Auburn football staff makes strong impression on 4-star TE

There has been this narrative that Auburn football has not used a tight end since 2013, in which CJ Uzomah was featured in the Gus Malzahn offense. “Auburn University is where tight ends go to die” is the best way to describe the perception of the Auburn football offense.

This perception is projected to die under Bryan Harsin and the new offensive scheme under Mike Bobo and it is showing on the recruiting trail. Micah Riley-Ducker found his way back to the Plains and came away extremely impressed with the new staff for Auburn football. Riley-Ducker caught up with Jeffrey Lee from Auburn Sports after his visit and was asked about his visit:

"“The official visit was so much better than my first visit. I loved it. It was amazing. It was a great experience; I didn’t expect it to be that great, but I loved it. I really liked talking to the players and get a better overall feel of the environment at Auburn.”"

When asked about the scheme and the new staff; Riley-Ducker had a lot of positive things to say:

"“I looked over the plays with Coach Bedell. He showed me their base concepts. It’s a lot like ours, but their terminology is different. It wouldn’t be a difficult transition for me.”"

Riley-Ducker also offered some insight on his final four programs and when a decision could be made:

"“They (Auburn) are in my final four. It is between Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, and Auburn. I’ll be ready to make my decision on July 7th. I’m looking at where I can play early and where I fit the best. I feel like I don’t have a bad option at this point. It’s just finding where I’m comfortable and where I can be the best I can be.”"

Riley-Ducker is a 4-star according to Rivals but ranks as a 3-star for the 247Sports composite rankings. He ranks as the #372 overall player and the #15 tight end for the 2022 class, while also ranking as the #3 player out of the state of Nebraska. Last season, Riley-Ducker racked up over 20 catches for 310 yards and reeled in 5 touchdowns.

Riley-Ducker has completed his official visits to Iowa State and Auburn over the past two weekends. He will head to Illinois this week and then wrap up his official visits with Iowa on June 25th. Right now, Iowa is the projected favorite but the confidence is not extremely high, which means the race is wide open for the talented tight end.

Auburn football may have the deepest tight end room they’ve had in multiple years. John Samuel Shenker and Luke Deal are the projected starters but expect Brandon Frazier and Tyler Fromm to fight for some playing time after J.J. Pegues moved to the defensive side of the ball.

Bryan Harsin is known for using tight ends and this will open opportunities for many players who were largely ignored by the previous staff. The top high school talent at the tight-end position will actually begin to consider Auburn football as an option to further their career in the coming years, which will only improve recruiting on the Plains.