Don't forget about Auburn football's *other* 5-star freshmen.
Amaris Williams and Jamonta Waller — along with high 4-star Joe Phillips — could radically change the Tigers on the edge this fall.
EDGE Jamonta Waller (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)
During the final drive of the A-Day Game back in April, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was being interviewed by the SEC Network broadcast.
Freeze stood behind the offense, providing a live commentary to the on-field reporter as the Tigers tried to set up a game-winning field goal for freshman Towns McGough.
After a third-down conversion to transfer tight end Rico Walker, the Tigers’ offense hurried to the line.
The next play went for a 4-yard loss, with freshman Jamonta Waller slicing across the formation to rip down the ballcarrier with fellow 2024 signee Amaris Williams — who quickly shed his blocker on the other side of the line to make the play.
“That’s a freshman,” Freeze said, throwing his hands out at Waller before pointing to Williams on the other side. “Two freshmen. Those are gonna be two good players, 10 and 11.”
Auburn’s offense stayed behind the chains for the rest of the possession, only to be bailed out by McGough’s rocket launcher of a right leg.
But Waller and Williams made an impact on the final moments of the annual spring game. It was their first time doing so in front of fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium — and, judging by their early work, it will be far from the last.
In the 2022 and 2023 classes, Auburn signed a grand total of zero top-50 edge rushers, according to the 247Sports Composite. In 2021, Auburn signed one: Dylan Brooks, who left Tennessee in the wake of its NCAA violations but would transfer to Kansas in 2023 after playing a total of 140 snaps in his first two seasons.
But in 2024, Auburn looked to make up for lost time in the first full recruiting cycle under Freeze’s staff. The Tigers signed three different prospects who were ranked inside the top 11 nationally at edge rusher.
Williams flipped from Florida to Auburn on Signing Day as the nation’s No. 6 edge rusher and No. 62 overall player. (He was a 5-star in 247’s own rankings.) Waller flipped from Florida to Auburn a month earlier as the No. 8 edge rusher and No. 94 overall player. And the Tigers also landed local product Joe Phillips, the No. 11 edge rusher and No. 130 overall player who picked Auburn over Georgia last summer.
In the 2024 cycle, no other college football program signed a trio of top-15 edge rushers. Alabama and Texas signed two, but Auburn was the only one with three.
And all of them enrolled early, getting a crucial head start on their college careers.
“I think, sometimes, we get really excited about talking about these freshmen,” edge rusher coach Josh Aldridge said during the spring. “They should be sitting in their Algebra II class in high school right now.”
A lot has been made — and deservingly so — of Auburn’s 2024 class at wide receiver. Elite 5-star Cam Coleman stole the show at spring practices. Another 5-star, Perry Thompson, will join later this summer with super-athletic 4-star Malcolm Simmons. An additional 4-star, Bryce Cain, flashed his top-tier speed in spring ball.
But all that excitement over the wideouts shouldn’t overshadow what Auburn was able to do on the other side of the ball. The Tigers’ top-10 class in 2024 was more than just what it added in the passing game, and the trio of highly rated edge defenders are going to be asked to deliver early.
“I mean, those freshmen… they're really talented, and they’re probably going to have to play significant snaps in year one,” Freeze said last month.