Former Auburn football CB Roger McCreary was the first (and thus far only) Tiger selected in the 2022 NFL Draft through its first two nights. The Tennessee Titans selected McCreary with the No. 35 pick in the second round.
It’s been a long journey for the Mobile, Alabama native, who improved his draft stock in his home city back at the Reese’s Senior Bowl this past February.
That journey began as a lowly-rated prospect and has culminated in an NFL contract on the same squad as his former teammate on the Plains, Malik Willis.
Justin Ferguson of the Auburn Observer gave some context to his rise, and Auburn football fans joined in on the celebration of the Tigers’ highest-drafted player in the past two years:
one more time…
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) April 29, 2022
Roger McCreary:
- No. 989 recruit in the 2018 recruiting class
- No. 35 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft
legitimately great scouting and coaching. congrats to him https://t.co/B4KiZ6qWrH
— bacon flaps (@bacon_flaps) April 30, 2022
Some credit was also given to the Auburn football coaching staff for McCreary’s improvement and achievement:
War Eagle! The Everything School. https://t.co/Qu0OG8LrxO
— StuartDonald (@StuartDonald) April 29, 2022
#DevelopedHere https://t.co/vczSBcQqFQ
— Auburn Barstool (@WarDamnStool) April 29, 2022
If I remember the recruitment correctly, it was down to McCreary or Cam Taylor-Britt for that spot and Cam just went 60th overall. Those defensive coaches NAILED those evals.
— Robert Barron, III (@_RCB3) April 30, 2022
While McCreary was a second-round pick, it’s fair to say he had first-round talent:
% of targets resulting in a forced incompletion or INT since 2019:
— Ben Linsey (@benlinsey_) April 21, 2022
Marcus Jones: 25%
Sauce Gardner: 24%
Kaiir Elam: 24%
Roger McCreary: 24%
Derek Stingley Jr: 22%
Tariq Woolen: 21%
Kyler Gordon: 19%
Andrew Booth Jr: 18%
Cam Taylor-Britt: 17%
Trent McDuffie: 13% pic.twitter.com/V8QvgmMGva
Fly War Eagle wishes McCreary the best at the next level as he continues to look to prove his naysayers wrong.