Auburn is one injury from starting a true freshman at quarterback.

Not that the “true freshman” part is the problem. Auburn’s two biggest rivals – Alabama and Georgia – have recently shown that winning with a true freshman isn’t impossible.

Jalen Hurts led the Crimson Tide to the SEC title and had it on the cusp of finishing undefeated last season if not for Deshaun Watson and Hunter Renfrow. And Jake Fromm is 2-0 this season as the Bulldogs’ starter since taking over for an injured Jacob Eason in the first quarter of the opening game.

No, the problem for the Tigers isn’t inexperience. It’s depth.

After Monday’s dismissal of Sean White following a public drunkenness arrest last weekend, Auburn is down to just two scholarship quarterbacks: starter Jarrett Stidham and Malik Willis, a member of the Tigers’ 2017 class who enrolled in January.

“Malik Willis will be the No. 2 quarterback. We’ve been saying for a while that we feel really good about him,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said during his weekly press conference Tuesday. “The way he has performed in fall camp, specifically the scrimmages, was very impressive. He started out the first two weeks as our No. 2 guy anyway, so he got a lot of reps with the twos, some with the ones, and we feel good about him moving forward if something were to happen to Jarrett Stidham.”

If the worst-case scenario for the Tigers unfolds — Stidham going down with a long-term injury — Malzahn said they would start “working through” who would become the new backup quarterback.

One option is having receiver Ryan Davis move to quarterback. Davis passed for 2,140 yards (with 18 touchdowns) and rushed for 1,233 yards (and 17 touchdowns) as a senior at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla. What’s more, he ended his high school career as the all-time passing leader (6,760) in Pinellas County.

And Davis already has experience at quarterback for the Tigers, albeit only in a practice setting, as Malzahn noted the “snaps (Davis) got last year” at the position.

One player Malzahn said won’t return to quarterback is Jason Smith, a defensive back. Smith joined the Tigers as a junior college quarterback transfer in the spring of 2015. During that spring, however, he shifted to receiver, where he stayed until preseason camp in August, when he decided to switch to defense.

The only way Smith would start taking quarterback reps again, according to Malzahn, is if injuries force his hand.

And then Malzahn mentioned another name “in the middle of that conversation” for No. 3 on the depth chart: Devin Adams, a walk-on who served as the scout team quarterback in 2016.

“Obviously, you saw him in some mop-up role (in the opener against Georgia Souther) as far as that goes,” Malzahn said. “If you watch him, every time he gets an opportunity to get in a game, whether it’s spring game or a game, he makes plays. Devin is in the room with them and he at least knows the base offense. He’s been spending some time with the scout team, so he’ll have to be more involved with that. … (Offensive coordinator) Chip Lindsey has got a good plan for him to be with the offense more than he has been.”

Of course, Malzahn hopes he doesn’t even have to worry about reaching that far down the depth chart. As it is, he has been pleased with the continued progression of Stidham, who is coming off a sterling outing Saturday against Mercer, when he completed 32 of 37 attempts for 364 yards.

“I think last week you saw, when he has time, he’s a very good operator with his progressions,” Malzahn said. “There were a couple of times when he hit (running back Kamryn) Pettway on check downs that was the fourth or fifth option within his read, but I think, like I’ve been saying, that the more experience that he gets the better.

“He’s still a freshman as far as experience is concerned, and I even said that before the year that we’ve got to keep that in mind. The thing about him is he corrects his mistakes. We didn’t throw the ball away out of the pocket the first game or two. You saw him (last) Saturday do that, so I think he’ll continue to improve.”

Yet for all the praise he had for Stidham, Tuesday was bittersweet for Malzahn. Having to address the dismissal of White wasn’t something he enjoyed.

“I feel bad for Sean,” Malzahn said. “Sean is a tough guy, he’s a warrior, but he made some bad decisions. I hurt for him.”

Informing a player he’s no longer welcome around the program is something Malzahn dreads.

“For me personally, any time you have to dismiss a player, it is not a very good feeling,” Malzahn said. “That’s probably the best way to put it.”

But White has moved on.

And so will Auburn, starting with its SEC opener Saturday at Missouri.

“When you lose one of the guys that has experience it is concerning, but at the same time the opportunities that Malik Willis has now, we have been extremely high on him,” Malzahn said. “Obviously when you lose an experienced guy it does affect your depth. But right now I will say we have two guys that we feel comfortable with playing.”