Auburn held its ninth spring practice Monday, which means the Tigers have already gone through half of their allotted spring practice time.

Gus Malzahn met with the media to provide practice updates as well as other general items. During his availability, Malzahn was asked which veteran player has improved and stood out this year when compared to last.

“Marquis McClain — I think he’s starting to take that next step and become a guy that we can rely on,” Malzahn said. “He’s the guy that really stood out to me in the scrimmage from a skill-position standpoint.”

Auburn’s offense loses Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton at the receiver position, but it returns standout freshmen Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz, along with Eli Stove, Sal Cannella, Matthew Hill and Will Hastings. That’s a rather stable group, assuming everyone stays healthy.

McClain enters his redshirt junior season looking to make an impact. The 6-foot-2, 217-pound Florida native played in every game the last two seasons, but he’s only recorded two catches for 47 yards. It appears that McClain may provide another offensive weapon for Malzahn.

You can watch Malzahn’s press conference below, courtesy of Jason Caldwell on YouTube: