On Saturday, Auburn will hold its second preseason scrimmage inside Jordan-Hare Stadium — exactly two weeks before the regular season kick-off against UMass on Sept. 1.

But just 48 hours before that crucial evaluation point, Auburn still faces a number of question marks for how its eventual depth chart will shake out. After the scrimmage, Auburn does not currently have any more scheduled practices open to the media. There is just one week between Saturday’s scrimmage and the beginning of game-week practices.

Head coach Hugh Freeze has a lot of decisions to make. He doesn’t have much time to make them. Here are three things we’re watching for as the season draws near.

When will Auburn pick the final two QBs? Has Hugh Freeze done it already?

There are probably two ways to look at this. On one hand, Auburn could have a good problem having potentially three quarterbacks still in the mix for the starting job. On the other, Auburn may have an actual problem where none of its three quite different quarterbacks stylistically have separated themselves as a reliable option.

From portions of practice available to media, it seems like Auburn may be dealing with the latter.

Neither Freeze nor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery have delivered especially glowing reviews of any one quarterback, as all three of Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner have shown inconsistency throughout Auburn’s first 10 practices.

After Auburn’s first scrimmage, Freeze said he thought he’d narrowed down to a final two quarterbacks but whatever he saw in the scrimmage caused him to rethink things.

Each of the three come from very different backgrounds. Thorne transferred to Auburn with multiple years of starting experience at Michigan State. Ashford may be the best athlete of the three, but during his time starting for Auburn last season showed unreliable accuracy. Geriner may have the most talented arm, but he has never started a college game.

All three of them flashed their potential during fall camp, and all three have struggled too. Ashford has appeared to improve his throwing and Geriner may have impressed coaches enough to keep himself in the fight against the more experienced options. Thorne has seemed fairly steady, though without a ceiling like Ashford and Geriner could have.

In Auburn’s 10th practice, the team ran a drill to practice picking up blitzes that may have provided the first look to media members are a quarterback cut down. After reporters saw drills during Auburn’s first set of practices where each of the quarterbacks rotated in with different offensive line groupings, both Thorne and Ashford rotated with Auburn’s projected offensive line starters on one half of the field, while Geriner spent the entire drill with the expected backups on the other half.

Auburn hasn’t had any press conferences since Tuesday’s practice, so there is no confirmation on whether that drill showed Auburn’s top two quarterbacks, even if those are the expected final two.

Freeze will speak to reporters Thursday afternoon and there will be a practice viewing period afterward. The day may provide some clarity on if Tuesday’s practice was a sign of a coming decision, or if it doesn’t mean anything at all.

The other key position battle on offense? Look at the left guard.

It doesn’t take looking far from the quarterbacks to see the other back-and-forth position battle on Auburn’s offense. Literally, look just in front of the QBs at the left guard spot.

This job is between junior Tate Johnson and junior Jeremiah Wright.

Johnson was slated to be Auburn’s center last season but his season ended after injuring his elbow against Missouri — the fourth game of the season. Wright would become a starter at left guard later in the season.

Now healthy, Johnson has been shifted over to compete for the job with Wright after Auburn brought in East Carolina transfer Avery Jones to take over as the center.

Wright and Johnson have both had turns playing left guard during drills on the expected top offensive line with Avery, left tackle Dillon Wade, right guard Kam Stutts and right tackle Gunner Britton.

Most recently on Tuesday, it was Wright working with the top group and Johnson on the presumed grouping of backups.

Media members have not seen the offensive line have to truly block anyone during open practice periods, so it is hard to visually judge the leader in that battle. If either can assume any sort of routine with the top offensive line group, it may provide a realistic look at the group that will take the field against UMass.

Auburn has had constant rotation in its defensive front and wide receiver groups. Will that continue?

Speaking of rotations, if you’re trying to get a good sense of who Auburn likes at receiver and on its defense front positions, well being a starter in those groups may not mean much.

Wide receivers Omari Kelly, Jay Fair and Nick Mardner have seen a lot of time lined up with the top offensive line, top running back Jarquez Hunter, top tight end Rivaldo Fairweather and whichever quarterback is lined up in that group.

In other words, the presumed starters.

But they certainly haven’t been taking any lion’s share of the work for a wide receiver room Auburn seems more confident in than many seasons prior. Wide receiver is historically a position where Auburn hasn’t had many true stars or gaudy stats, and while Auburn is happy with the talent in that room, 2023 isn’t likely to be the year Auburn finally has a 1,000-yard receiver again because there are too many options.

Ja’Varrius Johnson, Auburn’s leading receiver from a year ago, has had a great fall camp, Freeze said. But he’s dealt with injuries — specifically getting stitches in his mouth from an incident in practice — and been limited as a result. He’ll see a lot of targets when he’s healthy.

Transfers Shane Hooks, Jyaire Shorter and Caleb Burton have all seen a lot of time with the top group too. That’s going to continue into the season. Koy Moore has hardly practiced at all due to an ankle injury. Camden Brown has been in the mix when healthy, too.

At least a trio of wide receivers have to take the field first as the starters. But far more than just those starters are going to see the field. That rotation isn’t stopping soon. At least that doesn’t seem likely.

This rotation doesn’t seem to be an unwillingness to uncertainty in picking a top option, but instead a potentially realistic look at all of Auburn’s options.

The same is probably true for Auburn’s defense front, where defensive coordinator Rob Roberts has a lot of options.

Returning interior defensive linemen Jayson Jones and Marcus Harris have a lot of experience together. But Kentucky transfer Justin Rogers and Purdue transfer Lawrence Johnson have worked together frequently during practices and especially Rogers has drawn strong reviews. Those four have rotated during drills open to the media, and no clear answer at the starting two has risen to the surface in that time.

The same can be said for Auburn’s edge rushers. All three of Auburn’s top jack linebackers — Elijah McAllister, Jalen McLeod and Stephen Sings V — have been trendy talking points during press conferences. McLeod and Freeze have both hinted at a package with two jack linebackers on the field at the same time.

All three of them have rotated in with various other combinations up front without much consistency.

Freshman Keldric Faulk has been one of the biggest headlines of fall camp for his move to defensive end. He very well could win the starting job there. He has been rotating with Maryland transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite.

Like the wide receivers, somebody has to start. But like the wide receivers, all these defensive line options are likely to see the field. The rotation in practice with different groupings may be a realistic thing come the regular season when different players are subbed off at different times for breaks for certain packages.

Like the wide receivers, the constant defensive front rotation is a good thing.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]