8.6.23 Football Articles

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

 

Rivaldo Fairweather named to John Mackey Award watch list

JD McCarthy

1–2 minutes

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Rivaldo Fairweather is the latest Auburn Tiger to make the watch list for a prestigious award. Auburn’s tight end was named to the John Mackey Award watch list on Friday, the Friends of John Mackey announced.

Fairweather is entering his first season on the Plains but impressed in his three seasons at FIU, catching 54 passes for 838 yards and five touchdowns. The 6-4, 251-pounder has the athletic ability to be a difference-maker in the passing game and has a knack for making big gains, he averaged 15.5 yards per catch for FIU, and with more targets, he has a chance to help turn around Auburn’s passing attack.

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The John Mackey Award has been presented annually since 2000 to the most outstanding collegiate tight end and is voted on by the John Mackey Award Selection Committee.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15.

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Auburn offers elite 2025 WR Cortez Mills

JD McCarthy

~2 minutes

Auburn’s recruiting has kicked it up several notches under Hugh Freeze and the Tigers are looking to keep the momentum going.

While it’s the 2024 class that has gotten the attention, Auburn’s coaches are starting to work on the 2025 cycle and on Friday they offered Cortez Mills, one of the top wide receivers in the country.

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Mills is from Homestead, Florida, and already has over two dozen offers and more are surely on the way for the talented pass catcher. He is the No. 98 overall player and No. 16 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite ranking. He is also the No. 19 player from the Sunshine State.

Making the jump from the Sun Belt to the SEC, Auburn wide receiver coach Marcus Davis has proven he can recruit at the highest level and Mills would be another big get. He has already flipped five-star wide receiver Perry Thompson from Alabama and landed four-star targets Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons, all in less than one year on the job.

The Tigers currently have one commit in their 2025 class, four-star defensive lineman Malik Autry.

#AGTG truly blessed to receive an offer from Auburn University 🦅@CoachDavisWR @G_miller11 @AuburnFootball pic.twitter.com/KmfHUXe5sR

— C3🐐 (@whycover3) August 5, 2023

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarth

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Social media reacts to Auburn landing 4-star CB Jalewis Solomon

JD McCarthy

~2 minutes

Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers stayed hot on the recruiting trail Saturday, landing a commitment from four-star cornerback Jalewis Solomon.

Solomon is the younger brother of Auburn defensive lineman Zykevious Walker and picked the Tigers over South Carolina, Florida State, Texas A&M and Kentucky.

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He is the fourth blue-chip recruit Auburn has added in the past 10 days, giving them 15 total commitments and the No. 16 ranked class in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Solomon joins a loaded secondary class that includes four-star cornerbacks A'mon Lane, Jayden Lewis, Jalyn Crawford and safety Kensley Faustin.

His addition fired up the Auburn fanbase which took to social media to celebrate, here are their top reactions.

This should remind South Carolina of 2010 SEC Championship

— Auburn Memes (@AuburnMemes) August 5, 2023

Hugh Freeze and Auburn are on a recruiting tear. Couple five-star flips and then this Jalewis Solomon commitment sure felt like a flip.

— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) August 5, 2023

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247sports.com

 

Auburn swoops in late lands commitment from 4star CB Jalewis Solomon

Christian Clemente

2–3 minutes

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The younger brother of Zykevious Walker is now headed to Auburn himself

After growing up with his older brother Zykevious Walker, Jalewis Solomon will now join him on the Plains, announcing his commitment to Auburn on Saturday over South Carolina, Florida State, Texas A&M and Kentucky.

A dynamic athlete at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, Solomon is ranked in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite as the No. 230 player, No. 19 athlete and No. 30 player from Georgia. While some schools recruited the Schley County product to play receiver, Auburn secondary coach Wesley McGriff zeroed in on him as one of his top cornerback targets. 

"Man, Coach Crime is electrical," Solomon said. "He’s always going to make sure I have a great time here, he’s always going to make sure I love it. He makes feel like an Auburn DB as of right now.

