With the early signing period behind us and the immediate craziness of the transfer portal coming to a slow, it’s becoming a bit easier to make out what Auburn’s roster might look like come the 2024 season.
Sure, there’s still signing day in February and the transfer portal remains open for business, but the bulk of the work has been done by Hugh Freeze and Auburn’s coaching staff as the Tigers officially welcomed 27 new faces to the program earlier this week.
With so many new faces joining Auburn’s roster, it bids the question: Which new players could an early impact?
Here’s a handful of names to know.
5-star wide receivers Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson
This is the 2-for-1 special folks have been talking about for months now.
It’s no secret Freeze, with the help of wide receivers coach Marcus Davis, prioritized beefing up Auburn’s corps of pass catchers during the 2024 recruiting cycle. And boy, did they as they brought in a pair of 5-star wide receivers in Central-Phenix City’s Cam Coleman and Foley’s Perry Thompson.
Considering the Tigers will be coming off an offseason which saw them lose seven total wide receivers — four to the transfer portal and three due to running out of eligibility — Auburn’s wide receiver room is bound to see a near-complete makeover
Does that mean Coleman and Thompson could start as true freshmen?
That’s to be determined. However, one could certainly make the case for such.
Coleman, who flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to Auburn on Dec. 1, wasn’t ranked the No. 1 prospect out of the state of Alabama on accident. During his senior season with the Central-Phenix City Red Devils, Coleman tallied 1,372 receiving yards on 61 receptions — of which 18 went for touchdowns.
At 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, Coleman will be one of the bigger receivers on Auburn’s roster and could potentially see early playing time out wide.
Meanwhile, Thompson, who flipped his commitment from Alabama back in late July, ranked as the fourth-best prospect out of the state of Alabama. In his senior season with Foley, Thompson hauled in 53 receptions for 718 yards and seven touchdowns. He added another 102 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in 2023.
Like Coleman, Thompson also stretches 6-foot-3, making him one of the larger receivers on Auburn’s current roster. However, Thompson is listed to have a 20-pound advantage on Coleman, pointing to his strength for a receiver.
The case is the same for Thompson as it is for Coleman. The Tigers’ lack of returning production at the receiver position, paired with Thompson’s talent certainly paves a road for the Foley product to see lots of action in 2024.
It’s worth noting that both Coleman and Thompson will be enrolling early, which only helps their case as they develop into SEC-ready receivers.
Laquan Robinson, who was ranked as the No. 1 safety out of the junior college ranks, might be one of the most underrated pickups for Freeze and the Tigers — especially with Auburn’s secondary set to lose four veteran defensive backs to the NFL Draft.
DJ James, Nehemiah Pritchett, Zion Puckett and Jaylin Simpson are all turning their attention to the big leagues, meaning Auburn’s defensive backfield is another area that set to be pretty up in the air come the 2024 season.
Fortunately for Auburn, it doesn’t lack young, talented defensive backs.
But Robinson comes to The Plains a bit more seasoned than those younger DBs, albeit having played a pretty different brand and speed of football with Holmes Community College than he’ll see at Auburn and in the SEC.
Robinson is set to hit the ground running come spring practices and will likely be vying for one of Auburn’s pair of vacant starting safety spots.
With Gunner Britton, Avery Jones and Kam Stutts all out of eligibility, Auburn will be challenged with the tall task of replacing three offensive linemen for the 2024 season. And while the Tigers return some talented guys along the offensive front, it was still a position of need, so Freeze and Auburn’s coaching staff were quick to target transfer offensive linemen.
And on Dec. 11, thanks to the commitment of Seth Wilfred out of Snow College, the Tigers finally landed an offensive lineman — and the fourth-best tackle out of the junior college ranks, at that.
Measuring 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, Wilfred is expected to come to Auburn and immediately compete for a starting tackle spot as it’s likely that Dillon Wade makes the shift from tackle to guard. Meanwhile, Izavion ‘Too Tall’ Miller, who came to Auburn out of the JUCO ranks last season, will likely line up at the other tackle spot.
It’s worth noting that Freeze made it sound like he and the Tigers might still look to the transfer portal to add a body to Auburn’s offensive line room.
