Auburn football: Ranking every five-star recruit in program history

The highest-ranked recruit in Auburn history, it hurts to see Byron Cowart at No. 12 on this list. Nonetheless, the massive defensive end came to The Plains with major expectations and absolutely failed to live up to them.

At 6-foot-3 and 277 pounds with elite athleticism for his size, Cowart was ranked as the nation’s No. 3 overall recruit and was even the top recruit in the class of 2015 according to ESPN.

Most fans expected Cowart to be a star from day one but the five-star recruit struggled to find consistent playing time. Although Cowart appeared in 23 games during his first two seasons with the Tigers, he was rarely the starter and failed to do much in his limited snaps.

In two seasons with Auburn, Cowart only managed to record 15 total tackles, 1.5 TFLs and one forced fumble.

Like everyone else on this list so far, Cowart would leave Auburn, deciding to take the JUCO route before finishing his career at the University of Maryland.

Cowart fared much better at Maryland and even found himself selected by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 2019 draft.

Cowart played sparingly during his rookie season with the Patriots but considering the expectations he faced coming to Auburn, it’s hard not to label Cowart as a major disappointment.