Luke Deal addresses Auburn's tight end depth

Luke Deal confirmed the depth in Auburn's tight end room.

Author:
Zac Blackerby
Publish date:
Jul 19, 2023 8:32 AM EDT

In this story:

It's easy to be high on Auburn's tight end room.

Despite losing the most productive receiving tight end in Auburn's history in John Samuel Shenker last season, the Auburn tight end room seems stronger than ever. Luke Deal was in high demand when it was Auburn's turn in Nashville for SEC Media Days and was excited to talk about the men who share his position room.

"Our room's very deep," Deal said. "We've got some really good receivers as well. And just being able to be versatile as an offense is huge for us. So if we can have that ability to go two, three, four tight ends in some sets, depending on down and distance, then that's going to be a big deal for us moving forward this year. And I'm excited. The more tight ends on the field, the better for me. I love it. The physical run game that we had toward the end of last year, that's something that we want to build on this year. And obviously, like you said, Coach Freeze has a good track record with offenses and being very versatile. So I'm excited about that."

Rivaldo Fairweather transferred in from FIU and is expected to be a star in the Hugh Freeze offense in 2023. Despite being new, it sounds like he's fitting in just fine.

"Oh, he fits in like a glove, man," Deal said. "I mean, he's a great guy. He's bought into our culture in that room. Like I said, it's an old room. It's a room that's been together for a long time. So that can be kind of intimidating to start. And I think that he's done an incredible job with just buying into that culture, being one of us. And like you said, you've seen him on the field. He's explosive. He's got great hands. He runs really good routes and he's going to be a really good asset to our team this year. And he's a good guy."

You can hear the full conversation on the Wednesday edition of Locked On Auburn.