Labour Day is almost here. There’s a slight chill in the air. The leaves will start to change soon, which only means one thing. College Football is on the horizon. It’s time for Saturday’s in the fall, featuring a wide open SEC with every team entering the season with the same goal- secure a spot in Atlanta and earn a place in the 12 team college football playoff. After a few top 10 recruiting classes, it’s time for head coach Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers to win some football games heading into year 3 with Freeze after back to back .500 or below seasons. Buckle up- we’re in for an exciting ride.
Here is your 2025 Auburn depth chart:
OFFENSE
QB1: #11 Jackson Arnold
QB2: #12 Ashton Daniels
QB3: #9 Deuce Knight
Auburn’s QB room will see a major overhaul in 2025, as the 4 names who were listed on the depth chart heading into the 2024 Fall season have all either graduated or transferred to other programs. Out with Payton Thorne (graduated), Hank Brown (transferred to Iowa), Holden Geriner (transferred to Texas State), and Walker White (transferred to Baylor), and in with Jackson Arnold (transferred from Oklahoma), Ashton Daniels (transfer from Stanford), and Deuce Knight (incoming true freshman).
With two years of eligibility remaining, Auburn hopes to get the highly touted 5-star Texas version of Jackson Arnold that had every school in the country sending him offer letters when he was only in the 9th grade.
WR-X: #8 Cam Coleman OR #18 Sam Turner
WR-H: #1 Eric Singleton Jr. OR #4 Malcolm Simmons OR #6 Bryce Cain
WR-Z: #5 Horatio Fields OR #3 Perry Thompson
The highly touted Freeze 4 all remain, heading into their second season with the Tigers, they add to a wide receiver room that looks loaded on paper. With the addition of speedy transfer Eric Singleton Jr from Georgia Tech, this sets up to be Auburn’s most talented group heading into the Fall. Coleman, Thompson, Cain, and Simmons enter into their second seasons on the Plains, looking to contribute to a wide receiver room that should help the Tiger’s offense become an explosive unit in 2025.
RB1: #0 Damari Alston
RB2: #23 Jeremiah Cobb
RB3: #21Durel Robinson
Although Auburn’s running back room is usually a consistent strength, the 2025 version looks to be a question mark heading into the Fall. Both Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb were backups to talented ball carrier Jarquez Hunter last season, however they’ll both be leaned on quite a bit more this Fall with the departure of Hunter. Although they’ve both toted the rock at Auburn before, neither has seen an increased workload we’ve become accustomed to here on the Plains. Alston finished 2024 with less carries and yards than he had in 2023, amassing a total of 276 yards and 3 touchdowns. Cobb finished with 142 yards and no touchdowns through the ground or in the air. Despite the lacklustre stats, Cobb and Alston are both talented rushers however, and Auburn will look to depend on them while breaking in a new starting quarterback and starting the season on the road in Waco. Robinson transfers in from UCONN after rushing for 731 yards and 8 touchdowns last year.
TE1: #87 Brandon Frazier
TE2: #15 Preston Howard
The tight end room returns stalwart Brandon Frazier, who headlines a room that is potentially Auburn’s weakest on paper heading into the Fall. Frazier has predominantly been used as a blocking tight end throughout his career, finishing 2024 with just one catch. Preston Howard meanwhile transfers into Auburn from Maryland, after catching 24 balls fro 189 yards. The Tigers are still awaiting a breakout tight end to emerge as a standout pass catcher this Fall.
LT1: #65 Xavier Chaplin
LT2: #72 Izavion Miller
LG1: #52 Dillon Wade
LG2: #78 DeAndre Carter
C1: #75 Connor Lew
C2: #71 Dylan Senda
RG1: #77 Jeremiah Wright
RG2: #56 Seth Wilfred
RT1: #66 Mason Murphy
RT2: #79 Tyler Johnson
Games in the SEC are won up front with a rugged offensive line that can impose their will on a defense through 4 quarters of a game. This unit has the chance to be Auburn’s most underrated position group as they add in a couple of transfers at tackle to a group experienced Auburn men on the interior.
Connor Lew returns for his third year calling out protections at centre, while both Dillon Wade and Jeremiah Weight return at the guard spots. Sprinkle in transfers Xavier Chaplin and Mason Murphy (from Virginia Tech and USC respectively) at tackle and you have a starting 5 that could be Auburn’s most talented up front in nearly a decade.
DEFENSE
DT: #91 Zykeivous Walker OR #47 Malik Blocton OR #96 Malik Autry OR #98 James Ash
Nose: #97 Bobby Jamison-Travis OR #35 Dallas Walker OR #92 Jay Hardy OR #95 Jordan Crawford
The interior defensive line brings some uncertainty heading into the fall, with Malik Blocton and Bobby Jamison -Travis manning the defensive tackle sports inside of Falk and Crawford who will be coming off the edges. Jamison-Travis and Blocton will look to be stout in the running game and clog up holes, giving opposing interior offensive lines nightmares with their size and imposition.
Walker also adds some needed experience to Auburn’s front, standing at 6-4 296lbs. he provides another body with “needed “length and girth” as Freeze likes to say. Despite what he lacks in production on the stat sheet, he’ll look to provide in run stopping ability, allowing the linebackers and edge defenders to reign free and attack opposing quarterbacks.
