Auburn football: Transfer portal focus is still in the trenches

We are currently sitting in the dead period between spring practice and summer workouts, and some Auburn football players are keeping occupied with pickup basketball as opposed to sweating too much about the September 3rd opener against Mercer.

That’s understandable. These are kids looking to enjoy the improved weather and general return to normalcy the year 2022 has been.

The Auburn football coaching staff isn’t in that boat, though. These are highly-paid professionals that need to do everything possible to ensure the Tigers can compete with the Bulldogs and Crimson Tides of the world.

Luckily, two traditional positions of weakness, the offensive/defensive lines, are a focus in the transfer portal for Bryan Harsin and his staff. Jason Caldwell revealed such in answering a question about how many transfers the team may land by July 1st:

"I think the Tigers will have a few more commitments by then. I am not sure exactly how many, but I could see at least one offensive lineman jumping on board as well as another defensive lineman. There’s going to be a group who wants to see what this team is all about so it may be into the fall before things really begin to take shape completely. As for the transfers, the coaches really need to have those guys on campus in June so I would imagine four or five additions in the coming two months."

Auburn football needs a strong OL for their new game plan

For those that haven’t gotten the memo, the Tigers are going to function incrementally more like a military academy in their offensive schemes. Tank Bigsby, Sean Jackson, Damari Alston, and Jarquez Hunter will be the primary purveyors of this game plan out of the backfield.

With the DL needing depth more than anything, let’s hope Harsin and co. bolster their primary position of need along the OL.