In the new era of college football, the transfer portal is arguably the most important facet, not just of recruiting, but of the entire sport.
In Auburn’s regular season finale against Alabama, seven players from the transfer portal recorded a stat for the Tigers while only two true freshmen – Jarquez Hunter and Landen King – did the same.
Furthermore, programs are taking well over 10 transfers each year. USC has 20 players coming in from the portal. Nebraska brings in 16, then Oklahoma with 14 and UCLA with 12.
The SEC has fully taken advantage of this as well. LSU and Ole Miss have gained 15 players from the portal so far, and 11 of the 14 SEC programs have a transfer class of six or more players.
Simply put, the transfer portal is immensely valuable to every team's growth, and it is important to know which players from the portal might make a difference this upcoming season.
Ten players have transferred to Auburn during the offseason. Here is a breakdown of each one.
Marcus Bragg
Position: EDGE
Previous School: Western Kentucky
Career Stats: 38 tackles, 4.5 TFL and four sacks
Auburn added some much-needed depth when Bragg committed to Auburn in June. With only four players at EDGE prior to Bragg’s commitment, the room was incredibly thin, but Bragg adds some valuable experience.
Bragg spent two years at junior college and three years at Western Kentucky before transferring to Auburn, so he brings year of experience—exactly what Auburn wants him to provide.
Bragg might not be one of the stars on the defense, but he can enter the game to give Auburn’s top EDGE rushers, Derick Hall and Eku Leota, some rest for a few snaps. In a room that was so thin, Bragg can be impactful even without playing many snaps, he is a guy that was crucial for Auburn to add in case of fatigue or an injury to one of the EDGE players. He brings depth where it is needed.
Dazalin Worsham
Position: Wide Receiver
Previous School: Miami
Career Stats: N/A
Auburn lost two of its three leading receivers from a season ago, so any addition to the wide receiver room is a potential candidate to drastically help the team. That is exactly what the addition of Worsham aspires to be. Though he did not record a single catch during his two seasons at Miami, opportunities await Worsham at Auburn.
Shedrick Jackson and Ja’Varrius Johnson are Auburn’s two leading returning receivers, so the remaining spots at wide out are wide open for Worsham and the other young receivers.
Some of those young receivers have already spent a year at Auburn or enrolled at Auburn earlier than Worsham, but the Miami transfer has the tools to make up for that missed time and grab one of those starting roles.
Worsham was an Under Armour All-American in high school, playing against some of the top competition in Alabama when he wa at Hewitt-Trussville with Johnson. Even though he has not played much over the past two seasons, he does have experience against top players.
Koy Moore
Position: Wide Receiver
Previous School: LSU
Career Stats: 27 catches, 248 yards
With a second wide receiver transfer in Moore and the arrival of a couple high school signees, Auburn’s wide receiver room went from depleted in the spring to deep in the summer. The total experience in the group still lacks, but it is important to have options.
Moore was a top-300 recruit out of high school and one of the top players in Louisiana, but he is looking for a fresh start in Auburn.
After catching 22 passes his freshman year and earning one start, Moore was expected to break out the following season but only caught five balls while playing in six games in 2021.
Now at Auburn, Moore jumps into a group where he should see the field quickly. Moore has those two years of experience at an SEC West school, even in limited playing time, and possesses a decent frame – standing at six feet tall and weighing 190 pounds, 20 pounds heavier than he was out of high school.
Moore is a shifty route runner who can pinpoint the ball in the air well. He is not the fastest receiver on Auburn’s roster, but given his shiftiness and agility, he can turn a small gain into a big gain at any moment.
Morris Joseph Jr.
Position: Defensive line
Previous School: Miami
Career Stats: 117 tackles, 18 TFL and 10.5 sacks
Auburn added some much-needed depth on the defensive line when Joseph Jr. committed to Auburn in May. Six defensive linemen transferred away from Auburn after the conclusion of the regular season, so even if Joseph Jr. is not a starter in the fall, he will likely play a role rotating in the game to allow starters some rest.
