Auburn is just four days into fall camp, but one guy who has immediately impressed his coaches is true freshman Keldric Faulk.
Faulk enrolled early out of high school and spent spring practices working at the Jack linebacker spot, but first-year defensive coordinator Ron Roberts revealed on Monday that Faulk has been working at defensive end during fall camp.
Noting Faulk’s incredible size, Roberts was comfortable with Faulk playing defensive end.
“He played jack most of spring,” Roberts said. “A lot of our four-down stuff, it’s the same thing, so he was doing it half the dadgum time, so we moved him to end. He’s 290 pounds by summertime, so he’s filled that spot.”
Rated as a 4-star by 247Sports, Faulk was one of Auburn’s biggest wins on early national signing day, as the top-100 recruit flipped from Florida State to Auburn and head coach Hugh Freeze. Faulk was also Auburn’s highest-rated commit in the 2023 high school recruiting class.
Faulk, who has been praised heavily by his teammates, fits into a defensive end group where Maryland transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite has been practicing with the first team. However, Faulk has been working with the second group, and the 6-foot-6, 288-pound freshman has his chance to push for early playing time.
“He’s in there right now fighting for the job,” Roberts said. “I don’t know how it’s gonna pan out over the next couple of weeks, but he’s gonna be an impact player for us this season.”
With Roberts installing a new defense on the Plains, coaches have been content with the amount of work the defense has put in over the summer — with Roberts saying, “I think it’s been a drastic improvement from the spring, just because guys did a good job this summer studying, learning. A much better job of knowing what to do and having ideas of their assignments coming in.”
While Roberts is impressed with the work his defense has put in off the field, he is still being patient with the freshmen — acknowledging that there will be an adjustment period for the beginning of fall camp before they put the pads on for the regular season.
“We got some freshmen, obviously heads are spinning. It’s early part of fall camp,” Roberts said. “... the young guys, obviously it’s a huge adjustment. We’re probably not gonna be able to judge them until day seven, eight, nine, so when things slow down a little bit and they get it clicking.”
Even through the adjustment period Roberts has set, he’s still been impressed with the freshmen. With Auburn set to have its first scrimmage on Saturday, Roberts is hoping to see a consistent level of play from the freshmen during that time.
“I would say all of them (freshmen) have flashed at times, just not on a consistent basis,” Roberts said. “But I think that’s coming, and hopefully we’ll see it maybe Saturday.”
Auburn wraps up fall camp on Aug. 19, and then turns its attention to its week one opponent, UMass. Auburn’s season opener is set for Sept. 2 with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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Jacob Waters is a senior majoring in journalism. From Leeds, Alabama, he started with The Plainsman in August, 2021.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
