Demarcus Riddick could be the answer to the Diego Pavia question
The familiar foe from Vandy is extremely efficient and one of the SEC's top rushers. But Auburn might have a young ace up its sleeve.
(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — Demarcus Riddick only played 10 defensive snaps for Auburn against Kentucky on Saturday night, but he still made his presence felt.
On a third-and-13 late in the second quarter, Riddick lined up in an intimidating-looking pass-rushing package. Auburn overloaded the right side of Kentucky’s offensive line with a trio of Riddick standing between Keldric Faulk and Keyron Crawford. On the left side, Jalen McLeod was split out wide, all by himself.
At the snap, Faulk, Crawford and McLeod went right after the quarterback. Riddick stayed back after the initial surge, watching Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff intently. With zone coverage behind him, Riddick stayed directly across from Vandagriff as he tried to escape Crawford to the left side. When McLeod barreled down on him from the right side, he had to work back to the middle.
That’s when Riddick — who was behind all three of the pass-rushers on the play — decided to attack. He slipped between a pair of scrambling Kentucky offensive linemen and sprinted directly for Vandagriff. Even though McLeod had a few yards of a head start, Riddick hit the quarterback at the exact same time as he did.
Riddick might be a first-year player on an Auburn defense that has drastically changed its personnel under new leadership in 2024, but he doesn’t look like one.
“That boy’s a dog,” McLeod said recently. “I've said it multiple times: He’s a dog, man. He’s not playing like a true freshman, you know?”
In terms of efficiency, there might not be a player on the Tigers’ roster that has made more of his chances than Riddick.
Through eight games, he’s played a little more than 100 defensive snaps. That ranks No. 21 on the team, between Champ Anthony — who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4 — and reserve defensive end Zykevious Walker. Riddick didn’t play at all in two of those games, not seeing the field against Cal or New Mexico.
“Every snap he gets, he takes full advantage of it,” Faulk said. “He’s one of those guys that if I had to put him on the field for one of the last plays of the game, I would, because he goes hard every play and never takes a play off.”
Riddick is 12th on the team in overall tackles, fifth in quarterback pressures and 13th in successful run stops. He’s only topped two dozen snaps in one game this season (Georgia) and yet is among one of the Tigers’ most impactful defenders.
“He’s super talented,” senior linebacker Eugene Asante said. “I always compare myself to the young guys that are here now. I wasn’t as talented as him coming in. The things he can do, just running and hitting and flying around — it took me some time to get to where I’m at.
“But he’s a guy that has it right now.”
And there’s no better time like the present — a matchup with Vanderbilt and star quarterback Diego Pavia — for Riddick to show just how much he has “it.”