After spending a year in junior college at Iowa Western Community College, Joseph Jr. spent three seasons at Memphis and started nearly every game in his final two seasons there. Joseph Jr. was committed to Georgia Tech out of the portal before flipping to Auburn.
His best season came in the 2020 shortened season where the big defensive lineman tallied 10.5 TFL and a team-leading seven sacks in 11 games playing primarily on the inside of the defensive line.
The Texas native has one year of eligibility remaining.
Craig McDonald
Position: Safety
Previous School: Iowa State
Career Stats: 42 tackles, two interceptions, one pass deflection
McDonald spent two years at Iowa State before transferring to Auburn. McDonald played four games his true freshman season then redshirted but carved a big role in his second season with the Cyclones – appearing in all 13 games and starting in three.
He recorded an interception against superstar quarterback Caleb Williams of Oklahoma last season, where he showed great reflexes, picking off the ball following a deflection by a linebacker.
Standing at 6-foot-3, McDonald has a similar build to former Auburn safety Tray Matthews. Like Matthews, McDonald may likely never become a ball-hawking safety, but he is reliable to be in the right spot at the right time. He is not the quickest safety, but his vision and sure tackling makes up for it.
Auburn lost both of its starting safeties from a year ago in Smoke Monday and Bydarrius Knighten. Auburn's two rostered safeties with significant playing time from last season are Zion Puckett and Donovan Kaufman, but with the addition of McDonald, Kaufman can move back down into the role of nickel, where he played a majority during his first season with the Tigers.
Given McDonald’s experience, there is a good shot he starts next season, which bodes as good news for the Tigers because they can then ease newcomers Marquise Gilbert and Caleb Wooden into a more comfortable role.
Gilbert was the top-ranked junior college safety from the 2022 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and Wooden was a standout in spring practices.
Robby Ashford
Position: Quarterback
Previous School: Oregon
Career Stats: N/A
Auburn fans already got a taste of Ashford, who was named the Offensive A-Day MVP in April, and there is a lot of excitement around Ashford’s name in the quarterback competition.
Ashford has elite athleticism, playing both football and baseball during his time in high school and at Oregon. His skill was on display in the A-Day game when he eluded multiple sacks to extend plays and grab a few yards to turn a negative play into a good one.
Out of high school, questions surrounded Ashford’s passing ability, but the Hoover native impressed in that aspect in Auburn’s spring game.
Ashford completed 12 of his 16 passes for 132 yards, and the velocity on his passes was noticeable in nearly every pass.
All eyes will be on the development of his deep ball, but Ashford is already reliable for short and intermediate passes. Given his supreme athleticism, if his deep ball becomes a threat, Ashford has a shot to become Auburn’s starting quarterback for the 2022 season.
Jayson Jones
Position: Nose Tackle
Previous School: Oregon
Career Stats: 19 tackles, 1.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks
Another Oregon transfer, Jones made his way to Auburn after two seasons in Eugene, Oregon. Like Ashford, Jones is also an Alabama native – playing in high school at Calera.
Jones is a very raw prospect, but his size makes it impossible to keep him off the field. Jones stands at 6-foot-6 and weighs 328 pounds. With that size, Jones is an instant gap-filler who is immovable.
At the very least, Jones could serve that role of just being a body in the way of the offensive play, but Auburn hopes he blossoms into a true run stopper.
Jones, along with Marquis Burks, will be the replacements for Tony Fair, who spent his final year at Auburn after transferring from UAB.
Given the lack of depth at the edge position for Auburn, the nose tackle could be featured a lot more this year for the Tigers than last year.
In fact, Jones was a starter in Auburn’s spring game, along with Colby Wooden at defensive end, Marcus Harris next to Jones inside and Derick Hall at EDGE. This scheme is different from the formation Auburn played last year, which featured two players at EDGE and two defensive tackles.
Auburn did not stick with that three-man front with Jones the entire game – often switching to a four-man and even five-man front in the spring game – but it was evident that the nose tackle position will be utilized more often in the 2022 season.