"I’d love to play for Coach (Hugh) Freeze, like why not? He kind of made a point when we were talking to him, he’s — whenever he beat ‘Bama in 2012 — it’s like, man, that’s different. He was saying that whenever I get here he’s going to make me a big impact for this team and I feel wanted here."

Already holding commitments from Jayden Lewis, A'Mon Lane and Jalyn Crawford to play cornerback or nickel — with Kensley Faustin at safety — Solomon was the top option that Auburn was still after at cornerback.

As a junior, Solomon caught 86 passes for 1,210 yards and 10 touchdowns for a Schley County squad that went 12-3 and played for a Peach State Class A Division II title. On defense, he was credited with 29 tackles, 4 PBU and 3 INT.

Also in the family is 5-star linebacker/edge rusher Zayden Walker, the No, 9 player in the Class of 2025.

With the commitment of Solomon, Auburn's class jumps from No. 18 to No. 16 in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings.

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247sports.com

Auburn DBs welcome high expectations with humility Were not anybody

Nathan King

5–6 minutes

Auburn’s defensive backs are well aware of the responsibilities that fall on their shoulders this season.

Almost undeniably, the secondary is the most polished and complete unit on the entire roster. Nine of 11 contributors from last season are back, including all five starters. Then the Tigers added eight more DBs in their 2023 recruiting class — half of which are blue-chip prospects.

Hugh Freeze knows he has to treat that group differently than, say, a position group with far less experience, or one with less familiarity with one another. So he’s not afraid to start putting some pressure on the likes of D.J. James, Jaylin Simpson, Nehemiah Pritchett and Keionte Scott this preseason — hoping to push some of the more talented players on his squad to their potential.

“I think we've got to improve our mental toughness and our attention to detail in the secondary,” Freeze said on the first day of preseason camp Thursday. “I do think we have some talent there, but it's some older talent and then it's some really good young talent. I don't think any have been stressed and strained enough to where we need to be but I do think we have some talent there. So I want to see them improve that aspect of it.”

As the Tigers defense gets into the swing of preseason camp, first-year coordinator Ron Roberts has plenty of question marks to address over the next month. Most of those stem from a defensive front seven that was gashed as one of the SEC’s worst run defenses last year, and then lost a handful of NFL players.

The secondary will be relied upon for its consistency and experience. Coaches won’t be pleased veteran starting cornerbacks like James and Pritchett aren’t winning battles on the outside. Fifth-year senior safeties Zion Puckett and Simpson shouldn’t be giving up a ton of yardage downfield. Scott, the team’s No. 2 returning tackler from last season, and his running mate, Donovan Kaufman, are expected to know the defense inside and out from the all-important “star” position, otherwise known as the nickel spot.

“The only ways we’re able to give up things is just little mistakes,” Scott said Friday. “Being able to hone in on those little things and being able to know the checks and being able think fast and all play on the same level mentally and physically. I think it really just comes with chemistry. At the end of the day we’re all different talents and (have) different abilities. But being able to all come in and be able to think as one group, as a DB group no matter who’s in the game, that’s going to be something that’s super important for us.”

It helps that the group has familiar faces on the coaching staff, too. Zac Etheridge is entering his third season back on staff at his alma mater, after he was one of two assistants (running backs coach Cadillac Williams) retained from Bryan Harsin’s 2022 staff. With Etheridge now specializing in the safeties, Wesley McGriff has returned for his third coaching stint at Auburn to oversee the cornerbacks. While he didn’t coach under Harsin, he was last on Auburn’s staff in 2020, and he recruited and coached players like Pritchett, Simpson and Puckett.

“Shaq and Kobe,” Scott said with a laugh, describing the relationship of Auburn’s two coaches in the secondary. “Chemistry, They’ve got chemistry already. … You’ve got an old-school coach with more old-school tradition and you’ve got a new-school coach. Being able to merge those together — it’s crazy to see it sometimes.”

While all eyes are affixed on the quarterback competition this preseason, those attempting to thwart the passing game are among some of the best players on the roster. James, after posting the best Pro Football Focus coverage grade among SEC corners last season, said this offseason he won’t be satisfied unless he’s an All-American. Pritchett also could have turned pro last season after receiving a Senior Bowl invite. Etheridge called Simpson a “Sunday player” now that’s moved full time from cornerback to safety.

