3 transfers, 2 redshirt freshmen and 1 new-look Auburn defense

A new scheme and some new personnel have stood out in camp. Let's check in with five Tigers who could make a difference this fall.

S Sylvester Smith (All pictures: Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

It’s safe to say that, during Auburn’s first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, the defense got the better of the offense more often than not.

And one of the biggest takeaways from that performance was just how much stuff the Tigers showed on defense. Fronts constantly changed. Coverages adjusted on the fly. Blitzes came from everywhere. Pressures were diverse.

“Our scheme is one-of-a-kind, and a lot of teams will be shocked once they step against us,” transfer edge rusher Keyron Crawford said after practice Monday afternoon.

Of course, there were miscues. Auburn’s offense scored a pair of very easy touchdowns off of blown coverages from the second- and third-team secondaries. A handful of penalties kept drives alive.

And it was truly hard to tell how much success the Tigers would have had in the rushing department on either side, as plays were whistled dead rather quickly on “thud” contact.

But Auburn was able to throw out a wide variety of looks as a defense Saturday. Transfer defensive tackle Gage Keys said he’s somewhat surprised the Tigers have that much under their belt at this point in the preseason.

“It's just another mark of showing how much work we put in over the summer,” Keys said. “We did a lot of walk-throughs, a lot of installs and stuff like that. So I think it's been very beneficial to run so many different things.”

And it’s not just the scheme that looks quite different for Auburn under new defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin — it’s the personnel itself.

Crawford and Keys are two transfers who will likely play sizable roles in 2024, even if they aren’t “starters.” Big Isaiah Raikes might be the favorite to lead the Tigers at nose tackle this fall. JC Hart and Sylvester Smith both redshirted last season, but they’re primed for plenty of snaps in their second years on the Plains.

All five of those defenders have gotten real buzz in the first two weeks of fall camp, and all of them spoke with reporters after the Tigers returned to the practice field at the Performance Center on Monday.

There are other newer faces who will likely become fixtures on the defense in 2024, including safety Jerrin “Bug” Thompson, interior linemen Philip Blidi and Trill Carter, linebacker Dorian Mausi Jr., defensive back Antonio “Spoodie” Kite and several highly touted true freshman from a top-10 recruiting class.

For this newsletter, though, we’ll take a closer look at the five from Monday: Crawford, Keys, Raikes, Hart and Smith. Here’s all of what we learned from these new-look playmakers on a new-look defense.

Keyron Crawford: A very confident force on the outside

It would be natural to expect a learning curve of sorts for Crawford. He’s only been playing football for a few years, having picked up the sport as a senior in high school. He also is making the jump from the Sun Belt to the SEC, which isn’t easy.

But Crawford has been a standout from the moment he started practicing on the Plains. Jalen McLeod — another Sun Belt-to-SEC mover from last year — said Crawford was already a better pass-rusher than him. Crawford’s first snap inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, which came in Saturday’s scrimmage, was a lightning-fast sack.

The confidence just radiates from Crawford, who stole the show in his first interview session at Auburn on Monday afternoon.