Auburn football walked away from the 2024 winter transfer portal cycle with a nationally revered haul.
In all, Hugh Freeze and the Tigers brought in 14 transfers. It’s a net loss, as 18 players from the program departed, but what Auburn added remedied both remedied crucial needs while adding some of the best players in the portal.
Auburn’s group of transfer additions is headlined by former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, once a consensus five-star prospect who arrives on the Plains as Freeze’s likely Year 3 starter. But he isn’t even the highest-regarded incoming transfer, as former Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. a top-four portal player and ranked outright as the best receiver in the portal.
With that pair in tow, Auburn brought in a transfer class that’s regarded as top 10 nationally, with 247Sports listing the Tigers’ class as No. 4 and On3 listing them at No. 8 in the FBS.
Here’s a look at five names to know in Auburn’s transfer class, as well as a rundown of the program’s remaining additions.
COMMITTED:Auburn lands top-rated Georgia Tech transfer wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr.
The last addition to Auburn’s transfer class could wind up being its biggest.
Recruited out of high school by Freeze’s inaugural Auburn staff, Singleton committed to the Yellow Jackets and the former three-star recruit was their leader in receptions and receiving yards in 2023, nabbing freshman All-America and ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in the process.
He led Georgia Tech in receiving yards this fall, and he did that from everywhere. The 5-foot-11 pass-catcher projects as a slot receiver, but he played more snaps out wide (426) than he did in the slot (213).
COMMITTED:Why former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold chose Auburn
Arnold’s 2024 was his first as a starting college quarterback, and it was far from perfect. Benched midway through the season, he eventually returned to that role for the Sooners and started their final five regular-season games.
He was efficient in his 10 contests, logging a completion percentage comparable to Payton Thorne’s this fall, and Arnold did so while throwing just three interceptions.
COMMITTED:Auburn football adds second offensive line transfer in former USC Trojan Mason Murphy
The splash of Murphy’s addition was significant, especially in the wake of landing Virginia Tech left tackle Xavier Chaplin. Murphy gives Jake Thornton another high-major athlete on his front line, but the numbers don’t reflect Murphy stepping right in and being a starting SEC tackle.
Among qualifying Big Ten tackles, no one was penalized more than Murphy, and he was one of just 10 players in that contingent to give up at least 25 pressures.
COMMITTED:Why Miami-Ohio transfer CB Raion Strader chose Auburn football
It’s highly probable that, when Auburn’s 2025 campaign comes to a close, Strader is remembered as the program’s biggest transfer addition. He led the FBS in pass breakups in 2024, and with a secondary that’s seen considerable attrition, Strader should come in and immediately compete for a starting job.
COMMITTED:How Virginia Tech offensive tackle Xavier Chaplin fits Auburn’s offensive line
Had Auburn brought in Murphy alone, it would’ve been a massive win. But it also added Chaplin, and in the best-case scenario, he and Murphy will be the Tigers’ starting left and right tackles, respectively, in 2025. A third-team All-American in 2023, Chaplin projects to have both NFL size and talent. He should be a plug-and-play blindside protector.
Beyond the five highlighted transfers, much of what Auburn added through the portal this month is depth pieces, with Ashton Daniels, Dallas Walker IV, Taye Seymore and Horatio Fields being prime examples. Any of those four could be breakout candidates with significant offseasons, but their worst-case is providing quality depth as positions that needed it.
Here’s a look at who else the Tigers added:
Player transfer rankings listed as follows: Overall portal ranking followed by positional portal ranking in parenthetical.
The first of two NCAA transfer portal windows wrapped up at midnight on Saturday. It technically means players aren’t allowed to file paperwork to transfer from their respective institutions, but like many things in this transfer portal- and NIL-filled era of college football, it’s not that cut and dry.
Players who are participating in bowl games will have a six-day window following that contest to enter. That means participants in the remaining 16 bowl games, and those who played in 11 bowl games within six days of the winter portal window deadline, will have time in the aftermath of the window to enter the portal.
The second window opens following spring practices but lasts just nine days. It’ll begin April 16 and close April 25.The transfer portal is the way athletes interested in moving institutions can connect with other programs and their coaching staffs. If an athlete wants to transfer, they must submit a notice to their current school’s compliance office. The compliance office then submits that athlete’s name to a password-protected online database that’s run by the NCAA within two business days of the athlete’s notice.
The online database isn’t publicly accessible, with only coaches and administrators having access.
Entering a player to the database includes inputting their name, NCAA ID, contact information and answers to a list of questions, including whether that athlete is transferring as a graduate student or if they want to be contacted by other schools.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email atacole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter,@colereporter.

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