Auburn's Pleasant Earns Jim Thorpe Weekly Honors

Rayshawn Pleasant intercepted two passes in Auburn's win over Arkansas.

Auburn Tigers cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant intercepted two passes against Arkansas, including one he returned for a touchdown. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

In the Auburn Tigers' win over Arkansas last week, defense continued to be a dominating factor, but a few Tigers stood out from the rest.

While Xavier Atkins was named the Co-SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his stellar performance, corner Rayshawn Pleasant was equally impressive.

The Tulane transfer allowed zero completions and intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter, returning one for a touchdown. His two interceptions made him the first Auburn defender to record multiple interceptions in a game since 2018, and his pick-six marked the first Auburn pick-six in two years.

His performance netted him a Pro Football Focus grade of 95.5, the highest by any defensive player this week.

For his standout play, Pleasant earned himself this week's Jim Thorpe Defensive Back of the Week.

Big plays get big honors 😤📈@RayshawnPleasa1 is your Jim Thorpe Defensive Back of the Week! pic.twitter.com/LmrZgE9bz5

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) October 29, 2025

The Thorpe Award, established in 1986, presents a weekly honor for the best defensive back in college football that week, as well as a yearly award to the best defensive back of the season. Its namesake, Jim Thorpe, dominated football as a defensive back in the early 1900s before winning two gold medals in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.

Auburn’s had just one annual Thorpe Award winner in the award’s 39-year history: Carlos Rogers in 2004.

Pleasant isn’t alone in receiving honors for the team’s performance against Arkansas.

Atkins, beyond the Co-SEC Defensive Player of the Week Award, also netted himself Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording 13 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in the win over the Razorbacks.

"Defensively, the plays we gave up - the explosive plays - were just us with bad eyes, and let’s get it fixed and go find a way to win the game. It was incredibly rewarding to see them fighting back to do that," head coach Hugh Freeze said on Monday. "(Winning) on the road in this league is never easy, and that (Arkansas) offense put up a lot of numbers on some really good teams recently. I'm really proud of our defensive adjustments."

Though Auburn’s offense hasn’t exactly put the team in a positive spot, this year’s defense, led by standouts like Pleasant and Atkins, has consistently proven to be the difference, resulting in many matchups ending up closer than they perhaps should’ve been.

Pleasant will have another opportunity to shine this weekend against the Kentucky Wildcats, which will be played back home on the Plains of Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will kick at 6:30 p.m. CDT and will be televised on SEC Network.