Auburn Football: 5 storylines to follow during 2018 spring ball

4. Replacing three starters in the secondary

Auburn has many returning starters all over the field in 2018 except for at defensive back where they have to replace three starters. Cornerback Carlton Davis has left for the NFL and is expected to be drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. That’s a tough talent to replace but luckily the SEC West is still a run-first league with teams like Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State and Texas A&M all run-oriented programs.

With the spread offenses maintaining popularity in college football, most teams need five ‘starters’ and two or three capable back ups available every week.

At Auburn, the one guarantee is cornerback Javaris Davis. Davis will be able to lock down his side of the field while Auburn figures out where to play the versatile Jordyn Peters, who could wind up over the slot in nickel situations.

Junior safeties Jeremiah Dinson and Daniel Thomas will get their crack in the back of the defense while true freshman Quindarious Monday gets acclimated to the college game. He’s a four-star early enrollee with rangy size at 6-foot-3 and speed to go with it.

Stidham will pick apart a new defensive back group and so will opposing quarterbacks if the Tigers can’t find a pass rush, but we’ll cover that later.