Malcolm Simmons (Slot); Perry Thompson (WR); Ryan Ghea/Tate Johnson (TE)
• Live reps
  • First group (offense)
    • Jackson Arnold (QB); Damari Alston (RB); Preston Howard/Brandon Fraizer (TE); Eric Singleton (Slot); Cam Coleman/Sam Turner (WR); Horatio Fields (WR)
    • Izavion Miller (LT); Dillon Wade (LG); Bradyn Joiner (C); Tyler Johnson (RG); Mason Murphy (RT)
  • First group (defense)
    • Keyron Crawford (EDGE); Malik Blocton (DT); Bobby Jamison-Travis/Malik Autry (DT); Amaris Williams (DE)
    • Robert Woodyard (LB); Xavier Atkins/Elijah Melendez (LB); Sylvester Smith (Nickel)
    • Kayin Lee (CB); Jay Crawford/Raion Strader (CB); Kaleb Harris (S); Kensley Louidor-Faustin/Jahquez Robinson (S)
  • Second group (offense)
    • Deuce Knight (QB); Jeremiah Cobb (RB); Rico Walker (TE); Eric Singleton/Bryce Cain (Slot); Sam Turner/Cam Coleman (WR); Perry Thompson/Horatio Fields (WR)
    • Tai Buster (LT); DeAndre Carter (LG); Dylan Senda (C); Seth Wilfred (RG); Tyler Johnson (RT)
  • Second group (defense)
    • Jared Smith (EDGE); Dallas Walker IV (DT); Zeke Walker (DT); Chris Murray (DE)
    • Bryce Deas (LB); DJ Barber (LB); AnQuon Fegans (Nickel)
    • Donovan Starr (CB); Blake Woodby (CB); Terrance Love (S); Jahquez Robinson (S)

Big plays from Auburn football's final spring practice​

• If there was a player who shined the most Thursday, it was freshman wide receiver Sam Turner. He had a bevy of acrobatic contested catches, including one of Jackson Arnold's four touchdown passes. Arnold did have a point during live reps where he threw three consecutive touchdowns, to Malcolm Simmons, Cam Coleman and Horatio Fields, respectively.
• Deuce Knight hit Eric Singleton early for a 20-yard connection in double coverage. Knight fit it into a tight window over the seam despite the coverage.
• However, Deuce Knight's day was less than stellar. He registered at least three interceptions, two of which were on tipped balls. AnQuon Fegans tipped one of them, which ended up in the hands of Terrance Love, and Fegans caught Knight's second pick. Another freshman, Donovan Starr, recorded a pick.
• Running back Jeremiah Cobb ripped off a long touchdown run early in live reps. Would've counted for about 35 yards.
• Buck linebacker Keyron Crawford was in the backfield for a few different plays. He registered a sack on the play where Arnold went down, and he blew up a veer read a few possessions earlier.

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football practice observations notebook: April 10

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