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What's 'different' about Auburn's Byron Cowart this spring? 'He's got that swag about him now'

Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

A new spring has brought a new position for former five-star prospect Byron Cowart. That change has also brought on a new and, apparently, improved Byron Cowart.

Let's call him Byron Cowart 2.0.

"A different Byron; that's all I can say," defensive end Marlon Davidson said. "He's a different Byron. Byron has come a long way, and every day, he's taken a step forward.... He's got that swag about him now. He's looking great."

Cowart made the move to defensive tackle this spring following two seasons of playing mostly defensive end for Auburn. While Auburn's official roster still lists him at 6-foot-3, 280 pounds, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said the former blue chip recruit is looking "a little bit thicker" this spring as he acclimates himself to the interior of the defensive line.

Auburn's hope is that adding some weight to Cowart and moving him inside will give the Tigers more depth at the position behind Dontavius Russell and Derrick Brown, and result in more production from Cowart, who at times disappointed during his first two seasons on the Plains.

 

Byron Cowart changing positions on Auburn's defensive line

Byron Cowart changing positions on Auburn's defensive line

"He's got a little different mindset than he's had before," Malzahn said.

 

"He can do it," linebacker Darrell Williams said. "He just got bigger. About 280, if not more. So, he's getting a lot bigger and a lot stronger and I feel like he can do it, definitely." 

In each of his first two seasons, Cowart recorded six total tackles, giving him 12 for his career -- with just one behind the line of scrimmage -- in 22 games as a reserve. He added six quarterback hurries and a forced fumble, but has not panned out as many expected after signing with Auburn as the No. 1 defensive end in the nation and No. 3 overall prospect in 2015, according to 247Sports composite rankings.

Cowart at times got down on himself, despite his best efforts not to. He looked to cautionary tales of players who failed to live up to expectations, like former NFL No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell, hoping to learn from those stories and avoid the same fate.

"There's a point where every player has got down on themselves," Davidson said. "I even got down on myself. But it's just about how you respond the play, the next day, the next practice and just taking advantage of it."

Then came last year's blowout win against Arkansas, when Cowart recorded his first career tackle for a loss in what he said was the best performance of his career, and one he was waiting on for "a long time."

Cowart hoped to turn that confidence-boosting performance into more consistent production on the field. However, he failed to record a tackle in his next three games before missing the final three games of the year following an emergency appendectomy.

After recovering from the surgery, Cowart began the transition to tackle, where he has spent most of his time this spring. While the move isn't a drastic one, there are still subtleties that Cowart has had to pick up on.

"It's a transition, you know?" Davidson said. "How to take on blocks, how to do this, learning plays. Just different things, man. It's nothing that no player just can't achieve."

It's a move that Cowart has embraced so far. Davidson, for one, has noticed that new "swag" the defensive lineman carries himself with, noting that he's more vocal in pushing his teammates this spring.

Once Cowart fully settles into his new role, the Tigers hope he can not only provide depth at the position but also mismatches on the inside -- and, perhaps, finally achieve the breakout season many have expected from him since his arrival at Auburn. 

"I feel like the move he made is a good move for his career, you know?" Williams said. "Moving from end to tackle, that's going to cause a lot of mismatches in the inside. So, I feel like a lot of that playing with more swag and stuff has come from him feeling a little better, you know what I'm saying? As far as like playing on the field and action, I feel like that's where he's coming from. He feels good while he's playing."

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I hope this means success for him.  I genuinely want to see him overcome his adversity and succeed.  It just worries me because they said this exact same thing last year.

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  • WarTiger changed the title to Byron Cowart

I think we are going to see the 5 star wrecking crew that we all thought we would see last year and the one before. Moving inside will bring out his strengths that are every bit as good as his 5 star billing when he came about in 2015.

I understand issues of the appendix and know that they can start out very subtle weeks before they actually developing into a full blown often sometimes fatal condition. I had the misfortune of having by appendix to burst when I was 17 during a karate tournament after haven studied the martial arts for 4 years, I hit the mat after about 4 minutes of sparing and did not come to until I cam out of surgery. Prior  to my appendix rupturing, I was not performing at a level that was expected of me in order to move on to the next belt level that was a black belt. At first my sensei thought that I was not giving my best and was slacking off in my studies. I was having to do all kinds of extra physical exercises prescribed me to get my mind and body back to working on my quest of earning my black belt in a Japanese style Karate.

This went on for a little over a month. I noticed that I was having periodic spells of throwing up everything I ate and would wind up taking a couple of Phenergan to ease this somewhat. This kept getting worse with what seemed no end in sight with overcoming this serious dilemma. I know I have gone on a bit further than intended, but wanted to bring this each of your attention.

It could have been very likely that Byron was having the early stages of appendicitis that was effecting his play significantly after the Arkansas game. After reading about his very solid performance against the hogs, and watching him go down thereafter leading up to his appendix rupture, this makes a lot of valid sense.

I know I covered a lot of information about this, but I feel it is important for folks to understand this illness and how it can really do a number of someone. I lost a friend in college who had his appendix to rupture and could not get the antibiotics to work to save his life. I am 110% more than willing to give BC the benefit of doubt and just have that feeling that he is about to blossom into a super tough defensive tackle with a chip on his shoulder just waiting for some OL to plow over and have a lot of fun spending time in the opponents backfields!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Regardless the defensive line has some big shoes to fill.  That being said Gus has recruited extremely well every year so I do not think the drop off should be that steep.

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Maybe you're right. It would explain why a player who was so good in high school is suddenly not a year good. I hope he has recovered and is ready up his play a notch or two.

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21 hours ago, doc4aday said:

I think we are going to see the 5 star wrecking crew that we all thought we would see last year and the one before. Moving inside will bring out his strengths that are every bit as good as his 5 star billing when he came about in 2015.

I understand issues of the appendix and know that they can start out very subtle weeks before they actually developing into a full blown often sometimes fatal condition. I had the misfortune of having by appendix to burst when I was 17 during a karate tournament after haven studied the martial arts for 4 years, I hit the mat after about 4 minutes of sparing and did not come to until I cam out of surgery. Prior  to my appendix rupturing, I was not performing at a level that was expected of me in order to move on to the next belt level that was a black belt. At first my sensei thought that I was not giving my best and was slacking off in my studies. I was having to do all kinds of extra physical exercises prescribed me to get my mind and body back to working on my quest of earning my black belt in a Japanese style Karate.

This went on for a little over a month. I noticed that I was having periodic spells of throwing up everything I ate and would wind up taking a couple of Phenergan to ease this somewhat. This kept getting worse with what seemed no end in sight with overcoming this serious dilemma. I know I have gone on a bit further than intended, but wanted to bring this each of your attention.

It could have been very likely that Byron was having the early stages of appendicitis that was effecting his play significantly after the Arkansas game. After reading about his very solid performance against the hogs, and watching him go down thereafter leading up to his appendix rupture, this makes a lot of valid sense.

I know I covered a lot of information about this, but I feel it is important for folks to understand this illness and how it can really do a number of someone. I lost a friend in college who had his appendix to rupture and could not get the antibiotics to work to save his life. I am 110% more than willing to give BC the benefit of doubt and just have that feeling that he is about to blossom into a super tough defensive tackle with a chip on his shoulder just waiting for some OL to plow over and have a lot of fun spending time in the opponents backfields!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Not in any way "liked," but

Much Appreciated

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I have beat on Cowart since he got here. This year the light has to come on .. I hope garner wears him out and makes him as mean as Fairley

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