Observations from Auburn football’s final practice before A-Day

Auburn football had its final practice before A-Day Thursday morning, finishing up this year’s spring practice period.

Media was able to watch close to two hours of Thursday’s practice, a period that included some drills, but featured a lot of scrimmaging between seven-on-seven and live 11-on-11 periods.

A handful of players stood out on what was a lively and competitive morning at the Woltosz Football Performance Center.

Here’s what we saw:

  • A number of players remain either limited or out altogether, including key contributors such as Keldric Faulk, Champ Anthony, Demarcus Riddick, Durell Robinson, Connor Lew, Xavier Chaplin, JC Hart, Hollis Davidson and others.
  • Jackson Arnold had a solid day, but seemed to come up with a little bit of discomfort in his leg after a play during a live period. It didn’t seem to be a serious injury by any means, but Deuce Knight took all of the remaining reps in the final stretch of practice.
  • The first team offensive line continues to be Izavion Miller (left tackle), Dillon Wade (left guard), Bradyn Joiner (center), Jeremiah Wright (right guard) and Mason Murphy (right tackle)
  • The first team defensive line mainly consisted of Amaris Williams at defensive end and Keyron Crawford at buck, with Malik Blocton, Quientrail Jamison-Travis, Zykeivous Walker and Dallas Walker being the main ones to rotate on the interior.
  • Jourdin Crawford and Malik Autry also rotated in for a few reps on the first team defensive line.
  • Robert Woodyard Jr. continues to be a mainstay at middle linebacker on the first team, with Xavier Atkins and Elijah Melendez rotating next to him.
  • Jay Crawford and Kayin Lee still seem to be the first team corners at the moment, but Raion Strader took some first team reps in Crawford’s place toward the end of practice.
  • Kaleb Harris unsurprisingly seems to have a spot locked up on the first team at safety, with Jahquez Robinson and Terrance Love rotating next to him. Sylvester Smith has played mainly at nickel this spring, but he could play more safety once Anthony is back practicing full strength.
  • Among the young players in the secondary, Anquon Fegans stood out the most Thursday morning. He had an interception during a redzone period shortly after having a deflection that set up another interception.
  • Horatio Fields had a good day at wide receiver, highlighted by an impressive one-handed catch down the sideline during a team period that caused the sideline to erupt.
  • Speaking of receivers, Sam Turner continues to impress. He made a number of impressive plays on Thursday, also highlighted by a circus catch along the sideline in one-on-one coverage.
  • On the play that caused Arnold to come up a little gingerly, Crawford had a great rep coming off the edge to get in the backfield for what would have been a sack.
  • Jared Smith made a few nice plays in the backfield, including blowing up a screen pass intended for Will Upton.
  • Strader had a few nice reps in one-on-one coverage. The two the stood out were a redzone pass breakup on Fields and a play in which he forced Turner out of bounds in the endzone.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m