Auburn football had just one player (Roger McCreary) selected in the 2022 NFL Draft this past weekend.
The Tennessee Titans brought on the only Auburn man to hear his name called throughout the entire three-day event with the No. 35 pick in the second round with the third pick of the draft’s second night.
That cannot be repeated in 2023.
After having six Tigers selected in both the 2019 and 2020 drafts, that number shrunk to four in 2021. There’s a troubling downward trend that has gotten us to the point where only Vanderbilt has produced fewer draft picks in the SEC:
Only Vanderbilt with zero (0) is behind Auburn (1) in the SEC by 2022 NFL draft picks.
— Brian Stultz (@brianjstultz) May 1, 2022
Unacceptable? Yes. Bryan Harsin’s fault? Not at all.
Bryan Harsin and co. caught flak from the Opelika-Auburn News’ Justin Lee, who believes the performance was indicative of a serious leadership issue on the Plains:
"Unacceptable. That’s the word for it. Failure. That’s another. Auburn had only one player taken in the NFL Draft this weekend, the program’s lowest since the dog days after the 2012 season, and no one around Auburn should take this shortcoming lightly."
We’re not willing to go that far yet. Several could-be pros decided to return to the Auburn football program in 2022, making this year’s class a shallow one for the sake of sprucing up the roster for the upcoming campaign this fall.
Next year’s class will be deeper. And it will be because of the following five Auburn stars set to be selected in the 2023 NFL Draft:
Auburn football DE Colby Wooden, EDGE Derick Hall
The Auburn beat is in agreement that the reason why this year’s NFL Draft class was so shallow from the Tigers is because several upperclassmen defenders that could have gone pro decided not to.
Justin Hokanson of On3 noted that DE Colby Wooden and EDGE Derick Hall chose to return to Bryan Harsin’s program to improve instead of taking their chances in the pros this year:
Just a thought — had they decided to enter the draft, Colby Wooden and Derick Hall would have been drafted early. Instead, they returned to Auburn for another season.
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) May 1, 2022
if they didn’t believe they could develop further under Bryan Harsin and staff, they wouldn’t have returned.
Meanwhile, Bennett Durando of the Montgomery Advertiser pegged the pair as good as gone to the NFL if they wanted to be due to a marked improvement of their draft stocks in 2021:
"Edge rusher Derick Hall and defensive tackle Colby Wooden both had outstanding 2021 seasons, potentially raising their draft stock if they wish to go pro next season rather than returning to Auburn. Hall finished third in the SEC with nine sacks, and Wooden had one of the highest pressure rates of any FBS interior defensive lineman."
Make no mistake about it: these two bruisers were NFL-bound until they decided to ignite the Auburn family with their returns. They’ll be definite selections in the 2023 NFL Draft barring something drastic and unforeseen.
Auburn football RB Tank Bigsby
Speaking of definite pros, Tank Bigsby has his own professional football future in his hands after a wildly impressive freshman season and a less impressive, but still notably solid, sophomore season. The junior-to-be could decide to make the NFL jump after the 2022 season or go through the process in the spring of 2024.
Battling the beastly defensive fronts at Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M proved difficult for Bigsby in his second season on the Plains, but this coming season will prove whether or not he is ready to be an RB1 at the next level. If he doesn’t, there’s always next season, though after flirting with the transfer portal this past winter, the hope is that an OL that maintained most of its key pieces can get the job done enough to set him up for a fruitful professional career.
Auburn football MIKE LB Owen Pappoe
Owen Pappoe was dealing with injuries and possible COVID-19 related issues during the 2021 season, keeping him out of the lineup and from amassing a resume that had NFL Draft scouts drooling for his services.
He could correct that with a stellar 2022 campaign leading the LB group, one that lost Zakoby McClain as an undrafted NFL free agent. Pappoe is currently the No. 7 LB in the 2023 NFL Draft class according to Cam Mellor of Pro Football Network.
Auburn football K Anders Carlson
After Anderson Carlson went down in the Tigers’ unfathomable 43-34 loss to Mississippi State this past November, it wasn’t clear whether or not he’d kicked his last field goal through the goal posts at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
He has not, deciding to come back to Auburn in 2022. This coming season should be his swan song for Carlson, who will be joining his brother Daniel in the league next season. Assuming he can get back to his First Team All-SEC ways, Carlson could be worth a late-round flier to one of the NFL’s 32 franchises in need of a reliable leg.