Battle for ‘Bama: Where Auburn stands for Alabama’s top 15 prospects
Auburn is looking to make a stand in the state of Alabama in the class of 2025 and for classes to come. Alabama won many head to head battles in the state in past years. Other schools have come in-state and stolen recruits from the Tigers’ backyard. In the Hugh Freeze era, the goal is to put an end to that.
The latest intel, the trend, and where Auburn stands for the top 15 players in the state of Alabama for the class of 2025. As of right now, Auburn has commitments from 8 of the top 15 players and could be trending for more..
No. 1 – CB, Na’eem Offord, Birmingham, Ala., Parker (Ohio State)
In our last update, we tabbed the Tigers to be on the outside looking in. This time around, there is growing buzz that Auburn has a real shot. Ohio State has the lead, and a pretty strong one, but Auburn is chipping away at the lead. We feel fairly confident saying Auburn has solidified itself at No. 2 in this race. This one could get interesting down the stretch.
TREND: Auburn surging
No. 2 – Edge, Jared Smith, Hoover, Ala., Thompson
The Tigers have always recruited Smith, but turned up the heat after spring evaluation season. Now, Auburn has emerged as the clear team to beat. Smith will announced his commitment on Saturday Aug. 3. Will he follow his teammates, John McGuire and Anquon Fegans? We think so.
TREND: Auburn surging big
No. 3 – WR, Derick Smith, Selma, Ala., Southside (Alabama)
Smith flipped to Auburn on Monday and helped make Auburn the hottest team in recruiting in the country. Charles Kelly was an x-factor here as we wrote in the week leading up to the flip. In our last update, we said that Auburn was surging, and it was. Is this over? Probably not. Alabama did not want to lose Smith. However, Auburn has several different things going for it and knows it will have to fight to keep him.
TREND: Auburn
No. 4 – S, Anquon Fegans, Alabaster, Ala., Thompson
At last check, Auburn is still in the lead for Fegans. There is plenty of confidence coming from Auburn’s camp that it will land Fegans’ commitment on July 29. This would be one of the biggest commitments to date.
TREND: Auburn
No. 5 – S, Eric Winters, Enterprise, Ala. (Auburn)
Winters committed to Auburn after the Tigers fended off Georgia. He was one of the most comfortable recruits at Big Cat Weekend and is actively recruiting for Auburn.
Winters talks about why he chose Auburn and who he is targeting to join him..
TREND: Auburn
No. 6 – DL, Malik Autry, Opelika, Ala. (Auburn)
After checking around, confidence at Auburn remains good that it will keep Autry. Having said that, there is some confidence on the Ohio State side, too. We continue to read this as a tough flip and Auburn continues to fight to keep Autry in the fold. Things seemed to have firmed up with Autry and Auburn at Big Cat. He is beginning to actively recruit for Auburn again.
TREND: Solid to Auburn, Ohio State pushing
No. 7 – Edge, Zion Grady, Enterprise, Ala. (Ohio State)
Grady popped in at Big Cat Weekend, which was not a huge surprise. The thought in this recruitment remains: If Auburn wants to make a run at Grady, it will have a good shot at flipping. It seems that push could be made at some point. Of the flip targets, this one seems doable.
TREND: Solid to Ohio State, listening to Auburn
No. 8 – LB, Jakaleb Faulk, Highland Home, Ala. (Auburn)
At one time, Alabama seemed to be the biggest threat to Auburn. Now, Faulk has gone on record saying that Auburn and Florida are the two schools at the top of his list. According to our intel, Auburn still holds a significant lead, but Florida made a big impression on him. Right now, we like Auburn holding on to Faulk.
TREND: Auburn
No. 9 – QB, KJ Lacey, Saraland, Ala. (Texas)
Auburn never stopped recruiting Lacey, and that is why we continue to give the Tigers a realistic shot. However, at this time, it feels as though Lacey is trending further away from Auburn and closer to Texas.
TREND: Texas
No. 10 – RB, Anthony Rogers, Montgomery, Ala., Carver (Alabama)
At last check, Auburn has four running backs higher on the board than Rogers: Ousmane Kromah, Shekai Mills-Knight, Alvin Henderson, and Daune Morris.
TREND: Alabama
No. 11 – DL, Antonio Coleman, Saraland, Ala. (Alabama)
We talked about a shift in this recruitment in the last update. It seems that shift was Auburn’s tiring of the game. The Tigers invited Coleman to Big Cat Weekend with a condition: No more games.. Are you in or out? Coleman is in.
TREND: Auburn
No. 12 – IOL, Micah DeBose, Mobile, Ala., Vigor (Alabama)
At one time, Auburn was high on DeBose and had a great shot with him. The chatter with Auburn died down as Auburn turned its attention to others. The Tigers currently have five offensive line commitments with sights set on out of state prospects. DeBose has committed to Alabama and is solid to the Tide. It does not seem that Auburn has been pushing for him for a few months.
TREND: Alabama
No. 13 – RB, Alvin Henderson, Elba, Ala. (Auburn)
In our last update, Henderson was still committed to Penn State. It was clear that Auburn would not change its approach in recruiting him. The Tigers stayed in it and made the flip happen sooner than most would have thought. Henderson is locked in with the Tigers and is a very active recruiter. He won Auburn Live’s “most locked in” after Big Cat Weekend.
TREND: Auburn
No. 14 – DL, Jourdin Crawford, Birmingham, Ala., Parker (Auburn)
Crawford has been committed to Auburn since October of 2023. He took an official visit to LSU, but remains solid to the Tigers. Crawford has actively recruited for Auburn and has been high on Auburn for a long time. He is highly regarded by the Tigers’ staff.
TREND: Auburn
No. 15 – OT, Carde Smith, Mobile, Ala., Williamson
Smith recently decommitted from Auburn. According to our intel, there was a difference in opinions about NIL. USC and Mississippi State are two notable schools pushing for Smith. Auburn and Smith’s camp decided to part ways. Smith will end up elsewhere for now.
TREND: Not Auburn
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