Former Georgia WR Eyeing Potential Auburn Move as Tigers Crack Top 3

One of Auburn's top receiver targets most recently spent time at Purdue after his stint at Georgia.

One of Auburn's top receiver targets most recently spent time at Purdue after his stint at Georgia. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers are pushing to earn a commitment from former Georgia and Purdue wide receiver Nitro Tuggle. Tuggle spent the 2025 season with the Boilermakers, where he caught 34 passes for 500 yards and four touchdowns. He has two years of eligibility remaining. 

According to College Football Edits on X, Tuggle is down to Auburn, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina as his final three schools in the transfer portal. He visited South Carolina on Tuesday and Vanderbilt on Wednesday, but does not have a visit to Auburn scheduled at this time.

Former Georgia and Purdue WR Nitro Tuggle (@nitro_tuggle) tells me he is down to these 3 schools:

Auburn
Vanderbilt
South Carolina

Tuggle totaled 34 Receptions, 500 Receiving Yards, and 4 TD this past season for the Boilermakers.

Where will Tuggle end up? 👀 pic.twitter.com/LXiZ42gMyr

— College Football Edits (@CollegeEdits) January 6, 2026

The former Bulldog was an extremely highly rated recruit out of Northwood High School in Elkwood, Ind. Tuggle was a 4-star prospect via both 247Sports and On3’s Rivals. The 247Sports composite ranked Tuggle as the No. 102 national prospect, No. 20 receiver, and No. 2 player in Indiana. Rivals had him as the No. 127 national player, No. 23 receiver, and No. 3 player in his state.

However, two years of less than spectacular production have dropped Tuggle’s rankings slightly. Rivals has the receiver ranked as just the No. 600 player in the portal. He appeared in eight games during his true freshman season at Georgia, but caught just 3 passes for 34 yards with the Bulldogs. The lackluster start caused Tuggle to transfer back closer to home to Purdue for 2025, but the move couldn’t spark the talent he showed as a recruit.

Though Tuggle does possess some good athleticism and can run routes fairly well, he’s had some issues with concentration drops in his time as a collegiate athlete. Additionally, the Purdue offense has been so abysmal in recent years that it’s hard for any player not named Devin Mockobee to show many flashes of talent.

Despite the poor offensive output, Tuggle did at least move himself towards the top of Purdue’s depth chart. His 500 receiving yards was second on the team by just 70 yards to senior Michael Jackson III, and Tuggle did it in nearly half the catches. The sophomore also led Purdue in receiving touchdowns with 4.

Recruiting Tuggle would be nothing new for Auburn, as the Tigers also offered him as a high schooler, though this time around Auburn is competing with South Carolina and Vanderbilt instead of Georgia. However, Tuggle does seem to have caught the eye of Gamecocks’ quarterback LaNorris Sellers in this cycle, leading many to believe that South Carolina has an early edge.

The addition of Tuggle would be big for Auburn, as the Tigers’ receiver room has been absolutely decimated in the portal. Head coach Alex Golesh has recently added some of his USF receivers from 2025 to the room, but the injection of more talent certainly couldn’t hurt.