AUBURN — The 2024 season saw Auburn football‘s secondary overachieve. The way it’s lining up, the Tigers could see something similar this fall.
Despite a litany of injuries and lacking experience last fall, Auburn was among the best pass defenses in the SEC with the league’s second-lowest opponent completion percentage. True freshmen, such as Jay Crawford and Kaleb Harris, helped lead that charge.
This fall, it’s not that the Tigers are much older. They’ll again have just six upperclassmen in the secondary, but their strategy in the transfer portal could be vital.
After signing five blue-chip defensive backs, Auburn also added four transfers. Among them are a former five-star recruit, a safety with ample Power 4 experience, the nation’s leader in pass breakups last season, and a dual-threat cornerback and return man who has already landed preseason All-American honors.
“The biggest thing is this group is tight,” Auburn cornerbacks coach Wesley McGriff said in March. “The younger guys are doing a great job of taking coaching from the older guys, and the older guys are doing a great job of embracing them.”
Ahead of the season, here’s a look at Auburn’s secondary — and why its transfer additions make a compelling case for the secondary to be the Tigers’ shining light in 2025.
What did Auburn football add to its 2025 secondary in the transfer portal?
- Auburn football’s 2025 transfer additions: Secondary
- S Jacoby Mathews (Texas A&M)
- CB Raion Strader (Miami-Ohio)
- 2024 stats: 53 total tackles, 18 pass breakups, 2 interceptions (12 games)
- CB Rayshawn Pleasant (Tulane)
- 2024 stats: 35 total tackles, 3 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception, 1 tackle for loss; 449 kick return yards (34.5 YPR), 2 kick return touchdowns (13 games)
- S Taye Seymore (Georgia Tech)
- 2024 stats: 46 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups (10 games)
The quartet of Jacoby Mathews, Raion Strader, Rayshawn Pleasant and Taye Seymore arrives on the Plains in a circumstance with potential to be filled, but each is nonetheless a promising addition.
Both Strader and Seymore transferred to Auburn in the winter and went through spring practices. The former is coming off a season in which he swatted a nation-leading 18 passes, and Seymore’s sophomore year with the Yellowjackets saw him register a career-high in tackles.
Pleasant, another rising junior, was a spring transfer. His production in the secondary wasn’t eye-popping last season, but he proved to be a dynamic return man at Tulane. The final piece in it all is Mathews, who transferred to Auburn after the spring window.
A five-star recruit in the 2022 class, Mathews spent two seasons at Texas A&M before transferring to junior college in 2024 to sort out his academics. While he hasn’t played in a year, his addition could be vital if his production matches his talents.
“I believe with all my heart that he understands this is his last chance,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said of Mathews. “I think he’s learned a lesson, and adding another elite safety to that group is beneficial to us.”
What will Auburn’s 2025 secondary look like?
- Cornerback
- Blake Woodby (Freshman)
- Champ Anthony (Junior)
- 2024 stats: 12 total tackles, 3 pass breakups, 1 tackle for loss (4 games)
- Devin Williams (Freshman)
- Donovan Starr (Freshman)
- Jay Crawford (Sophomore)
- 2024 stats: 15 total tackles, 7 pass breakups, 1 interception (11 games)
- Kayin Lee (Junior)
- 2024 stats: 32 total tackles, 7 pass breakups, 2 interceptions (11 games)
- Raion Strader (Junior)
- Rayshawn Pleasant (Junior)
- Safety
- A’Mon Lane-Ganus (RS Freshman)
- 2024 stats: N/A (4 games)
- AnQuon Fegans (Freshman)
- Eric Winters (Freshman)
- Jacoby Mathews (Junior)
- Jahquez Robinson (Senior)
- 2024 stats: 1 total tackle, 1 pass breakup (7 games)
- Kaleb Harris (Sophomore)
- 2024 stats: 46 total tackles, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 1 tackle for loss (12 games)
- Kensley Louidor-Faustin (Sophomore)
- 2024 stats: 2 total tackles, 1 pass breakup (8 games)
- Sylvester Smith (Sophomore)
- 2024 stats: 28 total tackles, 2 pass breakups, 1 interception (12 games)
- Taye Seymore (Junior)
- A’Mon Lane-Ganus (RS Freshman)
Beyond the transfers, Auburn is largely set to depend on youth again in 2025. Crawford and Harris are bound for starting roles as sophomores, and Anthony and Lee will also be in contention at cornerback.
As far as freshmen, it could be nearly anyone. Williams is set to miss the 2025 campaign with an injury, but Fegans, Starr, Winters and Woodby were each blue-chip signees from the latest recruiting cycle.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter. To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
