The idea that a good offensive line is a physical one seems obvious.

However, where that physicality comes from is more than just large human beings throwing their weight at the player across from them.

When asked about what stood out about Auburn’s offensive line in fall camp, physicality came to mind for veteran defensive lineman Jayson Jones.

“I’ll point out Jeremiah [Wright] and Connor Lew specifically, but all of them are being more physical, especially Percy [Lewis],” Jones said.

On the surface, becoming more physical seems like a choice. It sounds like a decision to give more physical effort compared to a previous rep.

While that’s not completely untrue, there’s more to it than that.

“I think that comes with fundamentals,” said offensive line coach Jake Thornton when asked about physicality. “If you’re fundamentally in line, you know what footwork to take, you know what hand placement, you know overall knowledge of what you’re doing, you can go be physical.”

For Auburn’s offensive line, the biggest change came down to experience.

Auburn played a number of inexperienced players on its offensive line last season which resulted in inconsistency.

With much of that unit back in 2024, increased time to work on the fundamentals and more reps to become comfortable implementing them has allowed the offensive line to be more physical.

“I think that’s where you’ve seen growth in guys like [Izavion] TooTall [Miller], Jeremiah [Wright], Connor [Lew] and Dylan [Senda] because they’ve been here,” Thornton said. “Bradyn [Joiner], they’ve been here. Tate Johnson has been here.

“You see those guys, they understand what we’re doing, and they understand the fundamentals. They can play fast, they can play physical, that translates to the guys on the field filling that physicality that we can bring up front.”

Lewis, another player Jones mentioned, is another example of this concept.

He transferred to Auburn during the offseason from Mississippi State during the offseason, already having two seasons of SEC experience.

Listed at, 6-foot-7, 355 pounds, his size can make physicality seems more natural for him, but Thornton put an emphasis on improving his technique.

“He’s got to be more consistent with his technique and stop relying on, ‘I’m 6-8, 350, I can just out be bigger than everybody.’ He’s got to rely more on his technique,” Thornton said. “I think now the biggest jump is he’s trying to find his technique, and me as a coach, trying to figure out what technique works for him, because he’s a different body.”

Bringing more physicality up front is another tool for Auburn’s offense to take a much-needed step after last season.

Auburn had success in the run game last season, but the passing offense was often lifeless, something that isn’t helped by inconsistent offensive line play.

With improvement there, it allows the offense to open things up and utilize the talented skill players.

“If our offensive line can protect, the quarterback makes the right read against the right coverage, you should make the play and it should be an explosive,” offensive coordinator Derrick Nix said Thursday.

A week into fall camp, though, Auburn still has time to improve before taking the field on Aug. 31 against Alabama A&M.

With more reps comes more experience, and as Auburn begins to implement more contact in practice, sticking to the fundamentals is Thornton’s goal.

“Don’t fall out of love with the basics. I believe if we can do that, we can get better fundamentally, it will show on Saturdays more than anything else,” he said. “I’m proud of the progression through Week 1, but I’m really excited to see how much we can grow in the next week and then leading up to game time