Auburn Football’s Xavier Atkins Receiving NFL Draft Buzz Ahead of Junior Season

Ever since joining the Auburn Tigers, Xavier Atkins has been one of the most dominant forces in football, and as a result, he is already beginning to crop up on NFL Draft boards.

On Sunday, Buccanners Wire writer Mason Riney continued his series dedicated to analyzing potential NFL talent with an installation dedicated to Atkins.

“What makes Atkins particularly intriguing is the versatility Auburn showed with him throughout the season,” Riney wrote. “He aligned both as a traditional box linebacker and in overhang roles outside the formation. That flexibility allowed Auburn to move him around the defense and create opportunities for him to attack running lanes, pressure quarterbacks and disrupt plays before they could fully develop.”

Indeed, Atkins was a disruptor throughout his sophomore season at Auburn, which also happened to be his first season with true starting time. After recording stats in just two games during his freshman season at LSU, Atkins made the decision to come to the Plains, where he started all 12 games.

In those games, Atkins racked up 84 total tackles, the most of any Tiger, as well as nine sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a ridiculous 17.0 tackles for loss, which led the SEC and was the most any Auburn linebacker had ever recorded in a season.

“Despite the gaudy pass-rush numbers, Atkins is not simply a blitz specialist,” Riney continued. “The film showed a player who understands route concepts, keeps his eyes on the quarterback and displays the athleticism necessary to operate in space. His hip fluidity and lateral movement skills allow him to function in zone coverage, though there is still room for refinement in that area of his game.”

Atkins heads into his junior, and potentially final, season of college football with the Tigers after deciding to stick with Auburn in the wake of Hugh Freeze’s firing. Though Atkins will headline the Tigers’ defensive production, he will certainly have help in the form of edge rusher Da’Shawn Womack as well as fellow linebackers Demarcus Riddick, Bryce Deas and Elijah Melendez.

“The biggest questions entering 2026 revolve around consistency and projection,” Riney concluded. “Atkins' disruptive traits are already proven, but NFL evaluators will want to see improvements in tackling efficiency, block deconstruction and overall physicality. If he can build upon his breakout season while becoming a more complete linebacker, he has the talent to significantly outperform his current Day 3 projection and force his way into the Day 2 conversation.”

Last season, Atkins managed to rack up Second Team All-America honors, First Team All-SEC honors, a nod as a Chuck Bednarik Award Semifinalist, a nod as Monday Morning QB Birmingham Club’s SEC Most Valuable Lineman and a SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week and Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Tigers’ matchup with Arkansas, and yet is only projected to be a Day Three pick.

If he can build upon a stellar sophomore season in 2026, that number is likely to change, potentially even resulting in his selection as the second Tiger first-rounder in two years, joining edge rusher Keldric Faulk.

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