Hugh Freeze hasn’t hesitated to earnestly critique his team or point out its deficiencies in his first spring on the Plains. That has been particularly true when it comes to Auburn’s quarterbacks and wide receivers.

There’s one position, however, that has warranted a few more plaudits from the Tigers’ first-year head coach — linebacker.

“That’s actually one group that I think that we’ve improved ourselves from practice one,” Freeze said last week. “…I don’t feel as good about some others as I do that one.”

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That assessment from Freeze came at the start of the third week of Auburn’s spring practices, just before the team took the field for its seventh practice under Freeze and his new staff. It’s a feeling Freeze hopes to still have coming out of the A-Day spring game on April 8.

So far, though, he has been impressed with Auburn’s linebacker corps, even as the team must replace last year’s leading tackler and four-year starting linebacker Owen Pappoe.

What Auburn returns to the group, as well as what it was able to add during the first transfer portal window, has Freeze feeling comfortable this spring. The Tigers welcome back two of their top-their top rotation linebackers from a year ago in upperclassmen Cam Riley and Wesley Steiner, as well as top 2022 signee Robert Woodyard Jr. and former North Carolina transfer Eugene Asante. The team also added a pair of SEC transfers in the offseason, with former Ole Miss linebacker Austin Keys and former LSU linebacker DeMario Tolan entering the fray.

“I feel like, you know, at this point we got a lot of older guys in the room so it kind of helps out,” Riley said. “(There are) about four veterans we have now, so with three or four of us having SEC experience already, it kind of helps out going into the season and the spring as well, just stacking reps on top of reps with everybody.”

Riley stepped into his largest role to date last season, when he finished second on the team with 66 total tackles while making seven starts alongside Pappoe at inside linebacker. Steiner, meanwhile, saw a similar uptick in playing time while making five starts and tallying 46 tackles — though his production and snaps tailed off during the final month of the season.

Keys appeared in 23 games and made five starts across three seasons at Ole Miss, where he totaled 51 tackles and a pair of sacks during that span. Tolan was a four-star prospect in the 2022 class when he signed with LSU and proceeded to play in 12 games as a true freshman last season.

That’s a solid amount of SEC experience in the room, even with Pappoe’s departure, and it has yielded some positive returns on the practice field this spring as defensive coordinator Ron Roberts implements his system. Roberts would like to rotate six linebackers for the two inside positions, and through the first 10 practices of the spring, he already feels comfortable with at least five of the Tigers’ linebackers.

The veteran defensive coordinator is by no means ready to name starters this far in advance of the season, but Keys and Steiner have been receiving much of the first-team work at linebacker this spring. Riley and Woodyard have been the second tandem on the field, while Tolan and Asante have been in the mix rounding out that six-deep group.

“I think we have a talented room of linebackers,” Roberts said. “…We throw a lot at our linebackers on a mental standpoint, and I think they’ve done a great job of doing that. They can all run. They can tackle. Tremendous attitude. That’s a heck of a head start with them.”

As Roberts mentioned, his system asks a lot of the linebackers. They drop back in coverage and play against the run, but he has also been known to blitz with them more often than Auburn did with the prior staff. That’s something that appeals to Riley, who yearns for the opportunity to create some havoc in the opposing backfield after not recording a sack last season. When it comes to coverage responsibilities, a lot of it is based off formation, so Roberts will often provide the linebackers with multiple calls pre-snap and adjusting depending on what the offense shows.

“That’s new for a lot of them to have to do that, but it’s kind of the nature of college football nowadays,” Roberts said. “If you don’t do it, you’re going to be — they (the offense) are getting the pencil last, and they’re going to whip you.”

But Auburn’s new-look group of linebackers have caught on quickly to Roberts’ system this spring while working with position coach Josh Aldridge. It has been a welcome development for the Tigers defensively, as the position group appears to be further along than the others on that side of the ball — at least from an overall comfort of the scheme and sheer game-ready depth — as spring winds down.

“I think Josh has done a nice job with those guys,” Freeze said. “The additions we’ve made there helped. I think we’re a little deeper and better there than I originally felt. I hope I feel that way after 15 practices.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.