Hugh Freeze Praises Underrated Auburn Tigers Unit ahead of Fall Camp

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze had his season-opening press conference on Wednesday, and he was asked about the Tigers’ secondary. Auburn returns a lot of talent from last season and made some key additions in the portal. How are they all going to fit?

“Well you’re glad you have more depth, where you’re not feeling like there’s a drop-off when you rotate people or have an injury,” Freeze said. “I think every team at this level would be excited to have that type of depth and we do.”

Last season, the Auburn secondary was led by three fairly young corners in sophomore Kayin Lee, freshman Jay Crawford, and junior Champ Anthony. The two starting safeties for the Tigers were senior Jerrin Thompson and Freshman Kaleb Harris, with Keionte Scott manning the nickel.

Thompson graduated and left for the NFL, and Scott transferred twice in the offseason: first to Houston and then to Miami. Anthony was knocked out for the back half of the 2024 season following a gruesome leg injury against Arkansas. However, coach Freeze seemed confident that Anthony could return to play a part for the Tigers this season.

“[We are] Getting Champ back, he’s finally cleared, though we might limit some of his reps,” Freeze said.

In addition to Antony, Lee and Crawford are both returning players who contributed at a high level in 2024. Lee played a high majority of snaps last season and was a plus defender on the outside. Crawford, however, was a revelation. The former three-star prospect burst onto the scene in 2024, securing a Freshman All-SEC nod at the end of the season as well as a spot on PFF’s College All-Freshman Team.

In addition to the returning trio, Auburn brought in some portal reinforcements at the position. The biggest is Raion Strader, a four-star transfer from Miami of Ohio who was First-Team All-MAC in 2024. Joining Strader is Tulane transfer Rayshawn Pleasant, a three-star transfer who was blocked on the Tulane depth chart in 2024 by a duo of All-AAC corners in Micah Robinson and Caleb Ransaw, both of whom are currently on NFL rosters.

Freeze seemed confident that the infusion of experienced talent could help the younger Tiger defensive backs develop.

“When you think about the young guys like [Blake] Woodby and [Donovan] Starr, I think they’re going to be good, but obviously Pleasant and Straider are guys that have experience and can play multiple spots back there,” Freeze said.

As for the safeties, Harris definitely has the strong side locked up, but the free safety position seems open and up for grabs at the moment.

“The safety rotation is a lot deeper now, and we’re going to depend on some young kids to play there,” Freeze said. “I’m excited about the fact we have some options.”

One of Anthony or Pleasant could see time in the free safety role, as both have experience in that position in their careers. Even freshman AnQuon Fegans could potentially see some time.

Overall, the Auburn secondary is much deeper and much more talented than last season, something that definitely seemed to have coach Freeze excited as fall camp gets underway.

“Now, we’ve got to figure out what their seat is on the bus: who are the best nickels, who are the best safeties, and who are the best corners,” Freeze said. “One thing I know is we’ve increased our length, we’ve increased our speed, and we’ve increased our depth. That’s exciting to us and now we’ve got to figure out exactly all the pieces of where they go.”

Once each player finds their spot and can go to work, the Tiger defense should have a secondary that is both secure and deep. Additionally, the group shouldn’t be taxed too much thanks to an excellent defensive line led by First-Team Preseason All-SEC edge rusher Keldric Faulk. If those two groups can get on the same page, it should spell long and difficult days for opposing offenses in 2025.