Blogle here. No we didn’t misspell defense. This was written by our resident Canadian Barnman. I keep his fun alternate spellings to make us feel alive.
Coordinator DJ Durkin is back for his second year on the Plains coaching the Tiger’s defence, adding some continuity to a unit that finished the 2024 season 28th in the country in scoring defence.
Heading into 2025, Auburn intends to boast a secondary stacked with talent, assisted by the return of cornerback Champ Anthony from a season ending injury in 2024. Champ joins now veterans Kayin Lee and Jay Crawford at the corner spots, along with former 5-star safety from the 2022 recruiting class in transfer Jacoby Matthews. Durkin hopes this plethora of sticky corners will roam the backfield in Jordan-Hare and help lead a stingy defence in the fall for the Tigers.
Auburn finished outside the top 50 in passing yards allowed in 2024, settling in as the 52nd ranked unit in the country, and Durkin will look to improve on that ranking in an conference that features high powered offences led by both experienced co-ordinators and signal callers alike.
Up front, the Tigers look to lean on Sophomore Malik Blockton and Senior transfer Bobby Jamison-Travis in the middle of their defensive line to clog up holes in the running game, while featuring a fearsome tandem of pass rushers Keyron Crawford and the projected first round NFL draft pick Keldric Faulk as terrors off the edge rushing the passer.
Faulk returns for his Junior season on the Plains, looking to solidify himself as a sure fire first round draft selection after a 7 sack 2024 campaign. With another offseason in Auburns strength snd conditioning program under his belt, Faulk hopes to improve on his 2024 numbers and delve into the double-digit sack category, already showing flashes as a heavy edge setter and twitched up pass rusher despite his current lack of production in the stats department. Falk boats NFL size and athleticism that scouts covet, and hopes to go down as the next fearsome pass rusher to don the Orange and Blue on the Plains.
With Jourdin Crawford and now sophomore standout Amaris Williams tapping into the pass rushing rotation, the Tigers hope to have a plethora of weapons to help attack opposing quarterbacks off the edge on passing downs. Although Amaris didn’t finish with a recorded sack during his 2024 freshman campaign, he showed flashes as a strong and stingy run defender as a freshman and will strive to improve his pass rush arsenal in 2025 as a sophomore.
With Robert Woodyard and the sophomore Demarcus Riddick roaming the linebacker spots on the Plains, the Auburn defence heads into the Fall with a good mix of both experienced and young players looking to make a difference and contribute to a should be stingy unit altogether that will be tested early in the 2025 season.
An old football adage that gets repeated at nauseam is that games are won up front in the trenches, especially in the SEC. While Auburn has some question marks in the middle of their defensive line, their array of talented pass rushers coming of the edge should help to keep their stars fresh and ready to close out games late with a terrorizing pass rush, something the Tigers lacked in the 2024 season.
Read the other previews: Offence, Coach/Special Teams.
