Auburn has the top returning CB duo in the SEC... and, perhaps, the entire country
It's rare to return a pair of strong, experienced coverage weapons in college football. And the numbers put these Tigers in rarer territory.
CB D.J. James and CB Nehemiah Pritchett (Auburn Athletics)
Of all the recruiting wins for Hugh Freeze and his new staff at Auburn this offseason, none of them were arguably as impactful for the 2023 season as the returns of cornerbacks D.J. James and Nehemiah Pritchett.
Toward the end of December — during a transfer portal and late-high school recruiting frenzy for the Tigers — James and Pritchett both announced that they would play for the new staff in 2023 instead of going to the NFL Draft.
Very quietly, Auburn did well in pass defense during an otherwise forgettable 2022 season that ended with a losing record.
The Tigers ranked No. 23 nationally in yards allowed per pass attempt (6.5), 33rd in opponent completion percentage (57.3%) and 25th in opponent passing efficiency (121.34). Only Penn State, Arkansas and Alabama averaged more than 7.5 yards per attempt in a game against Auburn, and the Tigers held their opponents to completion percentages of 60% or worse in more than half of their games.
Being effective in pass defense is a total team effort. Safeties have to patrol the deepest parts of the field or cover matchup problems toward the middle. Teams that don’t have decent linebackers in coverage can get picked apart. And, as Auburn players like to say, coverage and pass rush go hand-in-hand.
(The Tigers will hope that they can quickly rebuild a question-filled pass rush in 2023 in order to take full advantage of what they’ve got coming back in the secondary.)
But the foundation of a great pass defense is what happens on the outside, with the cornerbacks who are tasked with slowing down the offense’s most effective receiving threats.
In 2022, Auburn found a pretty impressive combination there. James was a revelation, making an instant impact after a transfer from Oregon back to his home state. Pritchett — a fourth-year senior who had started each of the last two seasons — continued to thrive on the outside after mixed results in the slot earlier in his career.
Both James and Pritchett played well enough in 2022, despite Auburn’s overall struggles, that they could have easily declared for the NFL Draft and not stuck around for the start of a new regime on the Plains.
Last month, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy claimed that James and Pritchett — who were both invited to the draft showcase game this past offseason — had “fringe top-100 grades” from “many NFL teams.”
If that’s true, then the Auburn duo would have heard their respective names called in Day 2 of the draft or early on Day 3, at the very latest.
Instead, they’re back at Auburn, leading a secondary that also returned the likes of experienced weapons Zion Puckett, Jaylin Simpson, Keionte Scott and Donovan Kaufman. (James’ breakout season made it much easier for Auburn to move Simpson to safety after an injury to Kaufman, and Simpson played some of the best ball of his career on the back end.)
“Those two guys, obviously, they're pros,” secondary coach Zac Etheridge said this spring. “They've gotta come to work every single day. … But just having their experience in the room, it always helps a secondary when you've got two guys on the outside that can eliminate guys on the outside and being able to go help stop the run, if they can win their 1-on-1s. And, hopefully, they can do that.
“They chose to come back not only to help us win a championship and finish what they started, but both of those guys are trying to get their degree before they leave. That's the most important piece: Them trying to get a degree. But their veteran presence and how they show up every day and how they come into the film room is important.”
Needless to say, the hype surrounding James and Pritchett has been quite large this offseason. In late May, Pro Football Focus tweeted a prompt, asking their followers “What’s the top CB duo in College Football entering the 2023 season?”
The attached graphic was a picture of Pritchett and, accidentally, former Auburn running back D.J. Williams — but it’s safe to say they meant James.
And the numbers back it up.