Hugh Freeze compares hype around Jourdin Crawford to Robert Nkemdiche

The Auburn Tigers brought in one of the biggest defensive line prospects in the country in last year’s recruiting class with Jourdin Crawford. Now, head coach Hugh Freeze is excited about what he can produce on the field.

At SEC Media Days, Freeze made a very bold comparison for Jourdin Crawford to a former defensive lineman of his, Robert Nkemdiche. Unsurprisingly, the comparison caught plenty of people’s attention.

“It would be hard to say that I’ve had one as a freshman,” Hugh Freeze said. “Maybe, probably Robert Nkemdiche. When we signed him, he was one of the top players in the country.”

Robert Nkemdiche went to Ole Miss when Hugh Freeze was the head coach there. He was a five-star prospect in the Class of 2013. He was also the top-ranked prospect nationally and the top-ranked defensive line prospect. He would go on to be a First Team All-SEC and Second Team All-American selection during his time at Ole Miss. Eventually, he’d become a first round NFL Draft pick.

For his part, Jourdin Crawford is coming to Auburn as a massive recruit in his own right. A four-star recruit in the Class of 2025, he was the 164th-ranked player overall and the 14th-ranked defensive lineman in that recruiting cycle. That’s not quite the same pedigree as Nkemdiche, but he’s already turned heads at Auburn.

“Jourdin’s strength and explosiveness is special. He’s very difficult to handle,” Freeze said. “And we’ve got a really good center in Connor Lew, and Jourdin is a handful.”

Defensive line is a position worth keeping an eye on at Auburn. Hugh Freeze believes in his team’s depth there. However, it is notably young. So, players like Crawford are going to need to step up for Auburn.

“And I was telling people earlier, I really like the depth of our interior. Do we have the guy that has already put up the enormous stats in this league? No, but I think we really are six deep there. I think Malik Blockton can be really special as a young kid and [Malik] Autry, and Jourdin, but they’re just young,” Freeze said. “We were able to bring in a few older guys that have experience too. They’re really going to have to buy into giving me my 15-to-20 plays and let me get it done. Those and buy into that kind of rotation there.”

Auburn is going to open the season with a major test on August 29th when they open on the road against Baylor. That’s a game when Hugh Freeze knows his young defensive line unit is going to be tested right out of the gate.