The leaders in Auburn’s secondary are challenging themselves to balance that established production with a hunger to improve.

“Everyone knows we have one of the top groups in the country,” Scott said. “Just being able to go to practice knowing that we’re not nowhere, we’re not anybody, we’re not ranked in the country, we’re not anything. … Offensive coordinators around the country are going to know. We just want to live in that. We want to let everyone know that there’s not going to be a person you can pick on in our DB group.”

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al.com

Hugh Freeze has changed recruiting at Auburn. And all it took was a bit of effort.

Published: Aug. 05, 2023, 4:00 p.m.

7–9 minutes

Jackson High School produces college football players.

Take Auburn cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett for example. Pritchett played for the Aggies in west Alabama from 2015-19, helping them to a combined 35-15 record through his four seasons and earning a 3-star rating as a prospect before enrolling with the Tigers.

“We’ve got teachers here in the school that are talking about (Pritchett) getting drafted and stuff, so you know, there’s still a lot of close ties with Auburn,” said Jackson’s head football coach Cody Flournoy.

Despite Auburn having one of its former players on the roster, when Bryan Harsin was the head coach of the Tigers, Jackson didn’t get much love from Auburn.

Up until Hugh Freeze and his staff took over, current Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who previously held the same title on The Plains from 2016-20, was the last Auburn coach to contact Flournoy and Jackson.

“That’s the last time we ever heard from anybody at Auburn and we’ve got a player there,” Flournoy said.

No one on Harsin’s staff gave Jackson the time of day.

“At Jackson, every year or two, we’re always going to have good players. And that’s not that I’m producing good players, but Jackson and this community… this Highway 43 corridor in West Alabama that we’re on… there’s always players coming out of it,” Flournoy said.

“What I’m getting at is to not hear from Auburn… it’s like at least y’all could give us a call or something. We’ve got a guy there. It’s like, y’all know where (Pritchett) come from, don’t ya?”

Less than 10 miles east of Auburn’s campus in Opelika, Erik Speakman, head coach of the Bulldogs’ football program, shared many of the same stories.

Speakman, who has been at Opelika for more than 20 years, tried giving Harsin and his staff the benefit of the doubt in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“He came in under Covid so you kinda give him a pass in year one,” Speakman said. “But then you really never saw much of those guys. And it wasn’t just him, but the whole staff.”

The state of Alabama is regarded as one of the best in producing college football talent.

According to Bleacher Report, Alabama is the fifth-ranked state in terms of football talent for the 2024 class with two 5-star prospects and 19 4-star prospects. Alabama’s neighboring states, Georgia and Florida rank No. 3 and No. 2, respectively.

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al.com

Hugh Freeze has changed recruiting at Auburn. And all it took was a bit of effort.

Published: Aug. 05, 2023, 4:00 p.m.

7–9 minutes

Jackson High School produces college football players.

Take Auburn cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett for example. Pritchett played for the Aggies in west Alabama from 2015-19, helping them to a combined 35-15 record through his four seasons and earning a 3-star rating as a prospect before enrolling with the Tigers.

“We’ve got teachers here in the school that are talking about (Pritchett) getting drafted and stuff, so you know, there’s still a lot of close ties with Auburn,” said Jackson’s head football coach Cody Flournoy.

Despite Auburn having one of its former players on the roster, when Bryan Harsin was the head coach of the Tigers, Jackson didn’t get much love from Auburn.

Up until Hugh Freeze and his staff took over, current Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who previously held the same title on The Plains from 2016-20, was the last Auburn coach to contact Flournoy and Jackson.

“That’s the last time we ever heard from anybody at Auburn and we’ve got a player there,” Flournoy said.

No one on Harsin’s staff gave Jackson the time of day.

“At Jackson, every year or two, we’re always going to have good players. And that’s not that I’m producing good players, but Jackson and this community… this Highway 43 corridor in West Alabama that we’re on… there’s always players coming out of it,” Flournoy said.

