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Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall (14) tosses a screen during the first day of fall practice Friday, Aug. 1, 2014, in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

AUBURN, Alabama -- Nearly all of the coverage swirling around Nick Marshall has been focused off the field for the past month or so.

On the field, Marshall has been steadier than ever.

Marshall spent most of his first season as a starter at Auburn trying to learn the playbook on the fly. A year later, with 13 starts under his belt and an entire year in Gus Malzahn's system, Marshall has been every bit the steady starter the Tigers needed through the first four days of practice.

"Nick seems more comfortable, he's making calls that he didn't make last year or that he was having trouble with," Auburn running back Corey Grant said.

Marshall threw for 1,976 yards, rushed for 1,068 yards, produced 26 total touchdowns and directed four Auburn fourth-quarter comebacks without much of a preseason foundation last year.

Now, the Tigers' senior has spent an entire offseason transforming his body and his skill set.

"He has probably put on 10-12 pounds, which is good for him," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. "I don't want to tell you wrong, but I think Nick was in the low 200's last year and he's around the 212 to 214 to 215 range."

An extra 10-12 pounds could be huge for Marshall, who averaged 12.3 carries per game last season and sustained a heavy pounding for a quarterback, including a knee injury that cost him a start and a shoulder injury that sent him out of the Florida Atlantic game early.

Beyond the added size, though, Marshall has continued to improve as a passer, a key for a Tigers offense that wants to be more balanced this fall after running the ball 71.8 percent of the time in 2014.

"Nick is throwing it like he's been working hard all summer," wide receiver Ricardo Louis said.

Marshall, who connected on 59.4 percentage and finished 10th in the SEC in completion percentage last season, has been on target early in camp.

"On day two, between team and 7-on-7 he was 15-17 against the defense," Lashlee said. "He hasn't been that sharp every day, but he has been better. So far, he's been steady."

The 2014 season is still young. Auburn will put full pads on for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, but the overarching theme around this camp has been a completely different feel than the start of camp in 2013.

Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee talks to the media after the fourth day of fall practice Monday, Aug. 4, 2014, in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

At this time last year, Auburn was still holding an open competition to start at quarterback, position battles raged all over the field and the Tigers' coaching staff was trying to get as much information as possible on every player on the roster.

Four days into the 2014 camp, this Tigers team has grown up quite a bit, and the rest of the roster has paid close attention to how far their quarterback has come.

"I really feel like we can take a huge step from last year's team," running back Cameron Artis-Payne said. "Nick being in his second year, being more comfortable, knowing his reads and his progression better. ... We should be explosive in the passing game as well as the running game."

A lot of those hopes hinge on Marshall.