Auburn Predicted to Land Top-20 In-State Linebacker

The Auburn Tigers absolutely dominated on the recruiting trail this past summer, though things have slowed a bit as the season has gotten underway. However, that could change quickly, as on Tuesday, Rivals’ Chad Simmons announced that he was officially predicting Ryquan Butler to land in an upcoming Tiger class.

Butler is a three-star linebacker who hails from Loachapoka, Ala., and is rated as the 34th-best linebacker in the 2028 class as well as the 19th-best player from the state of Alabama.

As it stands, Auburn currently leads with a 95.7% chance of landing Butler, though Alabama is in second place, albeit with just a 1.6% chance of landing the top 2028 commit. Ole Miss is also in the running with a 1.4% chance, though it would take quite a swing for Butler to land at either of the latter two programs.

The Tigers have long since boasted some of the best linebacker talent in the country; from last year’s leader in Xavier Atkins to this year’s current statistical leader, Elijah Melendez, the Tigers are set to have incredible linebacker depth over the next couple of seasons.

Back in June, Auburn Tigers on SI caught up with Butler to talk about his recruitment, and he had quite a few favorable things to say about the Plains.

“The coaching staff at Auburn has set a new standard of what mission they are trying to accomplish and I see it working out well,” he said. “I had a great talk with Coach Golesh, I mean he is an inspiring coach. I also had a great conversation with Coach Durkin, where he gave it straight forward of what’s expected at the next level. Big shoutout to Coach Brad [Bedell] for inviting me.”

After putting together one of the strongest 2027 classes in the country, Alex Golesh is now evidently turning his attention to the 2028 class, where, as it stands, the Tigers have just one commitment: three-star quarterback Sam Sollie.

If Butler does commit, the Tigers will continue their tradition of top linebacker talent on the Plains, and Butler has plenty to offer the Tigers down the road.

“I’m a versatile linebacker who is a film junkie,” he said. “I can dissect an offense before the snap, I can line up my whole defense, also I can play sideline to sideline… I believe I need to get bigger on the weight side and more on the college level of game speed.”

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