“What I’m getting at is to not hear from Auburn… it’s like at least y’all could give us a call or something. We’ve got a guy there. It’s like, y’all know where (Pritchett) come from, don’t ya?”

Less than 10 miles east of Auburn’s campus in Opelika, Erik Speakman, head coach of the Bulldogs’ football program, shared many of the same stories.

Speakman, who has been at Opelika for more than 20 years, tried giving Harsin and his staff the benefit of the doubt in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“He came in under Covid so you kinda give him a pass in year one,” Speakman said. “But then you really never saw much of those guys. And it wasn’t just him, but the whole staff.”

The state of Alabama is regarded as one of the best in producing college football talent.

According to Bleacher Report, Alabama is the fifth-ranked state in terms of football talent for the 2024 class with two 5-star prospects and 19 4-star prospects. Alabama’s neighboring states, Georgia and Florida rank No. 3 and No. 2, respectively.

“I don’t know why he didn’t put an emphasis on recruiting, maybe they just thought they could out-coach people,” Speakman said of Harsin. “But with the quality of coaching and the quality of players in this league, it’s not just coaching and it’s not just recruiting. So it’s not one or the other, you’ve gotta do both.”

Harsin’s 2021 recruiting class ranked as the 18th in the nation after neglecting to land a 5-star recruit and reeling in seven 4-star prospects. Auburn’s 2022 class ranked as the 21st in the country and again didn’t feature a 5-star.

Emphasizing recruiting is especially vital at a place like Auburn, where your program is sandwiched between two of the country’s recruiting powerhouses in Alabama and Georgia.

In Freeze’s first true recruiting cycle at Auburn, he’s already done what Harsin could never do in securing the commitments of a pair of in-state, 5-star prospects in linebacker Demarcus Riddick and wide receiver Perry Thompson.

Making the blue-chip duo’s pledge to the Tigers that much most remarkable was the fact that Riddick flipped from Georgia and Thompson flipped from Alabama.

The Tigers also added 4-star athlete Malcolm Simmons during Big Cat Weekend, securing yet another in-state commitment.

Granted, there’s still a while to go before Auburn’s current commits put pen to paper and sign their letters of intent, which bind them to the university.

“It’s still a recruiting win when you’re getting three really good players out of the state of Alabama to commit to you,” Speakman said. “And for whatever reason, that wasn’t happening the last two years. Those kids would not have been coming to Auburn.

“You really better do your homework, And I think that’s what you’re seeing now with Coach Freeze is his familiarity with the SEC from his time at Ole Miss and just the emphasis on getting in-state guys that wanna be at Auburn and wanna play for Auburn and then those guys in Georgia and some guys from Florida.”

And a lot of those in-state guys do want to play for Auburn.

Sure, most of the time the local high school teams are a balanced mix of Crimson Tide fans and Tigers fans. But an Auburn offer, especially if it comes to a kid without an Alabama offer, gives the Tigers a pretty considerable chance.

“For us being this close, it’s probably 90 percent of them (want to play for Auburn),” said Opelika’s Speakman. “They’re either going to be an Auburn fan or an Alabama fan growing up here. They may like other schools… But if you threw out an Alabama or an Auburn offer to them, they’re going to take those first. To get that Auburn offer is huge for these kids.”

Take the example of Jarell Stinson for example.

Stinson, a 4-star cornerback prospect and 10-time track state champion out of Opelika High School, was recruited to Auburn by Gus Malzahn’s staff in 2020. Even after Malzahn’s firing, sold on playing for a program and not a specific coach, Stinson committed to his hometown team.

On June 18, 2021, six months after Auburn hired Harsin, Stinson returned to campus for an official visit.

Twenty six days later, on July 14, Stinson decommitted from the Tigers.

“I don’t know, he was just never sold on the previous group (at Auburn),” Speakman said when discussing Stinson’s flip.

So what exactly is Auburn’s current staff doing to sell players and local high school players alike? Local coaches’ answers might infuriate Tigers fans.

“They’re just putting forth some effort,” Flournoy said. “And it doesn’t take a ton of effort, but come by and see me. And they have… It doesn’t take much. Show your face, wear your Auburn gear and it makes a big impact.”

Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery have each made the three-hour trek down to Jackson to visit with Flournoy and discuss his program and its prospects.

Speakman says Davis and defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett have passed through Opelika to do the same.

Freeze was asked about Auburn’s recent recruiting successes Thursday as he opened fall camp with a press conference.

“I’ve always felt like — I want this to sound the right way — I was pretty decent at recruiting,” Freeze said. “I had a good plan and a good plan for the staff. I’m not really shocked.

Freeze admits to being a little shocked by the talent, or perhaps lack thereof, on Auburn’s roster when he first got to The Plains.

And he, like the rest of those who have watched Auburn recruiting over the years, whether as a high school coach or a fan, express a sense of confusion as it relates to the lack of recruiting success the past two seasons.

“I think it’s easy to recruit to Auburn. This is one of the elite programs in the country. Maybe we haven’t had the production in the last few years that is expected. I wasn’t here, I don’t know. I’m not really surprised that you can recruit at Auburn.”

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as usual i will check by throughout the day for more updates. thanx for stopping by.

[WarTim 3,525]

Thanks Fifty 

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3 minutes ago, WarTim said:

Thanks Fifty 

my pleasure tim.

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yahoo.com

 

Hugh Freeze shares thoughts on the enchancement of receiver room

Taylor Jones

2–3 minutes

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The position group with the most buzz this fall camp is quarterback. However, a quarterback is only as good as his supporting cast.

In addition to enhancing the quarterback room by adding Payton Thorne from Michigan State, Hugh Freeze boosted his offensive line and receiving corps.

Auburn failed to have a receiver reach 500 yards last season and the last receiver to come close to a 1,000-yard season was Darvin Adams in 2009 when he reeled in 60 catches for 997 yards.

As someone who is known for having solid receivers, Freeze knew that he needed to upgrade his receiver room for his team to reach its true potential.

“We needed to overhaul that room and improve it for sure,” Freeze said Thursday. “I say that and truthfully I don’t know, the evaluation sample was so small for most of them because this system is totally different than what they’ve played in.”

Javarrius Johnson returns as the Tigers’ leading receiver after reeling in 26 catches for 493 yards and three scores last season. Koy Moore is back, as are several tight end options such as Brandon Frazier, tyler fromm, and luke deal.

Freeze enhanced the group by adding Shane Hooks and Jyaire Shorter, who were Jackson State and North Texas’ leading receivers last season respectively. He also grabbed a tall target in Nick Mardner, as well as another tight end in Rivaldo Fairweather.

The potential is there, but it is time now for them to prove it on the field.

“I do think we’ve improved that room in recruiting, and I do think there are guys here that can be better than what they’ve shown,” Freeze said. “We’re excited to see, I think we’ve seen glimpses of that but now we’ve got to go and do it when it’s real and live. But we are excited about the fact that I think we’ve improved that room for sure.”

The receivers, as well as the offensive line, will use this two-week period of fall camp to prove that they are worthy of a starting position.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

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yahoo.com

Keionte Scott, Auburn football veteran DBs focused on trying to 'bring our freshmen up'

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

4–6 minutes

AUBURN — Heading into preseason practices, the secondary looked like a big strength for Auburn football.

It still might be — the position brought back virtually every contributor from a year ago, including potential NFL draft picks DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett at cornerback — but in his first meeting with reporters Thursday, coach Hugh Freeze pointed out a couple flaws in the room he'd like to fix.

"I think we've got to improve our mental toughness and our attention to detail in the secondary," the 53-year-old coach said. "I do think we have some talent there, but it's some older talent and then it's some really good young talent. I don't think any have been stressed and strained enough to where we need to be, but I do think we have some talent there."

Freeze is correct in his assessment of the position, at least in part. The room is essentially split into two groups: the veterans and the freshmen, with the latter section being made up of seven players.