Zach Calzada
Position: Quarterback
Previous School: Texas A&M
Career Stats: 196/351 (55.8%), 2318 yards, 20 TD and 10 INT
Even with the strong spring from Ashford, Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada also sits in a good spot to win the starting quarterback job.
Calzada did not heavily participate in spring practices as he was non-contact during recovery from a shoulder surgery, but there is one major thing working in his favor: he has SEC experience. In a conference as tough as the SEC, the value of starting experience cannot be undermined.
Calzada has already played in AT&T Stadium against Arkansas, traveled to hostile environments like Ole Miss and LSU and most impressively, went toe-to-toe with future Heisman winner Bryce Young and led the Aggies to a shocking win over Nick Saban and Alabama.
Against the Crimson Tide, Calzada tossed for 285 yards and three touchdowns, marching the Aggies down the field twice in the last five minutes to complete the upset.
However, there were some weaknesses for Calzada during the season. He threw an interception in six consecutive games and only completed 60% or more of his passes in three games – against Mississippi State, Alabama and Prairie View A&M.
Accuracy is the most important thing in a quarterback’s game, and if Calzada cannot improve in that category, any other QB on the roster may get their shot to start. However, if Calzada can take care of the ball better, he should have little issue winning the starting job.
Even with the inconsistent accuracy, Calzada’s strong arm makes him dangerous. He has shown the ability to fit the ball into the tightest windows and can sling it as far as almost any other quarterback in the SEC.
His toughness cannot be denied either. He suffered a knee injury against Alabama and a shoulder injury against Auburn that would require the surgery, but managed to stay in the game for both.
He was also thrown into the starting position unexpectedly after Haynes King was injured against Colorado and led the Aggies to a win there, too.
D.J. James
Position: Cornerback
Previous School: Oregon
Career Stats: 70 tackles, six pass deflections, two interceptions
The third transfer from Oregon and another Alabama native, D.J. James, fills a position of need for Auburn. The Tigers lost Roger McCreary, Dreshun Miller, Ro Torrence and Eric Reed Jr. from a season ago, so some serious gaps were left to be filled in the secondary.
Head coach Bryan Harsin signed three cornerbacks in the 2022 recruiting class, but adding a guy like James, who already has experience at the power-five level, is incredibly important.
James is a cornerback who likes to play guys tight when given the opportunity. He snagged two interceptions last season against UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in the Pac-12.
One of those interceptions came in the last minute of the game to clinch a win over the Bruins, where James showed elite closing speed to jump the pass and take it the other way.
James will compete with Nehemiah Pritchett for the second starting corner spot, opposite of Jaylin Simpson, but regardless of who starts, secondary coach Zac Etheridge has shown a willingness to rotate cornerbacks.
Eugene Asante
Position: Linebacker
Previous School: North Carolina
Career Stats: 62 tackles, one TFL, one forced fumble
Finally, there is Auburn’s first transfer commitment after the conclusion of the 2021 season: Eugene Asante.
Auburn lost its two leading tacklers from last season with the departures of Zakoby McClain and Chandler Wooten. With Owen Pappoe returning for his senior season, he is penciled in as a starter, but there are a couple spots next to him up for the taking.
The North Carolina transfer has all eyes on one of those spots. Asante spent three years at North Carolina and had a lot of hype around his name after a team-high 10 tackles in his first career start against Texas A&M in the 2021 Orange Bowl.
Asante then started the first five games of the 2021 season but moved into a rotational role midway through the season.
The Virginia native is a speedy linebacker that can anticipate a run early and explode to the spot, but this aggressiveness means he sometimes overruns the ball carrier and ends up missing a tackle.
Had Asante completed those missed tackles, he could have turned those average games into elite games. All the potential is there for Asante, and it has been since his days as a Tar Heel, he possesses all the tools to put it all together and be a wrecking ball next to Pappoe.
If Asante starts alongside Pappoe next season, it will be hard to find a quicker linebacker duo in the SEC than those two.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
