Can Xavier Chaplin be the game-changing left tackle Auburn needs?

"Big X" should be a plug-and-play type of transfer for a Tigers offense looking for help. Here's why the coaching staff is high on him.

(Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — According to several of his former teammates at Virginia Tech, new Auburn offensive tackle Xavier Chaplin’s nickname is “Big X.”

So, when it comes to his impact on the field in 2025, it’s safe to say the Tigers hope he’s the biggest, the largest.

After yet another losing season in 2024 — one that featured an Auburn offense that regressed to scoring just 18.6 points per game against power-conference competition — Hugh Freeze and his staff looked to remake its attack in the offseason.

That roster revamp included the addition of Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold and Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. Due to the nature of his position, Arnold could end up being the most important transfer for the Tigers in 2025. Singleton, on the other hand, is the highest-rated one after his prolific run in Atlanta.

But Chaplin could be a major difference-maker for Auburn, because he plays a left tackle position that is in the running for the second most crucial spot on an offense.

“I think he is an All-SEC type performer, when I watch him move around,” Freeze said last Wednesday before an Ambush alumni club event at Lake Martin.

Chaplin did not go through spring practices fully at Auburn, spending most of them sidelined while recovering from a cleanup surgery on his shoulder. Chaplin played through that shoulder injury at Virginia Tech in 2024, starting in every regular-season game for the Hokies.

Still, what Chaplin has shown to the coaching staff has been more than enough to get them excited about his potential impact this fall.

“Just looking at all the summer workouts, I mean — the length and the footwork that he has, it changes us,” Freeze added.