Why Hugh Freeze has been pleased with Auburn football's offensive line in spring practice

AUBURN — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze stopped short of saying interior offensive lineman Tate Johnson was standing out over his teammates, but he gave the junior some of the best praise he's handed out since joining the Tigers.

"There’s an expectation that we’re trying to set and he wants to drive the train for that expectation," Freeze said of Johnson on Monday. "It matters to him. Wearing Auburn on his chest means something. You can’t have enough of those guys.”

Johnson, who was the starting center for the Tigers in 2022 before he suffered an elbow injury against Missouri that required surgery, has been working along the interior of Auburn's offensive line so far in spring practices.

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"He’s got to know how to play all three of those middle spots," offensive line coach Jake Thornton said Feb. 28. "He’s intelligent. He’s tough. I believe he’s an Auburn man. He’s been through a lot of lows and a lot of highs here and come out on the other side. ... He’s a technician. He knows how to use his body. He’s not the biggest guy, but he uses his strengths and he capitalizes on what he’s good at."

Johnson is one piece of Auburn's revamped offensive line. Freeze was hired in November and Thornton came over from Ole Miss the following month. Since their arrivals, the Tigers have added eight new linemen: Four high school recruits, three from the transfer portal and one out of junior college.

Three of the four freshmen − Bradyn Joiner, Connor Lew and Clay Wedin − have enrolled early; Tyler Johnson out of Natchitoches Central High School in Louisiana will arrive in the summer.

But the most notable of the newcomers have been the transfers. All three − Gunner Britton (Western Kentucky), Avery Jones (East Carolina) and Dillon Wade (Tulsa) − consistently have been working with the first team. Britton and Wade are tackles. Jones is a center.

“I was really pleased with the O-line in the first few practices," Freeze said ahead of Monday's practice. "This’ll be the second one with pads on and the defense is starting to get more stuff in with more movements. That’s usually when you leave practice feeling awful because we haven’t practiced enough against these movements and it could make you look really bad."

The Tigers have 16 offensive linemen on campus this spring, including those seven newcomers. A new staff, coupled with the addition of so many incoming players, is bound to have growing pains, but Freeze said that's not something he sees as a "great challenge."

His reasoning behind that belief is that it happens every year. Freeze explained that you're always bringing in newcomers at every position, especially in the new age of college football with the transfer portal being so prominent.

"I think players by now, if they’re realistic, they understand at this level every year we’re trying to out-recruit you," Freeze said. "Not many coaches will say that, but that’s the truth. You’ve got to compete every year to earn your time, and we’re going to try again next year to go find another one that’s even better.

"But you still need all of them, and forming them together when they’re competing for playing time and also trying to form a great team, that’s probably somewhat of a challenge, for sure. But it’s something that we’re kind of used to.”

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: How Hugh Freeze sees improvement in offensive line