AUBURN — Toward the end of spring practice, Neil Caudle and Kodi Burns each said they wanted to know who would start at quarterback.

Go ahead and add another name to the list of Auburn personnel seeking that information.

First-year offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn would have liked to name a starting quarterback. Instead, he left the competition open heading into fall camp.

That's because Malzahn said he doesn't know yet.

What he does know is when the competition resumes, Burns and Caudle will open as the top two contenders for the job.

From there, Malzahn said, he hopes one of the juniors will quickly establish himself as the obvious selection.

"I think it's important that you can name a guy as soon as possible," Malzahn said. "I've always been from the standpoint to have a guy and for him to get better and improve."

At the same time, Malzahn said he wouldn't rush a decision. Once he names a starter he won't resort to going back and forth, shuffling quarterbacks in and out of the lineup as Auburn did throughout the first half of the disastrous 2008 season.

Burns and Caudle offer the offense vastly different skill sets.

Burns is an elusive player with speed and quickness. His passing arm proved erratic last year, but he possesses a strong arm.

Caudle isn't slow, but is the pocket passer of the two. He can move around the pocket and has a good arm. The knock on him during the 2007 spring practices was that he threw too many interceptions.

"We've got to find the right guy and be 100 percent once we name that guy," Malzahn said. "Hopefully that will be sooner than later once fall camp starts."

Other quarterbacks will have opportunities, but will find themselves well behind Burns and Caudle to open camp.

Malzahn said he threw more at the Auburn quarterbacks than he wanted to during the spring. It took most of spring practice for them to catch up. By the end, though, Malzahn said Caudle and Burns started to understand the offense.

"I think the last week they started to get in the comfort zone and I think the light was starting to click on and the game slowed down a little bit for them," Malzahn said.

"I really felt the last week they really started to understand what I'm asking them to do, the coverage reads, the pace, their steps and their timing. What I'm hoping is they can work on that on their own and come back in the fall with a better idea of what to do."

So unless one of the other quarterbacks picks up the offense especially fast, either Burns or Caudle will likely take the opening night snaps.

Senior Chris Todd could be a darkhorse. Todd missed the entire spring after undergoing shoulder surgery in December. Though he started five games last year, Todd's shoulder was never healthy.

If he's healthy to open fall camp, Todd is the most likely challenger because he attended practices and meetings all spring. He didn't take practice repetitions but at least could have a mental grasp of the offense — Auburn's fourth in three years.

Following spring practice, coach Gene Chizik said freshmen Clint Moseley and Tyrik Rollison would have a chance to compete for the job. If they're to get a real shot, they must learn the intricacies of Malzahn's offense quickly.

Burns and Caudle might not have gotten their answer to end spring practice, but Malzahn doesn't plan to keep them waiting deep into fall.