To help replace Carlton Davis Auburn made a personnel change that could prove to be the best of Gus Malzahn's coaching tenure.
Noah Igbinoghene moved from receiver to cornerback during the spring and immediately showed he was not only capable of playing defense, but that he could be a starter.
Should that happen, it'll be one of the best position changes Auburn has made during Malzahn's tenure as Igbinoghene will have gone from a backup at his receiver position and fifth or sixth in the group overall to a starting corner job.
When he's not at Nickel, Javaris Davis can play outside corner as well and freshman Christian Tutt and junior John Broussard Jr. are also in the mix.
Julie Bennett
Post-spirng depth chart
Noah Igbinoghene: 5-foot-11, 196 pounds, sophomore
Christian Tutt: 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, freshman OR
John Broussard Jr.: 5-foot-11, 181 pounds, junior
Julie Bennett
Gus Malzahn's take
"We just felt like Noah was a very good player. He did some very good things his true freshman year. We just felt like we needed to put him in a position that he could be on the field more. So that was the reason that we moved him over there in the spring. He responded very well. He's a tough guy, he's a smart guy. He caught on well. He just did a super job of that. And then a day or two (of spring practice), he's with the offense, too. He's a guy we feel like can do both next fall."
Julie Bennett
Starter
Noah Igbinoghene's switch from receiver to defensive back is hardly unprecedented, but it's shown to be a great move very quickly.
Auburn's moved players across the ball in the past, including Prince Tega Wanogho's change from defensive end to left tackle, Rudy Ford's move from running back to safety, Jason Smith's move from receiver to safety and Kiehl Frazier's move from quarterback to safety to receiver. Those changes have had mixed results.
If Igbinoghene, who had six catches for 24 yards and an 11-yard carry last season, starts and does well, he'll quickly be the best position change of Malzahn's Auburn career.
Julie Bennett
Backup
Christian Tutt will contribute immediately as a true freshman.
The early enrollee made a great first impression in the spring, closing it out with three tackles on A-Day, and is also working as a punt returner.
Julie Bennett
John Broussard Jr. was with the second-team defense on A-Day and split time at field and boundary corner along with Tutt, who might be ahead of the junior on paper.
Broussard had just six tackles in nine games as a sophomore and will likely need to do well in fall camp to earn a big increase in reps.
Auburn depth chart analysis
QB | RB | HB | TE | SE | F | Slot | LT | LG | C | RG | RT | Specialists
DE | DT | NT | Buck | SLB | MLB | WLB | Nickel | FCB | BCB | FS | BS
Julie Bennett
Next wave
Javaris Davis is in line to start at Nickel, but has ample experience on the outside as well.
Julie Bennett
Traivon Leonard worked mostly at boundary corner on A-Day and had two tackles while working with the third-team defense.
He's only a sophomore so time is on Leonard's side, but there is major competition for playing time ahead of him.
Mike Kittrell
Summer arrival
Roger McCreary is Auburn's other cornerback signee from last year's class and he'll arrive in the summer.
With as much depth as Auburn has at the position, it's hard not to see McCreary being a likely redshirt candidate.
What we've written about McCreary:
- 'Sky is the limit' for Auburn defensive back signee Roger McCreary
- "Unlimited potential": McCreary commits to Auburn
Julie Bennett
Quotable
"The thing that's giving (Igbinoghene) an advantage is he's got the skill set; that's pretty obvious, but he has the toughness. That's something that sometimes you're unsure about when you move a guy over. I don't mean to say offense is different than defense, but tackling is different, and he's been really good at that." -- defensive coordinator Kevin Steele
Julie Bennett
Looking back at boundary corner after spring 2017
From May 2, 2017:
There isn't much debate about who will be starting at boundary corner for Auburn this fall, as Carlton Davis returns for his third season.
Davis has been one of the better performers in the Tigers secondary for each of the past two seasons and much of the same will be expected in 2017.
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