How many defensive backs will Auburn need to rely on in 2024?

The Tigers will have to turn to some inexperienced options on the back end this fall. Who makes the most sense in the rotation?

CB Antonio Kite and CB Kayin Lee (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

On the first day of fall camp, Hugh Freeze said that the key to Auburn football’s 2024 season will be how well the Tigers’ young receivers and young defensive backs play.

The next several weeks only added fuel to the former group’s hype train. Sure, there have been issues with missed assignments — although that number went down from Saturday to Tuesday’s practice — but the excitement level is high thanks to the plays made by Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, Malcolm Simmons and Bryce Cain.

The latter group hasn’t had created that same amount of buzz. Maybe it’s because Auburn has been desperate for more playmakers at wide receiver compared to what has been a consistent NFL player-producing spot at defensive back. Maybe it’s because the defense at its core doesn’t attract as many eyeballs from fans.

Or maybe it’s because the Tigers still have a ways to go on the back end.

It’s only natural for 2024 to be a transition year for Auburn’s secondary. Four multi-year starters are now gone. On the coaching staff, Zac Etheridge departed and Charles Kelly arrived. And two cornerbacks that Auburn would have expected to use this fall are now unavailable: Colton Hood is now at Colorado, while Tyler Scott tore his ACL and will miss the entire season.

There’s something of a foundation in place in the secondary, though. Keionte Scott, who was Auburn’s primary nickel in each of the last two seasons, has moved outside to cornerback. Kayin Lee was the Tigers’ No. 3 cornerback in 2023, having made multiple starts early in the season, and will slot into the starting lineup full-time.

Additionally, Auburn picked up fifth-year Texas transfer Jerrin “Bug” Thompson in the transfer portal and immediately installed him as a key leader at safety.

But the rest of the Tigers’ secondary will be made up of players who don’t have a lot of FBS experience.

“I don’t know what the secondary looks like,” Freeze said Monday. “That’s where we’re thinnest, for sure. I expect Keionte and Kayin Lee to get the nod at the corners. But we’re going to need the others to play, too. We’re still trying to figure out the safeties though, truthfully.”

Auburn has options. Even with Scott out for the season and Laquan Robinson moving to linebacker in fall camp, the Tigers have 15 scholarship defensive backs at their disposal for the 2024 season.

“We are gonna play multiple guys back there,” first-year defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said recently. “We feel we have enough talent to do that back there.”

Auburn’s coaches have said all preseason that they’re going to need to rely on plenty of defensive backs this fall.

How many is that, realistically?