What Caleb Wheatland could bring to an Auburn LB room that needs it

Here's a film room breakdown of the Maryland transfer's game — and why he could be one of the most important additions of the offseason.

(Caleb Wheatland/Instagram)

AUBURN — Memorial Day weekend is move-in weekend for new Auburn athletes, specifically ones in the Observer-covered sports of football and men’s basketball.

On the football side, the Tigers didn’t add a ton of newcomers. The majority of roster moves are made in the winter, because players want to be on campus for the spring semester, if at all possible.

The freshman wide receiver duo of twins Duke and Erick Smith are joining here in the early summer. The same goes for interior offensive linemen Kail Ellis and Jacobe Ward, who are also 2025 signees. Omar Mabson, the Auburn High star running back, is a new addition after reclassifying and picking the Tigers earlier this year.

Through the transfer portal, Auburn will officially add Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels after he finished his degree out on the West Coast. The Tigers added a familiar face in ex-Auburn-turned-Liberty defensive tackle Jay Hardy, along with FCS standout James Ash from Florida A&M. Cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant will also bring his cover and return skills from a good run at Tulane.

While those transfers and freshmen all feel like players who might have a chance to get into the mix at their respective positions this fall, there’s one more addition that has a much clearer path to playing time.

Like KeAndre Lambert-Smith last year, Auburn went to the Big Ten to pick up a player at a position of need in the spring transfer portal window. Caleb Wheatland has arrived from Maryland, where he played for three seasons — including a 2024 campaign in which he started every single game he played.

The 6-foot-1, 217-pound Wheatland doesn’t have the rankings hype that KLS had this time last season, but he was still an absolutely necessary pickup. The 247Sports rankings have him as the No. 11 inside linebacker to make a move in this year’s transfer portal cycle.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wheatland played 881 defensive snaps over the last three seasons at Maryland. In 2024, he played 466 snaps.

Why is that important? First of all, Auburn had a massive exodus of experience at inside linebacker this past season. The position coached by defensive coordinator DJ Durkin had Dorian Mausi, Eugene Asante and Austin Keys leading the way in terms of experience. They combined for a grand total of 5,010 defensive snaps in the FBS.

And, secondly, that lost experience dwarfs anything Auburn is bringing back. Demarcus Riddick, the near-5-star prospect from the Class of 2024, had 239 snaps last season as a true freshman. Program veteran Robert Woodyard Jr. played 128. D.J. Barber played two snaps against Alabama A&M as a true freshman. And LSU transfer Xavier Atkins only had 31 snaps for the Bayou Bengals last season.

That comes out to an even 400 defensive snaps at the college level for Auburn’s 2025 linebackers in 2024. Wheatland had more than that at Maryland, by himself.

So it should come as no surprise that Durkin and the Auburn staff made a point to grab Wheatland — one of the top inside linebackers available in the second window — out of the portal last month.

The Tigers have reloaded their linebacker spot with blue-chip talent. Riddick is the clear star there, but they also landed a 2025 trio of J.J. Faulk, Elijah Melendez and Bryce Deas. Faulk and Melendez were top-175 prospects and top-20 linebackers in their class by the Composite, while Deas was a top-30 linebacker for 247.

Still, there’s no question that Auburn was able to be ahead of schedule, so to speak, on defense last season because of the experience it had. The Tigers were No. 18 nationally in yards allowed per play and No. 9 in rushing yards allowed per play. Both of those statistics reflect good performances in the middle of the park.

Talent might win out over time. But Auburn needed experience to go with it right now.

“We have some talent, some young talent,” Durkin said earlier this month, per AL.com. “To me, (the key) was finding an experienced guy. Wheatland is a two-year starter, and really almost a three-year starter from where he was at playing in the Big Ten. And so just that element of, that guy’s played a lot of football, and I think there’s a calming influence when you have a veteran guy in that room, especially a middle linebacker.

“It’s kind of the quarterback of the defense, and so just having someone that’s been in the fire before, can communicate, help other guys get lined up, it provides a sense of calm to the rest of the defense when you have a guy that can do that. So I think that’s where it’ll really help us.”

What kind of linebacker has Auburn gotten with this battle-tested Big Ten veteran? Let’s take a look at some of his work from his time at Maryland.