Young Auburn Tigers Defensive Linemen Impressing Keldric Faulk, Hugh Freeze

As the Auburn Tigers wrapped up their first week of fall camp, head Coach Hugh Freeze and star edge rusher Keldric Faulk weighed in on the progress of some of the younger defensive linemen, namely Darrion Smith. They each seemed encouraged and excited by what Smith and the group had shown.

“They’re active at all times,” Faulk said on Saturday. “When Darrion first came in, he was so timid. He was so impatient to play blocks or even to pass rush. He was late off the ball getting active in pass rush. But now those guys have gotten so comfortable playing in our defense that they make the decisions very easily for themselves, and they slow the game down for themselves.”

The group features a lot of young talent this season, from Smith to top recruits such as Malik Autry and Jourdin Crawford, who have each left a quick impression on Freeze.

“I’ll echo what Keldric is saying,” Freeze said. “They are disruptive, the young guys. Obviously we all know about Keldric and Keyron [Crawford] and those, but I mean Malik Blocton was just a freshman, but he’s disruptive. I think these two young ones, Autry’s getting better and better, [Jourdin] Crawford’s getting better.”

Faulk is expected to lead the group this season alongside senior edge rusher Keyron Crawford, but the young guns will definitely see playing time. Autry especially has impressed, being pegged as an impact player by the national media.

However, the influx of talent means that there may not be enough snaps to go around. Fortunately for Freeze and the coaching staff, the current iteration of college football requires frequent rotation of players, especially on the defensive line.

So, players will be expected to fill their specific role and be ready to come in and out of games whenever the coaching staff needs them to.

“We’ve got to get them to buy into their role, and the days of an interior d-lineman playing 60 snaps a game just shouldn’t happen,” said Freeze. I like the depth in there, just to buy in and give us fanatical effort on your given plays.”

As Freeze said, the depth can become an extreme upside if the players buy in. Depth can show up both within games and as the season progresses. Offensive linemen rarely sub out or get breaks, so if the Tigers can keep a constantly fresh defensive line, they should be able to put pressure on even the best SEC fronts.

Additionally, gaining meaningful playing time should only accelerate the learning process for the younger players. Each rep in the SEC can be a teaching moment, and according to Faulk, the group is already showing marked improvement.

“They’re playing faster and they’re making better decisions like a D1 defensive lineman,” Faulk said. 

If the younger players can make the shift from elite athletes to technically sound football players, they are quickly going to become a major problem for opposing offenses.

Also, a constantly fresh rotation of athletic and strong defensive linemen would be a dream for defensive coordinator DJ Durkin’s aggressive style on obvious passing downs.

There’s still a lot of development to be done, obviously, but the early signs definitely seem positive for the next wave of Auburn defensive linemen.