Auburn football: Tigers release depth chart, decide starters

AUBURN, Ala. — A nagging ankle injury kept Auburn defensive tackle Zach Clayton on the sideline for most of last year, a frequent occurrence throughout the senior’s start-and-stop career.

But Clayton has been as healthy as he’s been this August and, as a result, grabbed a starting spot when the Tigers released their depth chart Tuesday.

“Zach has had a great camp,” Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said. “He’s probably one of the guys that has had the best first month of practice.”

Clayton, who will start along with Nick Fairley at tackle, was one of the few surprise starters on the depth chart, which had been well solidified for most of the last month.

The 6-foot-3, 296-pound Clayton, who’s from Opelika, Ala., has been waiting to get healthy. He played in 21 games his first two years, starting once in 2008, when he finished with 22 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks.

But various bumps and bruises, including an ankle injury, kept him out of seven games last season, including the Outback Bowl. He finished with only seven tackles.

“I’ve done a lot more rehab kind of stuff, ‘prehab’ actually, to keep the joints good to go,” Clayton said. “It’s not technically rehab because I’m not injured. It’s doing things off the field like ankle exercises, just keeping up with that kind of stuff so the injuries don’t sneak up and catch you off guard.”

As expected, seniors Zac Etheridge and Aairon Savage emerged as the starters at safety.

Both players are returning from serious injuries. Etheridge tore ligaments in his neck and cracked a vertebrae in a scary injury last fall. Savage has missed the past two seasons with ACL and Achilles’ injuries.

“This is going to be a high-tempo game for Arkansas State’s offense; they’re very similar to ours,” Chizik said. “(This) is where you really need two captains back there to direct traffic. I think having those two guys back there is going to be big in that regard.”

Mike McNeil, who missed last year with a broken leg, and walk-on Ikeem Means are listed as their backups.

Auburn’s two-deep is flush with 12 true freshmen, an indication that the Tigers have no qualms about throwing their highly-touted recruiting class of 2010 into the fire early.

“I think it was kind of what everybody expected,” Chizik said. “It was a camp where those young guys got opportunities. …

“There are going to be a lot of young names out there that you’re just going to have to get used to.”

Two freshmen — 6-foot, 181-pound Trovon Reed and 6-foot-3, 217-pound Shaun Kitchens — are listed as H-backs, along with starter Eric Smith, who is 5-foot-10, 240 pounds.

It’s an eclectic group of body types for one position.

“We’ll be asking them to do different things at times,” Chizik said. “That’s a position where you can get really creative with what you’re trying to do offensively.”

The defensive two-deep features two ends of the spectrum, with eight senior starters and eight true freshmen among the 28 names.

The coaches hope to get the second group experience as a long-term benefit for the program.

“We’ve got a plan right now to play young guys in the middle of the game no matter what the situation is,” Chizik said. “Because we have to.”