The Auburn depth chart was released Tuesday in front of the season opener Saturday against No. 6 Washington.
While most of what was revealed was expected, there were some tweaks and surprises that Gus Malzahn addressed with the media.
Among those things:
- Malzahn said that Jamel Dean’s finger issue last week won’t be an issue and he’ll start. “We expect him to be fine.”
- It appears we’ll have an ongoing battle at punter. Aidan Marshall is listed as the starter and Malzahn said Tuesday that he’ll be the first punter on the field, but don’t count out an appearance from Australian punter Arryn Siposs.
- Linebacker Richard McBryde will miss the season with a neck injury. McBryde had 13 tackles last season and freshman Zakoby McClain replaces him as Montravious Atkinson’s backup.
- Also, Joey Gatewood has a thumb injury and won’t be available against Washington. No one expected him to play anyway, but it does move Cord Sandberg up a spot to the No. 3 quarterback just in case things go terribly bad.
Malzahn and several players discussed a variety of topics Tuesday.
“When you look at our depth chart that we released you’ll see a lot of freshmen, a lot of young guys who will get a chance — the majority of those guys, if not all of them, will be on the field on Saturday in some capacity,” Malzahn told reporters.
Here are some of the biggest revelations from the Auburn depth chart reveal Tuesday: