AUBURN — Auburn football is just about done in the transfer portal.
It was, in broad terms, a fairly successful event for the Tigers, who only suffered a handful of notable losses while also bringing in key pieces such as receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith (Penn State), offensive tackle Percy Lewis (Mississippi State) and pass rusher Keyron Crawford (Arkansas State).
With a few scholarship spots remaining, expect Auburn to target some depth at linebacker and defensive back.
As the Tigers have seemingly improved their roster this offseason, so have their opponents. Auburn, which has added 14 transfers since December, was not the most active SEC team in the portal, according to numbers kept by 247Sports. That mantle belongs to Texas A&M, as the Aggies have so far brought in 28 transfers under first-year coach Mike Elko.
With the spring portal closed and rosters largely set with the exception of some tweaks along the margins, here’s a look at how the portal has treated the eight SEC teams Auburn is set to play in 2024:
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With Nick Saban retiring in January and Alabama turning to former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer two days later, the Crimson Tide experienced some uncharacteristic roster fluctuation this offseason with impact players such as safety Caleb Downs (Ohio State) and receiver Isaiah Bond (Texas) leaving. DeBoer eventually stopped the bleeding and has since added names such as offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, who began his career at Alabama before transferring to Iowa and now back to the Crimson Tide, and defensive lineman LT Overton, who was the No. 14 overall player in the Class of 2022.
The bad news for Arkansas is it lost its starting quarterback and running back from last season in KJ Jefferson (UCF) and Rocket Sanders (South Carolina). The good news is that gives the Razorbacks a fresh start after they stumbled to four victories last season. An incoming transfer to keep an eye on is offensive lineman Keyshawn Blackstock, who redshirted at Michigan State in 2023 after spending two seasons at Coffeyville Community College in Georgia. He was rated as the No. 1 interior offensive lineman in all of junior college in 2023.
Given its recent success, Georgia is rarely ever going to lose players it wants to hang on to. That was seemingly the case this offseason, as many of the outgoing transfers didn’t see the field much in their careers with the Bulldogs. Quarterback Brock Vandagriff departed in favor of Kentucky, but Georgia replaced him with another QB that was a highly-coveted prospect in Arizona State transfer Jaden Rashada: “You always want to have four quarterbacks,” coach Kirby Smart said May 6 when asked why the Bulldogs added Rashada. “That’s the goal. We’re excited to have him.”
Vandagriff is the headliner because of the position he plays, of course, but another Georgia transfer who could make a big impact is linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson. The former four-star recruit in the Class of 2021 tallied 70 tackles and four sacks as a sophomore in 2022 and was up to 34 tackles and 3.5 sacks through nine games in 2023 before he suffered a fractured forearm against Missouri that knocked him out for the remainder of the season.
It always helps to build up front, and Missouri made some noise in April when it went out and landed SMU transfer Marcus Bryant, an offensive lineman who has appeared in 42 career games. Bryant was SMU’s starting left tackle in 2023, a season in which the Mustangs won 11 games for the first time since 1982 and earned the AAC title by beating Tulane in the conference championship. Bryant finished 2023 with a pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus of 74.6.
Two notable transfers for Oklahoma are receiver Deion Burks (Purdue) and defensive lineman Damonic Williams (TCU). The former, a 5-foot-11 playmaker, hauled in 47 passes for 629 yards and seven touchdowns last season. The latter tallied 33 tackles as a sophomore in 2023, and he added three sacks. Also worth a mention: Five of Oklahoma’s 15 transfer additions are along the offensive line.
Remember when Texas A&M brought in the No. 1 recruiting class of all time in 2022, a haul that featured eight five-star prospects? Well, half of those five-star recruits — defensive linemen Walter Nolen (Ole Miss) and Overton (Alabama), receiver Evan Stewart (Oregon) and defensive back Denver Harris (UTSA) — left via the portal this offseason. Elko has responded to the rash of exits by already bringing in 28 transfers.
Losing receiver Will Sheppard (Colorado) hurts, but Vanderbilt is finally making use of the portal. The Commodores have added 20 transfers this offseason. In the past four offseasons combined, they had brought in 19 players from the portal. Vanderbilt will likely always have it tough in the SEC. But using the portal may help it narrow the gap some on the rest of the conference, especially when eight of the incoming transfers are coming from the Power Four and another is joining from Notre Dame.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
