AUBURN — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze only got half of his wish.
At Baumhower’s Victory Grille for an episode of Tiger Talk in November, Freeze led the crowd in a chant in an attempt to convince tight end Luke Deal and defensive lineman Marcus Harris to come back for one last season at Auburn.
“One more year!” the customers, under Freeze’s direction, pleaded to Deal and Harris. The players were in attendance as special guests on the show.
Andy Burcham, the voice of the Tigers, complimented Freeze’s recruiting abilities in that moment.
“That’s two big recruits right there,” Freeze responded.
Deal obliged, opting to return for his sixth and final season on the Plains. Harris is off to the NFL, though, selected by the Houston Texans with the No. 247 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. His leap to the pros comes after he had a standout season in 2023 that featured career-high marks in tackles (40), tackles for loss (11.5) and sacks (7.5).
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Harris finished with an overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus of 82.1 last season, and his run defense grade settled at 87.4. Those figures ranked No. 19 and No. 11 amongst defensive linemen nationally, respectively, and both ranked No. 1 amongst linemen in the SEC.
Auburn lost other rotational pieces on the defensive line as well, with Lawrence Johnson running out of eligibility and the Dallas Cowboys choosing Justin Rogers with the No. 244 overall pick.
All told, more than half of the snaps played along the defensive line in 2023 left the Tigers this offseason; they bring back 43.6% of those reps, with Keldric Faulk (441), Jayson Jones (347) and Zykeivous Walker (237) leading…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/auburn-football-analysis-defensive-line-090847871.html
Author : The Montgomery Advertiser
Publish date : 2024-06-26 09:08:47
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