Who has the edge over Jake? Hmm? Oh, I got all warm and fuzzy after reading this. However, I get sick of hearing all the talk about missed assignments. Not saying it's not important. Not in the least. Just asking is it any worse than a LB who can't tackle, can't cover and generally stands there waiting for someone to knock him on his ass. anyway...cops and pastas from j. Erickson and al to the dot com
Kris Frost is starting to show all of the athleticism that made him such a highly-rated recruit coming out of high school. Big, fast and physical, Frost has all the tools to be a starter at linebacker next season. Now, Frost has to spend the summer becoming the kind of mistake-free player Johnson needs in the middle of the defense.
"Kris, physically, has all the tools," Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. "He’s big enough, he’s fast enough, he likes contact, he’s got good coverage speed, he’s a good space player. The thing that he’s lacking right now is consistency."
Kris Frost has all the physical tools, but he's got to be able to make the right call every time in Auburn's defense before he can be a full-time starter.
Frost is responsible for making all the calls in Auburn's 4-2-5 defense, and his ability to communicate is part of the reason the sophomore has the edge on Jake Holland coming out of the spring.
"There’s some things our Mike linebacker has to be 100 percent," Johnson said. "He doesn’t have to be 100 percent on every tackle. He doesn’t have to be 100 percent on every step. But he has to be 100 percent when he’s quarterbacking our defense. He’s got a long way to go. From the start, Frost embraced the responsibility of the role, saying that he felt like he could play fast under the right call.
"With this defense, I feel like it's a little more free, more room to run," Frost said early in spring practice. "Just focusing and really getting into the film room extra and making sure all my assignments are covered an everything."
Frost's task over the summer is to make sure his assignments -- and the rest of the defense's -- become second nature. For all of his physical gifts, Frost still struggles at times with a missed assignment or a missed call, and those can be costly in Auburn's defense.
"He’ll come out some days and make some missed assignments that will really get you in trouble," Johnson said. "Not only in his position, but he’ll make a call as a Mike linebacker and it will be like a quarterback calling a wrong formation. You have to call a timeout or you’ll have a busted play because of it." Frost, only a sophomore, struggled to pick up Brian VanGorder's scheme last season, part of the reason he made only five tackles in limited playing time as a redshirt freshman.
But he's been more focused on picking up the scheme this season. Before spring practice even started, Frost was already spending extra time in the film room. He has to carry that over the summer to smooth out some of the rough spots in his game.
"We've all been in the film room getting the work done when the coach isn't in there," Frost said. "The more you do that, the most you'll be able to come out and everything will be second nature."
If Frost can eliminate those mistakes in the middle, he's got a chance to be a solid starter as a sophomore in Johnson's defense. "Kris has got an edge on it," Johnson said. "Kris had a lot of really good practice. My linebacker depth chart in total is very fluid right now... I wouldn't rule out anybody right now."
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