Auburn's Thomas, Barber rise to top of depth chart

AUBURN, Ala. -- Separation is beginning to set in with Auburn's tailback depth chart.

The current expectations from Auburn running backs coach Tim Horton is Roc Thomas and Peyton Barber will see a majority of the workload in the season-opening Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in the Georgia Dome vs. Louisville on Sept. 5.

Horton said the two sophomores have earned early confidence in the coaching staff throughout the first week of preseason camp.

"I think Peyton and Roc are a little ahead right now of the other two but the competition has been great," Horton said.

Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee indicated Wednesday Thomas might have separated himself from the entire group early in the race for the starting tailback position.

"Roc has probably been the most consistent and the steadiest," Lashlee said. "I've just been really pleased with his toughness, his ability to pass protect, his ability to get north-south and really, hey, if it's third-and-1 to 2, really hammer it in there. When there's chances for those electric plays, do that. He's been very steady."

One of the members of the tailback that hasn't been mentioned by many of the coaching staff is junior Javon Robinson. The nation's top rated junior college running back enrolled in January but has found himself falling in the depth chart due to inconsistencies in preseason practices.

"He's really done well the last three or four days so I don't want to throw rocks on him about getting off to a slow start," Horton said. "There's a certain standard that our players have to adhere to. I don't know if Javon understood that standard early. He's figuring it out now."

Horton did say an undisclosed injury has slowed Kerryon Johnson's progress in the preseason. Malzahn and Lashlee have both stated repeatedly they wanted to get Johnson early touches in preseason camp to see where he stood with the returning players at the position.

"He's been dinged up the last couple of days and we're looking forward to getting him back on the field in the next day or so," Horton said.

This story was originally published August 14, 2015 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Auburn's Thomas, Barber rise to top of depth chart ."