With just a couple weeks of practice left before A-Day, Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze has noticed the quarterbacks starting to make progress.
The theme throughout spring practice so far has consistently been that the quarterbacks were open and willing, but not much progress had been made. In Monday’s press conference, Freeze said he noticed improvement with the quarterbacks.
“I thought the quarterbacks overall last week took a step forward,” he said.
While Freeze saw all three quarterbacks in contention for the starting role take a step forward, he singled out redshirt freshman Holden Geriner as last week’s standout.
“Holden Geriner, I thought he really stood out all week with his improvement and his play,” Freeze said. “I thought his grasp of what we were trying to do; he was impressive last week. But again, it’s still a competition.”
Although he thought Geriner stood out, Freeze anticipates the quarterback battle to continue into fall camp. He said quarterback is the most important position on the team, so he will use the offseason to see who steps up in leadership and how the team responds to each player.
Freeze said Robby Ashford also had his best practice since the coach’s arrival on the Plains, but was held from throwing on Wednesday and was limited last Friday.
Throughout spring practice, Freeze has talked about how much of a difference the newest members of the offensive line have made and how much playing time they might be in line for next season. He continued his praise for the offensive front and how it is coming together.
“That’s a special group,” Freeze said. “I honestly don’t have a lot of worries about the chemistry that will come together in that room. It’s still new to them all, and they’re still learning, but that’s not really something I’m concerned about with those guys.”
On top of the praise for the whole offensive line, Freeze said he has taken note of incoming freshman Connor Lew. Freeze referred to him as a “home run” pickup who will get plenty of playing time in the upcoming season.
“Lew is going to play for us as a freshman, but he needs to gain some weight,” Freeze said. “He’s smart, tough, strong and moves well. Hopefully, he learns the game while we are playing him both at center and guard, and he seems to be grasping it very well.”
The team has started taking more game-like reps without coaches on the field to guide the players through every move. Freeze said the team is still facing small, lingering injuries, which is keeping the coaches from being able to fully evaluate how the players have gotten the details down.
“We still got some improvement to do on alignment and assignment and technique, but we were kind of short-handed there Friday,” Freeze said. “Hopefully, we’ll get those guys back for a Wednesday practice and for the rest of the week.”
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