State of the Position 2024: Defensive Line

There's been a lot of turnover on the defensive front this offseason, and Auburn needs to find its next go-to guys in the trenches.

This is the final installment of a 10-part Auburn football 2024 season preview series that we’re calling “State of the Position.” It’s a breakdown of the past, present and future of each group on the Tigers’ roster as they look to end their streak of losing seasons and take a significant step forward this fall.

Even though I’m out of the country this week, we’ll still wrap up this series with our deep dives on the offensive and defensive lines.

STATE OF THE POSITION: QB • WR • LB • EDGE • RB • TE • CB • S • OL

DT Trill Carter (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

The Past

While Auburn is one of the top candidates for the title of “Running Back U” in college football, its tradition of producing standout defensive tackles might be quite underrated. From the days of Tracy Rocker, David Rocker and Benji Roland to Nick Fairley, Montravius Adams and Derrick Brown, the Tigers’ top defenses have almost always had an elite player leading the charge in the trenches.

In 2023, Auburn had a first-team All-SEC selection up front in Marcus Harris — a native of nearby Montgomery who went from underrated signee at Kansas to a multi-year starter close to home.

Harris finished the season with seven sacks, which was the most for a true defensive tackle at Auburn since Fairley’s dominant run in 2010. He was one of Auburn’s top pass-rushers and graded out as a standout run-stopper among his SEC and power-conference peers.

While he didn’t have incredible size or imposing physical gifts, Harris was a smart defensive linemen who had an incredible motor. That took him a long way during his college career.

Unfortunately for Auburn, the interior defensive line was another place where the Tigers didn’t have a lot of quality depth. Kentucky transfer Justin Rogers finished the year with just 17 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Jayson Jones, another monster nose tackle, had solid PFF grades for his play but recorded only 20 tackles and a half of a tackle for loss. Purdue transfer Lawrence Johnson made most of his impact in Auburn’s easier wins.

Like a lot of Auburn’s defense in 2023, there were bright spots and a clear-cut leader in the trenches — but not enough consistently strong play. The result was a middle-of-the-road defense that had highs and lows against the run and didn’t create nearly enough havoc against the pass when it mattered the most.

And, outside of wide receiver, it’s tough to find anywhere else on Auburn’s roster that went through as much of an overhaul as the interior defensive line this offseason.

Assistant coach Jeremy Garrett took an opportunity to return to the NFL after one season on the Plains with Hugh Freeze. Auburn elected to promote Vontrell King-Williams, Garrett’s right-hand man in 2023, to the vacant role. The reshuffling of responsibilities gave former inside linebackers coach Josh Aldridge both the Bucks and the traditional defensive ends, meaning VKW would be in charge of the tackles.

Harris left for the NFL, getting a late-round spot with the Houston Texans. Rogers was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson saw his eligibility expire. Mosiah Nasili-Kite, a Maryland transfer whose season was cut short by injury, was also done. A handful of younger defensive linemen — Enyce Sledge, Stephen Johnson and Wilky Denaud — left via the transfer portal.

After the dust settled, Jones was left as the top returning defensive tackle, having played 347 snaps in 2023. (He was behind both Harris and Rogers in that department.) The next-closest was former JUCO transfer Bobby Jamison-Travis… all the way down at 36 defensive snaps in three games of action last season.

That left Auburn with a massive need to get interior defensive linemen through the transfer portal, and that push didn’t stop after the first big window.

Like everywhere else, the Tigers want to rebuild their defensive line through top-notch high school recruiting and development. But, in the meantime, they have to make it through another difficult season of SEC football — and they don’t have nearly the same amount of returning experience up front as they do at other positions on their defense.

That leaves Auburn with major question marks on the interior defensive line for 2024. Can some portal magic build that bridge to the future?

DT Bobby Jamison-Travis (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

The Present