Tigers make major strides in transfer portal to fill out roster

Auburn continued to build the offensive line, picking up Gunner Britton from Western Kentucky, Avery Jones from East Carolina and Dillon Wade, who followed offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery from Tulsa. 

Britton, who is the No. 5 OT in the transfer portal, played 51 games and started all 14 games in 2022. Jones is the No. 3 IOL transfer and played 31 games at ECU, starting every game this past season. Wade is an offensive tackle who comes in as the No. 3 offensive tackle in the transfer portal. He played 16 games at Tulsa and was the starting left tackle in 2022.

Auburn also managed to add a couple of playmakers on the offense, bringing in Brian Battie from South Florida, Nick Mardner from Cincinnati and Rivaldo Fairweather from Florida International University.

Battie was an effective playmaker for South Florida in 2022, compiling nearly 1,200 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. He'll have the chance to improve Auburn's already talented running back room. 

Mardner reunites with Marcus Davis, who coached him to a nearly 1,000-yard season at Hawaii while averaging nearly 20 yards per reception in 2021. Fairweather amassed 644 yards from 43 receptions in his 23 games for FIU and is the No. 6 TE in the transfer portal. 

Auburn has also had some major pickups on the defensive side of the ball in the transfer portal. The Tigers picked up Elijah McAllister from Vanderbilt, Mosiah Nasili-Kite from Maryland, Lawrence Johnson from Purdue and Demario Tolan from LSU. 

In four seasons with the Commodores, McAllister tallied 65 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 37 games as a defensive edge. Defensive lineman Nasili-Kite made 63 tackles, 9.5 TFL and five sacks in 23 games with Maryland. At Purdue, Johnson tallied 88 tackles, 7.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks in 46 games. Tolan had a short-lived career at LSU. The former 4-star prospect had 10 total tackles in 12 games during his only season. 

The Tigers also managed to get the signatures of a couple of high school recruits. Defensive backs CJ Johnson and Tyler Scott both signed their letters of intent to Auburn. Though unlikely to be instant impact players, both come in as 3-star athletes who will hope to prove themselves in their time at Auburn.

Freeze has landed 30 new players so far in the 2023 recruiting class and has addressed multiple areas where the Tigers may have been lacking. Of the 30 players, 22 of them come from three positions: nine defensive linemen, eight offensive linemen, and five defensive backs. 

Although Auburn managed to fill so many holes in the roster, the Tigers have struggled to land any big-name players at the quarterback position, an area they have struggled in recent history. Though 3-star commit Hank Brown flipped to Auburn in December, the Tigers still have not found someone in the transfer portal to compete against Robby Ashford for the starting position. 

Even with the struggles of bringing in an experienced quarterback to challenge for the starting position, the Tigers are still having a solid recruiting year by bringing in loads of ready-to-play talent from the transfer portal and fresh young talent to develop over the next few years.