New Auburn OL Brodarious Hamm has ‘high ceiling’

Spalding coach Nick Davis was happy to hear Brodarious Hamm was the first of Auburn’s verbal commits to fax in their letter of intent on national signing day.

“I just checked in on him,” Davis said on the phone Wednesday morning. “I was glad everything is set.”

Davis describes the imposing offensive lineman as a physical yet mild-mannered kid who has the chance to compete for playing time early.

“He’s a big young man at 6-foot-5 (320 pounds), a physical kid, but I’ll tell you what he’s sneaky athletic for someone that size,” Davis said. “I think he’s going to be able to do everything coach Malzahn asks him too.”

Davis considers Hamm a bit of an under the radar pickup for Auburn.

While Hamm had offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State and Tennessee, a torn ACL early in his career prevented many teams from recruiting the lineman earlier in his career.

“He tore his ACL as a freshman and missed his entire sophomore year and that kind of caused his recruiting to jump off a little later,” Davis said. “I don’t think teams knew what to project from him.”

Hamm played both ways in middle school, but primarily played on the offensive line following the injury. Missouri was a team that still recruited Hamm as a defensive lineman.

In the two years since his injury, Davis said Hamm developed into a complete offensive lineman with Spalding changing from option offense to the spread.

“Our offensive philosophy changed,” Davis said. “Two years ago I brought in new offensive coordinator and we changed into a spread, drop back and screen kind of team. He was always a great run blocker, but he developed into a talented pass blocker. His ceiling is very high cause he’s still learning the game.”

Required reading

• Early enrollee strategy a central part of Auburn’s 2016 recruiting class
• VIDEO: Auburn coach Gus Malzahn discusses special 2016 recruiting class
• Late splash targeting impact positions pushes Auburn’s 2016 recruiting class into top 10
• National signing day surprise as Auburn reels in 5-star DL Derrick Brown
• Auburn’s 2016 receivers bring smile to coach Gus Malzahn’s face
• Defensive back Jayvaughn Myers follows brother’s lead in picking Auburn on national signing day
• Auburn receives biggest commitment of day in 4-star WR Nate Craig-Myers
• Safety Daniel Thomas takes Auburn up on late scholarship offer
• Auburn offers safety Daniel Thomas, offensive lineman Tyler Catalina on signing day
• Auburn misses on 5-star linebacker Ben Davis, Alabama legacy follows in father’s footsteps
• Auburn lands previously undecided OL Prince Sammons
• New Auburn OL Brodarious Hamm has ‘high ceiling’
• Antwuan Jackson’s former coach expects DL to contribute for Auburn as true freshman
• National signing day guide: Additional high-profile recruits would give Auburn plenty to brag about
• Auburn target WR Nate Craig-Myers ready for national spotlight with ESPN announcement
• Dynamic Madison Academy RB Malik Miller ready to build on impressive legacy at Auburn
• Humble verbal commit Nick Coe bringing championship pedigree to Auburn
• Auburn verbal commit Woody Barrett not going to settle for fourth wheel in QB competition
• Long-time Auburn commit Landon Rice on campus with eyes on making immediate impact
• The solution? JUCO transfer John Franklin III ready to push fellow Auburn QBs for starting spot

Michael Niziolek covers Auburn football for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Email him at mniziolek@ledger-enquirer.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 9:05 AM.