Auburn Spring Practice
Auburn wide receiver Ricardo Louis works out during spring football practice Tuesday, March 31, 2015, at the Auburn Athletic Complex in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/ jbennett@al.com)
(JULIE BENNETT)
Auburn special teams coach Scott Fountain has narrowed down the field at kickoff return to three players.
"At kickoff return, Rudy Ford and Ricardo Louis and Roc Thomas those are going to be the three guys," Fountain said Friday. "What we're trying to do is find some other guys that can balance us out that can return the ball as well, but I think we have three good candidates at kickoff return."
Louis returned eight kicks for an average of 21.4 yards in 2014 and Thomas returned three for an average of 14.3 yards. Ford did not return any kicks last season.
The departed Corey Grant was Auburn's No. 1 option in the kickoff return game last season, tallying 18 attempts for 403 yards, an average of 22.4 yards per return.
In related news, Auburn turned on its new $13.9 million scoreboard during the first scrimmage. Fountain believes the massive screen could be an advantage to players during returns.
"A kid might be running down the field out in front of everybody and could look at the board to get a feel," Fountain said. "So that's going to be really interesting... I think that's going to be a good piece for a player to use in the course of a game. Some guys are going to have more of an awareness than others."