AUBURN — Auburn football had noticeable holes within its defensive front during spring practice, so coach Hugh Freeze and his staff went to work in April to plug them as best as possible.
The Tigers landed three defensive transfers after A-Day in linemen Philip Blidi (Indiana) and Isaiah Raikes (USC) and pass rusher Keyron Crawford (Arkansas State). All three figure to be in the two-deep rotation, and could make a move for a starting role if things go right during preseason practices in August.
With 38 scholarship defenders on the roster and the work appearing to be done in the portal, here’s what we think the defensive depth chart will look like once fall camp begins:
Buck linebacker
Jalen McLeod
Keyron Crawford
Amaris Williams
Jamonta Waller
Joseph Phillips
Jalen McLeod didn’t skip a beat last season after transferring in from Appalachian State, tallying 48 total tackles and 5.5 sacks in 12 games. Freeze often said McLeod had to play too much and wasn’t always fresh, so the addition of Crawford and the talented freshman trio should help with that.
OTHER SIDE: Projecting Auburn football’s offensive depth chart after spring portal additions
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Defensive tackle
Gage Keys
Philip Blidi
DJ Reed OR Malik Blocton
A Kansas transfer who committed to Auburn in December, Gage Keys has the advantage of partipcating in spring practice over Blidi, who spent the spring period with the Hoosiers. Regardless, expect to see plenty of rotation at both defensive tackle and nose tackle.
Nose tackle
Isaiah Raikes
Trill Carter
Jayson Jones OR Bobby Jamison-Travis
Raikes transferred to USC in January after spending the first four seasons of his career at Texas A&M. The fit with the Trojans was evidently not right, though, as the former four-star recruit in the Class of 2020 entered the portal…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/think-atop-auburn-footballs-defensive-090844364.html
Author : The Montgomery Advertiser
Publish date : 2024-06-19 09:08:44
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