Alex Golesh Teases Incredible Versatility From This Surprising Auburn Linebacker

The Auburn Tigers are, undoubtedly, stacked when it comes to the linebacker position. Of course, Xavier Atkins receives the lion’s share of the praise–which is well deserved, I might add–but several other key players in that unit could also make a massive impact this season.

One such player is Bryce Deas, who is now entering his sophomore season on the Plains. Even last year as a freshman, though, Deas still found a way to make an impact at a time when most would not even be thinking about playing time, totaling 12 tackles and two tackles for loss alongside two pass breakups.

Now, Deas projects to be a key rotational piece for Auburn’s linebacker core, which, as mentioned, already boasts some of the top talent in the country. What sets Deas apart, though, is not only the fact that he is actively practicing at all three linebacker positions, but also the fact that he has been excelling throughout camp.

“His best days are ahead of him, and hopefully that's in, like, 18 days,” Auburn head coach Alex Golesh said on Wednesday. “He's had a really, really, really good camp. We feel really good with him.”

Though Golesh may have been a day off in his hopes for Deas–it was 17 days from kickoff with Baylor at the time–he is, hopefully, not off in his prediction for Deas to step up this year, as the last thing opposing offenses want to see is yet another dominant Tiger at linebacker.

After all, the Tigers already boast Xavier Atkins, who accounted for 84 tackles, 60 solo tackles, a host of sacks, forced fumbles and even an interception last season, but they also have a newly healthy Demarcus Riddick, who has fallen out of the spotlight in recent months but was an All-SEC Freshman in his only healthy year to date.

Additionally, the Tigers have Elijah Melendez to work into the rotation, who is a sophomore like Deas, but also, like Deas, Melendez found a way to contribute last season despite it being his true freshman year, totaling 29 tackles, 19 tolo tackles, a sack and an impressive two interceptions.

So, with a healthy Atkins, Riddick, Deas, and Melendez, the Tigers already have a strong core of rotational pieces that could easily terrorize defenses this year. However, DJ Durkin, as evidenced by Deas, Melendez and even Riddick, is not afraid to utilize linebackers in their freshman season, so Adam Balogoun-Ali, Jaquez Wilkes and Chris Wells may find some time in the rotation as well.

Enjoy our content? Make AuburnOnSI a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our stories byclicking here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google