Since arriving on the Plains several years ago, head coach Hugh Freeze has been on a mission to improve Auburn football's offensive line. After a couple of years of recruiting struggles and then whatever happened under Bryan Harsin, the Tigers were nowhere near where they needed to be in terms of linemen.
While recruiting linemen from the high school ranks became a big priority, it was necessary for the Tigers to turn to the Transfer Portal to fill the gaps while those high school players developed and prepared. Now, heading into Freeze's third season on the Plains, Auburn football undoubtedly has the best offensive line it has had in years.
That starts with former Virginia Tech offensive tackle Xavier Chaplin, who is already receiving draft buzz in the preseason. A two-year starter for the Hokies, Chaplin was ranked as the No. 2 offensive tackle in the transfer portal and has already begun making an impact on his new team.
"What you're seeing from him is he's a big, powerful, long, athletic body at tackle — with a high football intelligence because he's played a lot of football games," offensive line coach Jake Thornton said, per Auburn Undercover. "He's doing a really good job. Teammates are leaning on him, he's got a big personality on the field and you can kind of see the guys rallying around that."
Chaplin said he struggled last season to play to the best of his abilities due to his injury. He sat out from spring practices to recover from a shoulder cleanup, but is now fully healthy and is expecting to have his best season yet in 2025.
The Tigers return to action in a Friday night season opener on August 29 against the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas.