Auburn football zeroing in on Iowa transfer WR Charlie Jones

Filling the gaps in the 2022-23 roster is turning out to be a tall order for the Auburn football coaching staff as they are splitting time between traveling and recruiting the class of 2023 and mining the NCAA transfer portal for extra talent to add to this year’s squad for the upcoming season.

The Tigers had quite a few transfers join the team prior to spring practice in quarterbacks Zach Calzada (Texas A&M) and Robby Ashford (Oregon), linebacker Eugene Asante (UNC), cornerback DJ James (Oregon), and defensive lineman Jayson Jones (Oregon).

Several more transfers have committed to Auburn football since the end of spring training, including wide receiver Dazalin Worsham (Miami), defensive back Craig McDonald (Iowa State), and defensive lineman Morris Joseph (Memphis). Now, the Tigers are looking to add another player to the wide receivers room, a position group that is in serious need of talent and experience.

Charlie Jones, former Iowa wide receiver, entered the portal just this week and immediately received interest from many top programs. Before transferring to Iowa, Jones played at Buffalo when current Auburn linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni worked there, and has been speaking to him about playing for the Tigers, per Auburn Live:

"“I talked to Coach Roc,” Jones said. “I know him from Buffalo. It went good. We had a good talk.”"

In 2021, Jones was a first-team All-Big 10 selection and was the Big 10 Return Specialist of the Year. He totaled 21 receptions for 323 yards and three touchdowns in addition to recording 635 yards on kickoff returns.

Although Jones stated that he definitely has interest in Auburn, the Tigers will have to beat out several top programs to land the wide receiver, including Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Purdue, and others. He entered the portal as a graduate transfer and will have one year of eligibility left.