Auburn’s defense played well enough in 2024 under first-year defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin to keep the Tigers in games down the stretch, though it did not pay off, as the Tigers suffered their fourth straight losing season.
But this year has a different feel.
With Durkin returning for a second season to lead the defense as the second-highest-paid assistant coach in college football, and the Tigers stacking a pair of top-10 recruiting classes together, the confidence level that Auburn’s defense could be one of the best in the nation is high.
“I feel our defense could be the best in the country, in my opinion,” said defensive lineman Keldric Faulk. “We have so many guys that played last year that was young, especially in our secondary. Our secondary was mostly consisting of freshmen and second-year guys."
“I feel like everybody has another year under them. Really that's another year of maturity. So, I do expect a lot out of our whole defense. We should, at the end of the year, be the best defense in the country," he added.
Faulk, a prized four-star recruit in the 2022 class as a signing day flip from Florida State, is returning for a third year on the Plains and is garnering a substantial amount of first-round buzz ahead of next year's NFL Draft after posting 45 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and seven sacks as a sophomore.
Pro Football Focus tabbed Faulk as the No. 16 overall prospect on its list of top 50 prospects ahead of the next year’s draft. His 83.8 PFF grade is the fifth-best of any returning Power Four edge rusher.
But Faulk is not worried about what’s to come, other than winning football games in orange and blue and turning the trajectory around surrounding Auburn football.
“Don't deal with it. I take every day and deal with it every day like I've been doing. I don't worry about the NFL or worry about any of that. I worry about the 2025-26 season with the Auburn Tigers,” Faulk said.
With Auburn returning its two starting cornerbacks – Kayin Lee and Jay Crawford – and the team’s leading tackler in Kaleb Harris from a season ago while adding experience on the back end of the defense through the transfer portal, Faulk touched on a few different defensive lineman that will take some pressure off the secondary with their pass rush: freshman defensive tackle Jourdin Crawford, redshirt freshman Amaris Williams and senior edge rusher Keyron Crawford.
Faulk said that Keyron Crawford will complement him in the pass rush and predicted a breakout season for the senior, who has stepped up as a leader.
“Keyron Crawford, he's one of those guys that will have a breakout season this year. He's one of the guys that came in later on in the season and gave a great pass rushing presence. And now that he's played a year in the SEC, he gets a feel for it. I feel like now he's going to take a huge step and just be a tremendous ball player,” Faulk said.
Nonetheless, Auburn must turn things around in 2025. And the defense is poised to carry the load after a strong 2024 campaign, which allowed just 21.3 points per game.
Auburn will open up the season on August 29 against Baylor at McLane Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Fox.
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