Transfers in, transfers out: A by-the-numbers breakdown of what Auburn gained and lost

AUBURN — With the start of spring practice about a month away and the last day to enroll in classes having come and gone, it's safe to assume Auburn football has put the prospect of transfer additions on standby. The portal window has closed for any undergraduate Tigers looking to leave, too, though graduates can enter at any time.

All told, coach Hugh Freeze and his staff lost 14 players since the 2023 regular season came to a close and supplemented those departures with nine additions. All nine of the newcomers should be eligible for spring practice, which is expected to begin in late February.

Auburn, which ended up with 20 transfers last offseason, had 12 at this point in the cycle in 2023. The Tigers went on to add eight more pieces in the summer ahead of fall camp. They'll have the chance to do that again this year, but those talks are tabled until May.

Here's a statistical breakdown of what Auburn added and lost in the pre-spring cycle:

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Auburn football adds experience

Despite losing more players than they gained, the Tigers still had a net positive in terms of experience acquired. The nine players Auburn landed have played a combined 8,201 career snaps, while the 14 players it saw leave racked up 7,396.

The majority of added experience came on the defensive side of the ball, where the Tigers were +2,569. Former Texas safety Jerrin Thompson was the biggest addition here, as he logged 2,153 reps before his time with the Longhorns came to an end. Dorian Mausi, a transfer linebacker from Duke, registered 1,831.

LB Cam Riley and defensive back Donovan Kaufman were the two most experienced Tigers to leave. They've combined for 2,317 career defensive snaps, including 706 for Freeze last season.

Emphasis on the defensive line

Auburn saw three defensive linemen enter the portal: Wilky Denaud, Stephen Johnson and Enyce Sledge. Denaud and Johnson were freshmen, and Sledge, a former three-star recruit in the Class of 2022, was a sophomore. The Tigers responded by bringing in Trill Carter (Texas) and Gage Keys (Kansas).

The duo of newcomers are responsible for 91 tackles across 1,793 snaps. The trio that left had 15 total reps, all of which belonging to Sledge.

A slight increase in recruiting rankings

Of the players who were ranked coming out high school, the average 247Sports Composite grade given to Auburn's departures was .8845. The additions had an average rating of .8857, with former Alabama DB Antonio Kite being the highest at .9337.

Robby Ashford's rating of .9006 was the best among players who've left. Ashford started his career at Oregon before transferring to Auburn in January 2022. He's since moved on to South Carolina.

Not all positive

Auburn's receivers struggled in 2023, but players such as Ja'Varrius Johnson and Malcolm Johnson Jr. showed moments of capability. They're both gone, and the two portal additions at the position — Robert Lewis (Georgia State) and Sam Jackson V (Cal) — have questions. Can Lewis do it a higher level? How will Jackson, a former QB, handle a position change?

But maybe none of that will matter. Maybe Auburn's talented quartet of freshman WRs, headlined by five-star recruits Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson, can get the job done.

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.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What Auburn football gained and lost in the transfer portal