AUBURN — The roster breakdown of the edge rusher position often feels like an optical illusion. Take this season, as Auburn football has six scholarship edge rushers rostered. One of those is a true freshman, and it's a group that only houses two upperclassmen. Is that really enough depth for SEC competition? It can be. Auburn used six different players on the edge last fall, according to Pro Football Focus snap counts, and it had just four scholarship players at the position. Coleman Hutzler, who's in his first season as Auburn's Bucks and Edges Coach, described the depth piece as critical on Tuesday, Aug. 18. OBSERVATIONS, INJURY UPDATES: New player, position change highlight Auburn football's latest practice "Playing in this conference and playing in this league you can't go with just one, two, three guys," Hutzler said. "You have to create depth, you've got to go into a game and be able to roll guys and play guys." It's a priority for the program in the lead-up to the season, and it makes versatility an equally vital aspect. That's been visible throughout preseason practices, with players like Ole Miss transfer Da'Shawn Womack working away from pure edge rushers, often with outside linebackers, during individual drills. Womack's still poised to rush the passer, as evidenced by where he's lined up in team periods and 11-on-11. He's often done so with sophomore Jared Smith bookending the other side of the defensive front, highlighting a couple of Auburn's cross-training efforts. "Jared's done it a little bit, Chris (Murray), like you mentioned," Hutzler said. "We're trying to dual-train guys. The versatility that they provide is huge. It takes a special guy to be able to play some 4i (4 gap, inside shoulder) but also come off the edge. With our scheme and what we do, it's fun to have guys that can do that."
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn football's building depth within its pass rush