Early signing day has come and gone, and Auburn football still only has one offensive lineman signed to the recruiting class of 2022 in Eston Harris Jr. Despite an extremely successful day that saw the Tigers make leaps and bounds in the recruiting ranks, the OL room is still badly in. need of attention.
Nine offensive linemen will return to the Plains next season in Tate Johnson, Brenden Coffey, Kameron Stutts, Keiondre Jones, Jalil Irvin, Avery Jernigan, Kilian Zierer, Colby Smith, and Garner Langlo. The number of returners could grow if the Tigers’ five senior offensive linemen decide to utilize their extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
With Harris as the only signee, we can expect head coach Bryan Harsin, wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau, and the rest of the staff to be hitting the NCAA transfer portal hard for other options. Here are three offensive linemen from the portal that Auburn football should consider adding to the ranks.
Auburn football OL transfer portal target #1: Hunter Nourzad
Hunter Nourzad entered the transfer portal in late November as a grad transfer with two years of eligibility left. Though the tackle opted out of the 2020 season due to the pandemic, he earned Second-Team All-Ivy League honors as a sophomore in 2019 and started his final 20 games at Cornell.
He played both tackle positions for Cornell but also has experience at center. He’s picked up offers from a long list of programs that includes Penn State, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, and Syracuse. Although the Tigers haven’t yet offered Nourzad, he would be a great addition to the offensive line.