DE: #15 Keldric Faulk OR #10 Amaris Williams OR #44 Darrion Smith
Buck LB: #24 Keyron Crawford OR #3 Chris Murray OR #18 JJ Falk
Faulk returns for another season of terrorizing quarterbacks off the edge, as he plans on being one of the SEC’s most feared pass rushers heading into the fall. No small feat. He finished last season with 7 sacks and a forced fumble, and will be joined by Keyron Crawford to form a pass rushing duo that auburn hopes will help them close out games on the defensive side of the ball in 2025.
Sam LB: #6 Demarcus Riddick OR #16 Bryce Deas
As a freshman in 2024, Riddick looked like potentially the most explosive players on Auburn’s defense, showing why he was a highly touted 5-star recruit in the 2024 class. He’ll look to improve on his Freshman campaign with a Sophomore season that will feature him on the field in much more high leverage spots. Time for him to show out with increased opportunities.
Mike LB: #0 Robert Woodyard OR #43 Caleb Wheatland
Woodyard returns for another season on the Plains for the Tiger’s calling the defense on the field. He’ll look to improve on his 13 tackle, 3 tackle for loss stats in the 2024 campaign.
Will LB: #17 Xaiver Atkins OR #9 Elijah Melendez
Some uncertainty here at Will linebacker on the Plains this Fall, as Atkins transfers in from LSU, and Melendez comes in for his rookie season on the Plains. They’ll both have to acclimate to life early this Fall, with no time to waste as they begin their season in Waco against a Baylor team with playoff hopes. No rest in the SEC.
Star LB: #19 Sylvester Smith OR #28 Kensley Louidou-Faustin OR #21 Anquon Fegans
Smith and Faustin both return for the Tigers this season and bring some needed experience to their defense. Both have fought in a rugged SEC, and look to mentor the talented but young incoming Freshman in Fegans. Smith brought in 1 interception last Fall while also recording 17 tackles, while Faustin only recorded 1 tackle. They’ll both look to improve on those stats as Auburn turns to them to be leaders on their defense in 2025.
FS: #1 Champ Anthony OR #5 Jahquez Robinson OR #29 Taye Seymour
Champ returns after an injury sidelined him for a portion of 2024, as he looks to improve on his 10 tackle and 3 passes defensed 2024 season. He and Robinson will look to add to a should be very talented Tigers secondary which hopes to be a highlight of the team in 2025.
SS: #8 Kaleb Harris OR #25 Eric Winters
Harris finished 2024 with an impressive 30 total tackles and a forced fumble, on a defense that struggled to create turnovers for much of the season, even against their weaker opponents. That will look to change, as he returns for another season roaming the Tiger’s backfield on the Plains. Winters enters the season as an incoming Freshman from local Alabama, as he will look to listen and learn from Auburn’s more experienced defenders this Fall. What Winters lacks in experience, he makes up for in talent, as he was a highly regarded safety in the 2025 recruiting class.
CB: #4 Kayin Lee OR #14 Rayshawn Pleasant OR #22 Donovan Starr
CB: #23 Jay Crawford OR #13 Raion Strader OR #12 Blake Woodby
We’ll loop all the corners into one group, as along with receiver, this looks to be Auburn’s most talented group heading into the Fall. The room will see a good mix of both talent, experience, and fresh faces, which will all look to contribute to an Auburn defense which will look to be a very stingy SEC unit. The group is headlined by the talented Kayin Lee =, who finished 2024 with 29 total tackles and 2 interceptions. Jay Crawford also had a wonderful Freshman campaign on the Plains, as he and Lee look to form Auburn’s next lockdown duo at corner and continue on their line of successful secondary development.
SPECIAL TEAMS
P1: #14 Hudson Kaak
P2: John McGuire
Kaak transfers is from Oregon State after the departure of previous punter Oscar Chapman. Hopefully the offense is potent and we won’t have to see Kaak in action too much, but when he is forced into duty he’ll try and flip the field and prove the Tigers defense with great field position.
PK: #38 Alex McPherson OR #33 Towns McHugh OR Connor Gibbs
After a stellar 2023, McPherson missed all of the 2024 season with a bladder infection, and rumours are swirling he’s still suffering from the same sickness. If Alex isn’t healthy enough to go- we can plan to see more of Towns McHugh, who filled in for McPherson in 2024. McHugh hit all his extra point attempts in 2024, however only made 5 of 12 of his field goal tries. He’ll have to improve on those numbers come the Fall to give Auburn a more consistent special teams until they can count on.
K: #38 Alex McPherson OR #33 Towns McHugh OR Connor Gibbs
The same stands for kickoff duties, as McHugh will fill in here as well if needed.
LS: #44 Reed Hughes
PR: #1 Eric Singleton
PR2: #4 Malcolm Simmons
KR1: #14 Rayshawn Pleasant
KR2: Eric Singleton
Pleasant transfers in from Tulane, as he and the athletic Singleton start the season as Auburn’s primary kick returners, hoping to add a spark in the return game and showcase their speed.
