Auburn RB Named Among Most Impactful Transfers at Position

This Auburn Tigers likely won't see much action this upcoming season, but he's still considered one of the better gets in the portal

This option reflects how deep Auburn's running back room goes | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers, despite nearly 40 departures in the transfer portal, have reloaded quite impressively under new head coach Alex Golesh. Recently, one of Auburn’s more underrated transfers landed himself high on a prestigious list: Pro Football Focus’s most impactful transfers.

Highest Graded Transfer Running Backs This Offseason🔁 pic.twitter.com/YgRSreBhZm

— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 10, 2026

Nykahi Davenport, a recent Auburn transfer from Golesh’s former South Florida Bulls, earned himself the seventh spot on the list with an impressive 83.9 grade. Interestingly, Bryson Washington, who is largely expected to be the Tigers’ RB2, did not make this list.

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Davenport, a former three-star recruit from Roswell High School in Georgia, rushed for 612 yards and seven touchdowns in his sophomore campaign with the Bulls. The 6-foot, 216-pounder also averaged 6.2 yards per carry and an impressive 0.34 forced missed tackles per rushing attempt, per a stat shared by PFF.

As mentioned before, Davenport isn’t expected to even crack the top two for Auburn running backs in 2026, which stands as a testament to just how strong the Auburn rushing front is set to be. Headlined by returning standout rusher Jeremiah Cobb and new Baylor transfer Bryson Washington, Alex Golesh’s running back room seems to be shaping up as one of the best in the SEC.

Many have referred to the Auburn rushing room as a three or four-headed monster, but it now seems that Golesh has an entirely different monster on his hands: a hydra from Greek mythology. 

With former five-star Alvin Henderson, Davenport, Troy transfer Tae Meadows and even top-level rushing quarterback Byrum Brown serving as threats in the rushing game, every time a defense can “cut off” one head of Golesh’s hydra, two more “heads” take its place.

This aligns well with Golesh’s offensive plan in 2026, as he shared his philosophy in a recent press conference. 

“We’re going to run the heck out of the ball,” Golesh said. “That’s where it starts offensively for us. You’ve gotta be able to run the football.”

He will have no shortage of weapons to do so, with even his expected third-stringer netting awards.