iIgbinoghene will split time at cornerback, receiver

[aubiefifty 16,761]

Auburn Football

Noah Igbinoghene will split time at cornerback, receiver this spring

Updated Mar 1, 5:05 PM; Posted Mar 1, 3:52 PM

 

By Tom Green

tgreen@al.com

Auburn sophomore Noah Igbinoghene will split time at two positions this spring.

Igbinoghene, who played receiver as a freshman, will also see time at cornerback during spring practices, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn announced Thursday before the start of practices.

"It's just kind of one of those things, we feel like he's got a special talent," Malzahn said. "We were very impressed with him last year on special teams and just want to make sure he has the best chance to be on the field."

Igbinoghene had six receptions for 24 yards and had one 11-yard carry as a freshman while appearing in all 14 teams. The speedy two-sport star, who just competed in the SEC indoor track and field championships, also served as Auburn's primary kick returner, fielding 24 kicks for an average of 23.79 yards last season.

Igbinoghene will spend the first four practices before spring break focusing on the "foundation and fundamentals" of playing cornerback. He will meet with Malzahn when the team returns from break on March 20 to determine how much time he will spend at each position.

"The good thing is, he has a full year under his belt at wide receiver," Malzahn said. "We were very deep at wide receiver. We got everybody coming back and recruited some guys. Just feel like, from a coach's standpoint, he's a very good football player, and his upside is very high. So we got to find a way to get him on the field. He's very open to it, but if he does stick with the corner position, you'll see him play two ways, because he's got the ability to put the ball in his hands with some things, too."

Igbinoghene opened practice Thursday afternoon working with the second-team defense at cornerback opposite true freshman Christian Tutt. Javaris Davis and Jamel Dean were lined up with the first-team defense at corner.

Malzahn did not rule out Igbinoghene playing both ways come fall.

"Definitely. No doubt," Malzahn said. "We'll see where that goes, but that is a possibility."

[Mikey 16,577]

I believe the coaching staff has had this in the plan for a while now. Unless he's a total flop there, I'd expect Iggy to remain at DB and also still have a role in returning kicks.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

18 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I believe the coaching staff has had this in the plan for a while now. Unless he's a total flop there, I'd expect Iggy to remain at DB and also still have a role in returning kicks.

Agree. And it's a great move for Iggy. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

1 minute ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Agree. And it's a great move for Iggy. 

Does this allow Hill or Schwartz to be groomed for the R. Davis or Stove roles?  I thought Iggy would be next in line for the WR screens and hand-offs.  Maybe the freshman are more talented?

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

Just now, AUDevil said:

Does this allow Hill or Schwartz to be groomed for the R. Davis or Stove roles?  I thought Iggy would be next in line for the WR screens and hand-offs.  Maybe the freshman are more talented?

I would think so. Iggy just wasn't "electric" with the ball in his hands. No knock on the kid. We just have a lot more WR's who are better. Good move by all on this one. 

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

39 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Does this allow Hill or Schwartz to be groomed for the R. Davis or Stove roles?  I thought Iggy would be next in line for the WR screens and hand-offs.  Maybe the freshman are more talented?

Schwartz is an absolute burner. He will likely get the Stove role I would assume.

[McLoofus 35,182]

40 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Does this allow Hill or Schwartz to be groomed for the R. Davis or Stove roles?  I thought Iggy would be next in line for the WR screens and hand-offs.  Maybe the freshman are more talented?

It would be my guess that there's a pool of RBs and WRs being tried out for a jet sweep role. 

I'm not sure that the "R. Davis" role will be filled. We might have another guy who can approximate his skill set, but he's a special dude. Even in 2016 you could see that he can do things in space that mere mortals cannot. We've tried to get that screen game going since 2009 and Davis is the first guy to be successful with it. Hopefully that's the CCL difference and not just the Davis difference, but we can't know that yet. Schwartz is fast, but who knows if he has Davis's lateral mobility and vision. And there's a chance that Hill plays DB. 

This past season gave me a little more hope in getting back to a multi-tool offense than the previous seasons had. Could be fun discovering what those tools are.

[AUatHeart 624]

Having a CB that knows how to actually catch the ball will make me smile!

[thaitopher 807]

Not sure Auburn has ever had a truly successful change over from an offensive position to defensive position before. I can't think of any. I am not sure Trovon Reed counts. Can anyone think of a situation like this where the player truly excelled after switching positions?

[bigbird 60,500]

42 minutes ago, thaitopher said:

Not sure Auburn has ever had a truly successful change over from an offensive position to defensive position before. I can't think of any. I am not sure Trovon Reed counts. Can anyone think of a situation like this where the player truly excelled after switching positions?

Rudy Ford

[AUApostle 7,651]

18 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Rudy Ford

T Rob and Nick Fairley.  Robinson was a pretty darn good receiver.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

You know... Gus could just be playing him both ways to mess with ESPN and make them have to say his name as often as possible.

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

[Randman5000 4,226]

It's best to do this now rather than as a senior like Trovon Reed. Rudy Ford switched early and it paid off. 

Kind of figured something might happen since we signed a bazillion receivers this signing class. 

[gr82be 14,423]

He's just staying true to his namesake. Everyone knows that Noah needs to have two of everything. That goes for positions too.