Auburn center competition

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Auburn center competition 'to be determined'

Updated 8:06 AM; Posted 8:00 AM

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Gallery: Auburn center Kaleb Kim

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By James Crepea

jcrepea@al.com

The competition for who will be Auburn's starting center remains ongoing after injuries to Kaleb Kim and Nick Brahms during spring practice put things on hold.

Kim's high-ankle sprain, Brahms' broken leg and a minor injury to Tucker Brown at one point late in spring practice threw a wrench in the evaluation process.

"I had some things happen during the course of the spring that I've never had happen before in all my years of coaching," offensive line coach J.B. Grimes said. "One day, we had zero centers. All three of them were on the ground. I mean, on the ground with the trainer hovering around. So you've got to go over there and take auditions during practice just to get out of the practice. That was a little disconcerting. I've never had that happen before."

Neither Kim or Brahms took part in A-Day, which is why Grimes can't name a leader at this point, though it appears it'll be one of them.

With Marquel Harrell and Mike Horton at guard, Auburn should be able to overcome having an inexperienced center in the short term.

Post-Spring depth chart

Kaleb Kim: 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, redshirt-junior OR
Nick Brahms: 6-foot-3, 304 pounds, redshirt-freshman
Tucker Brown: 6-foot-3, 289 pounds, senior

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Gus Malzahn's take

"I was impressed with Nick and Kaleb both. I think both of them, before their injuries, were really getting better and there was some really good competition."

Starter

Auburn defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell (94) works against center Nick Brahms (52) during spring practice.

Brahms was making progress prior to his injury, Grimes said, and Kim underperformed during the first spring scrimmage but responded to coaching in the week after.

"I sat down and had a real heart-to-heart with him about, 'Hey, you've got to strain yourself. You've got to play more physical than what I see you on the field in this first scrimmage,'" Grimes said. "I think it was in the neighborhood of 45 snaps, half a ballgame or somewhere in that neighborhood, and it wasn't good enough. And I saw him, hey, he listened to me. He listened to the words. He said, 'You know what? I'm going to strain hard.' I saw him going up and, boom, he goes down."

Kim appeared in six games last season and has been on the roster for three years, compared to Brahms, who redshirted last season.

Auburn center Kaleb Kim is competing for the starting job.

Time is not on Kim's side and Grimes is hoping the redshirt-junior can do a better job of bringing his strength to the field.

"I saw that after I had that little heart to heart to him. 'Look, you've got to play stronger. You are weight room strong. I look at you, I look at your numbers in the weight room. You've got good numbers in the weight room. But I don't see that transfer to the field,'" Grimes said. "And then what I saw happen before he took the knee is I saw that manifest in himself. So it's just a matter of him flipping the switch and doing that."

When Auburn expects to know its starting offensive line for 2018

Auburn offensive line coach J.B. Grimes acknowledged the Tigers have "a lot of work to do" up front, but likes the talent he had to work with.

Next wave

Tucker Brown has converted from guard to tight end to center during his career. The former walk-on earned the trust of teammates and coaches to be able to play in games over the years and is a capable blocker.

Still, he appears to be behind Kim and Brahms in the position battle.

"Tucker Brown, I thought did as good of a job as he could do in the situation he was in," Grimes said.

Summer arrival

Of Auburn's two offensive line signees, Jalil Irvin is the more likely to be a center. With three players ahead of him, Irvin would seem to be a candidate for a redshirt this fall, but if injuries were to occur in the same manner as the spring then that could certainly change.

Jalil Irvin highlights | Auburn signee from Stephenson High School

Jalil Irvin 'comfortable' with new offensive line coach J.B. Grimes

Jalil Irvin adds depth to interior of Auburn's offensive line

Quotable

"I think these guys have a chance. I just didn't get enough information on two of them. I think we know what Tucker is and he can help us big-time. We'll just have to find out as early in fall camp as quickly as possible which one's going to take the bull by the horns." -- Offensive line coach J.B. Grimes

Looking back at center after spring 2017

From May 10, 2017:

Austin Golson returns as Auburn's starting center and unless graduate transfer Casey Dunn comes in and proves capable of trying during fall camp, he'll remain in the middle of the offensive line.

Golson can play any of the offensive line positions so his versatility lends to flexibility should Auburn need to shuffle its personnel in the fall.

Kaleb Kim ended spring as the backup at center but Dunn's arrival will most definitely put his spot on the depth chart in jeopardy.

Nick Brahms was an early enrollee but didn't get to do much in the spring. He'll likely redshirt in the fall after coming off a knee injury as a senior in high school.