Final depth chart projections for the 2024 Auburn Tigers

With the opener just one week away, let's take a final stab at who is going to be playing where for Auburn football this fall.

RB Jarquez Hunter (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

On Monday, Hugh Freeze will have his first game week press conference of the new season. Auburn’s SID staff will put out game notes for the matchup with Alabama A&M. Inside those game notes, there will likely be a projected depth chart.

It’s important to know what that depth chart is — and what it isn’t. Last year, before the opener against UMass, Freeze was asked about where the receivers were lined up on the depth chart.

“I'm going to be totally candid with you: I don't even have a depth chart, so I don't know where that came from,” Freeze said. “I guess that's from the SID world. I don't do depth charts. It's really nonsense.”

Depth charts are a staple of breaking down football teams, but they aren’t as commonplace inside the program as you might think. Sure, there will be announced starters, and there will be a pecking order of sorts for who plays what position.

However, teams need quality depth at every spot to survive the season. Former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele used to say he had “standards, not starters,” and that he wanted 20-plus players who could be first-teamers without any sort of drop-off. Current defensive tackles coach Vontrell King-Williams says he has a “rep chart, not a depth chart.”

Teams want to rotate well beyond their “starters” in games. For example, Freeze said last year that he plays four or five outside receivers and two or three inside receivers in his system.

“They freely rotate, so I don't make much of those depth charts,” Freeze said.

But the people love depth charts. There are entire websites dedicated to collecting depth charts for teams in both college football and the NFL. Broadcasters always have them in their notes. They’re printed on flip cards in press boxes all over the country.

And fans can’t get enough of them, judging by the traffic they get online.

So, with one week to go until the start of the 2024 Auburn football season, it’s time for our final depth chart projection.

This isn’t official by any means — again, even the “official” one might not be approved by the coaching staff — but it’s a look at where Auburn might stand at each position, based on what we’ve seen and heard so far.

Don’t get bogged down too much with who is on what line on this depth chart, because different position groups will go three- or even four-deep this season. Think of it, instead, as a guide to what you might expect from the Tigers this fall.

This final edition of the depth chart is armed with some helpful emojis, too. 🔒 is for a player who feels like a lock to start. ⬆️ is for a player who has moved up from our pre-fall camp projections. ‼️ is for a potential health concern. And 🔄 is for players who could be in the midst of a position switch heading into game week.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

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