The Auburn Tigers were one of seven teams to be included in Saturday Down South's Connor O'Gara's SEC All-Transfer Team, a list of the top 10 portal players from the 2025 season.
O'Gara also included players from the LSU Tigers, Missouri Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, TAMU Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels, and Oklahoma Sooners on his team. Only one College Football Playoff team from the SEC, the Alabama Crimson Tide, didn't have a representative.
O'Gara credited Auburn's lone representative, linebacker Xavier Atkins, for being ready for a starting role upon transfering to the Plains from LSU. O'Gara also called Atkins' return the biggest development of the offseason for new head coach Alex Golesh and Co.
"Speaking of LSU’s defense, Atkins came to Auburn from Baton Rouge instead of waiting his turn behind the Weeks brothers. All he did was lead the conference with 17 tackles for loss, and he was No. 3 in the SEC with 9 sacks to go with 2 forced fumbles and an interception. On top of that, he was No. 4 in the SEC with 84 tackles for an Auburn defense that was much better than what a 5-7 record suggested. Atkins might’ve come in a bit undersized, but his production showed that he was ready to thrive in a starting role. His announcement that he’s returning for 2026 was one of the biggest possible developments for Alex Golesh in Year 1. Expect to see him all over the preseason All-American teams," O'Gara wrote.
Xavier Atkins proves loyal after having every reason to leave Auburn
Atkins was one of the only core defensive players to return to the roster for Golesh's debut campaign at the helm of the Tigers next year. He didn't have to remain loyal to Auburn, who kept DJ Durkin but wasted Atkins, and his defensive teammates' efforts last year with a broken offensive system.
Hugh Freeze not only wasted donations from the team's power brokers, but he wasted what could've been a special season for the defense and the receiving corps. Freeze chose the wrong quarterback and meddled too much in the team's play-calling, despite admitting he didn't have the bandwidth to pay attention much to game-planning during the week, given everything else he had going on as head coach.
AU gets another chance with Atkins, but too many recruits on both sides of the ball are gone because they weren't given something good enough to believe in.