JD PicKell: Auburn 'ensured where the floor's gonna be' in transfer portal

Auburn isn’t likely to have a Year 1 bump under Hugh Freeze akin to the one LSU got last year, when Brian Kelly and the Tigers won the SEC West and made the conference title game. But On3’s J.D. PicKell thinks the maneuvers the Tigers have made were more about solidifying the floor than raising the ceiling.

Coming off a 5-7 campaign marked by subpar quarterback play and dearth of high-end pass catching talent, Freeze has brought in enough pieces to make sure Auburn is taking a step forward. They might not be SEC contender, but the Tigers should at least be a bowl team and could spring an upset on an unsuspecting giant.

“And the thing that comes to mind when I think about Auburn and what they did through the transfer portal, they just ensured where the floor is going to be for their program. … Is it going to be a mansion in ’23? Is Auburn going to be a team that wins the SEC and wins double digit games? Like I don’t know, it’s college football. It’s impossible to speak in absolutes. But I think you did a better job ensuring in Year 1 under Hugh Freeze that the whole floor isn’t going to cave in on you,” PicKell said.

Auburn brought in 16 new players via the transfer portal since Freeze arrived. And 21 players from the 2022 team have entered the portal to find a new place. It wasn’t the top or biggest portal class, as PicKell noted, but Auburn’s 2023 portal haul features numerous players likely to fill roles for the Tigers.

From quarterback Payton Thorne and wideout Caleb Burton on offense to linebacker Austin Keys and defensive lineman Justin Rogers on defense, it’s an infusion of usable talent.

“The house isn’t going to collapse. You just upped the talent. Because there’s a lot of people in Auburn, Alabama, who feel that Bryan Harsin didn’t do them too many favors in terms of what he left for Hugh Freeze. And by nature of what they did on the field last year, by nature of what Hugh Freeze did to this roster, I think that tells us all we need to know,” PicKell said.

Mix in the No. 17 recruiting class overall nationally in 2023 and the Tigers should be able to tread water this season.

“So Hugh Freeze and company did a lot to just ensure that the foreseeable future is going to be at a better jumping off point than what it was when Hugh Freeze arrived there,” PicKell said. “… They did a lot throughout the roster to just ensure a better jumping off point.”

All told, it’s enough to have Auburn slotted in the “winners” column for the latest go-round in the transfer portal.

“Auburn is another transfer portal winner for us here,” PicKell said.