AUBURN — Auburn football won’t have to replace a hole in the middle of its defense next season.
Following a breakout campaign that saw him register a team-high 84 tackles and pick up five sacks, linebacker Eugene Asante announced Friday that he plans to put the NFL on hold for one more year and return to the Tigers in 2024.
Asante started his collegiate career at North Carolina, appearing in 37 games over three seasons and totaling 62 tackles, a pass deflection and a forced fumble. He transferred to Auburn in January 2022 and spent most of his first season with the Tigers on the scout team.
He started all 12 games for Auburn in 2023, proving to be one of the team’s best defenders. His return is massive for the Tigers, as he led all Auburn linebackers with 464 snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus. He was joined in the two-deep LB rotation by Larry Nixon III (423), Cam Riley (286) and Austin Keys (259).
Nixon is out of eligibility, though Riley and Keys can return.
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Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football LB Eugene Asante will be back with Tigers in 2024
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/auburn-football-linebacker-eugene-asante-200908704.html
Author : The Montgomery Advertiser
Publish date : 2023-12-15 20:09:08
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