Auburn Tigers Showing Interest in Travis Hunter-Esque Two-Way Prospect

One of the best athletes in the 2027 class has the Auburn Tigers on his radar.

Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh has a unicorn-type prospect on his radar who is showing interest. | Austin Perryman / Auburn University

As the Auburn Tigers continue to dominate the recruiting boards throughout the opening week of June, a new prospect has jumped onto their radar, and it is a highly unique one: Tae Walden.

Walden is a potential two-way prospect, the likes of which the Tigers have not seen in over half a century.

Walden is a four-star athlete in the 2027 class who originally hails from Collierville, Tenn. A blue-chip prospect, Walden is currently rated as the third-best athlete in the 2027 class as well as the third-best player from his home state of Tennessee.

On Sunday, the day on which Alex Golesh announced that the Tigers had landed seven commits in a single day, Walden had just wrapped up his visit to Auburn and told Christian Clemente of 247Sports that the Tigers were interested in him as a two-way WR/CB prospect.

"I don't know what I want to do yet,” Walden said, “so for them to be all in on me possibly playing both ways is helping them a lot."

Interestingly, the visit in which these conversations occurred was a last-second ordeal for Walden, who was originally scheduled to visit Clemson this past weekend. In a surprise move, Walden announced this past Wednesday that he would forego that Clemson visit for a trip to the Plains, a visit that could have made all the difference in his recruitment.

The most recent notable two-way player in college football was none other than Travis Hunter, a similarly built two-way WR/CB who dominated in his short time at Colorado on his way to a No. 1 overall draft pick from the Jaguars. If the Tigers can land Walden, he may add his name to the list of all-time great two-way players and be the first major two-way player in the modern era for the Tigers.

As for the Tigers’ history with two-way players, the most notable of that archetype in Auburn history is the great Tucker Frederickson, who was the No. 1 draft pick in 1965 after a dominant stretch of seasons as a fullback and safety.

Of course, as a top-three athlete in the country, Walden has received a host of offers and interest from a litany of top teams, so it will not be an easy road to land the four-star. LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss and Oregon also headline Walden’s commitment. Still, the Tigers’ allowance to potentially have Walden playing on both sides of the football may be helping their chances, especially over programs that would rather Walden focus on one side.

As it stands, the Tigers currently holds an 18% chance to land Walden, which ranks second among all teams, following Ole Miss’ 21%. If the Tigers can land Walden, their already-strong recruiting class will receive a boost of star power that could make headlines as soon as 2027.

Sign up for our free Auburn Tigers newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news!