Auburn Tigers In Pursuit of Top 2026 Offensive Lineman

The Auburn Tigers hosted 2026 recruit offensive tackle Claude Mpouma over the weekend. The four-star is highly sought after by many different Power Four schools. Mpouma was impressed by his official visit to the Plains. He was so much so that he ranked the Tigers to be in his Top Three and they weren’t three, according to the recruit and Auburn Rivals. 

"It was great," Mpouma said. "I had an amazing time down there. It was pretty fun...They just told me they feel like I'm a priority for them, and they really want me to come and be a part of Auburn."

According to 247Sports, Mpouma’s top five include the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Auburn Tigers, the Florida Gators, the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Three of these schools have scheduled official visits with Auburn having the first of these. The Gators’ visit will be on June 13 and the Cornhuskers will be June 20. Neither the Buckeyes or the Wolverines have scheduled their visits yet. 

Despite being ranked as the seventh-best offensive line by PFF, the Tigers desperately need help on the offensive line. A season ago, they allowed 27 sacks, 26 that former starting quarterback Payton Thorne had to take. With new transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold, the Tigers will look for every possible way to protect him for the next two years. Mpouma will be one of those ways. 

Mpouma has also become a massive fan of Tiger’s head coach Hugh Freeze. The two got especially close during the official visit. 

"That means a lot of good things," Mpouma said. "I feel like having a head coach, caring about his players is great. Always good."

With the next two weekends being official visits for Mpouma, they will be crucial as to where he ends up in the long term. 

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