FIRST DAY: Payton Thorne takes first-group reps as Auburn football's Hugh Freeze says rotation begins

GETTING STARTED: Why this fall camp is the 'most uncomfortable' for Auburn football's Hugh Freeze

One of those seven includes four-star recruit Sylvester Smith, who was rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 233 player in the Class of 2023 and the 18th-best safety in the country. Smith is listed as a safety on Auburn's roster, but at practice Friday, he was shadowing Keionte Scott in the nickel.

Scott, a former junior college standout heading into his second year on the Plains, is in the midst of taking on a larger leadership role. He's been hands on with the staff recruiting the Class of 2024 — deemed one of Auburn's "closers" with recruits on visits — and has really been trying to take younger DBs under his wing: "We did a good job in the summer just trying to bring our freshman up and the newcomers."

“High motor," Scott said of Smith. "Just a kid that wants to be out there. He loves the game. You can tell he really loves playing football.”

Among other veteran-newcomer pairings were Nehemiah Pritchett with Colton Hood and DJ James with Champ Anthony, who spent last season at Tyler Junior College. Kayin Lee, an early enrollee who went through spring practice, was tied to JC Hart.

"I take pride in trying to be there for all the freshmen," Scott said. "A lot of our vets have done the same thing. We’re all just a really tight group, so we all just make sure everyone’s OK. We created a group chat: ‘Do you need anything or anything like that?’ I definitely feel like everyone has their one person, but as a DB group, all of our vets are over all of our young guys."

Jarquez Hunter still absent

After being absent from practice Thursday, or at least during the 30-minute window reporters are allowed to view practice, Hunter was once again not spotted on the field Friday. Sophomore safety Caleb Wooden wasn't seen, either.

Also of note was junior receiver Koy Moore. Moore was in attendance, but it appeared he was limited in some way. He wasn't wearing a no-contact jersey, but he was often off to the side while the rest of the WRs went through drills.

"I think we're blessed," Freeze said Thursday when asked about injuries; he only mentioned South Florida transfer Brian Battie by name. "There may be a few more that are somewhat limited, but I think everybody will be out there today."

Payton Thorne with the 1s again

Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne once again jogged onto the field to participate in drills first. The presumed starting offensive line of (from left to right) Dillon Wade, Tate Johnson, Avery Jones, Kam Stutts and Gunner Britton was in front of him.

Freshman running back Jeremiah Cobb flanked Thorne with the first group after sophomore Damari Alston was first up Thursday.

Keldric Faulk at defensive end

Despite being listed as a jack linebacker, former Highland Home star Keldric Faulk was working at times Friday as a defensive end. Faulk, a freshman who enrolled early and took part in spring practice, has drawn praise from coaches and teammates since he arrived to campus earlier this year.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football freshmen DBs leaning on vets at preseason practices

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yahoo.com

 

Auburn is pursuing a fast-rising 2025 offensive lineman

Taylor Jones

2–3 minutes

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Auburn football is making waves in the recruiting world, especially within its home state.

So far in the 2024 class, Auburn has snagged 10 recruits from the state of Alabama. Out of those 10, nine are in the top-25. Hugh Freeze and his staff hope to keep that momentum going in 2025, as they are climbing up the ranks for one of the state’s top players for the cycle.

Spencer Dowland, a three-star offensive lineman from Athens, paid a visit to the Plains for Big Cat Weekend and came away impressed with what Auburn had to offer.

“I really enjoyed it,” Dowland said in an interview with Cole Pinkston of On3. “I didn’t really know what to expect, I had never been to anything like this. They told me it would be similar to a junior day, so I expected something like that. It was really good.”

Dowland only has received a ranking from only one outlet, 247Sports, but is receiving interest from several SEC schools such as Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. He has quickly built a bond with offensive line coach Jake Thornton due to their similar backgrounds.

“Not really, none of my family really played sports,” Dowland said. “(Thornton) kind of comes from the same background as me. His parents didn’t really play or get into sports. His options were to go to work or try to get a scholarship. Me and him definitely fit that. Coming from the same background we kind of built that connection.”

Dowland is a 6-6, 290-pound offensive lineman from the 2025 class. He is the No. 37 OT for the cycle and is the No. 20 prospect from the state of Alabama.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire