Four Auburn Tigers ranked among nation's top players at their positions
Pro Football Focus recently dished out the Top 10 returning players at every position heading into the 2025 season and four Auburn players were recognized. Here’s what PFF had to say about four Tigers that will have a significant impact on whether or not Year Three under Hugh Freeze takes a big leap forward or not.
Keldric Faulk was named the No. 5 returning edge defender in college football.
Faulk is currently projected as a first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft by many outlets and scouts.
PFF: “Faulk has been one of Auburn’s starting edge defenders in each of his first two seasons and took a major step forward as a sophomore. His 83.8 PFF grade was more than 16 points better than what he posted as a freshman and is the fifth-best mark of any returning Power Four edge rusher.
The former four-star recruit is at his best in the run game, tying for eighth among Power Four edges with 23 run-defense stops last year. Faulk is still developing moves as a pass rusher, but he did show improvement there with nine sacks and 45 pressures last year. Both those figures stood in the top 20 of the Power Four.“
Eric Singleton Jr. was named the No. 5 returning wide receiver.
Singleton is a projected first-round pick by PFF in next year’s draft.
PFF: “The highest-ranked transfer on this list, Singleton is now with the Tigers after two seasons at Georgia Tech. His 1,468 receiving yards across his two years with the Yellow Jackets are the second most among returning Power Four wideouts. He also scored above the 99th percentile in PFF’s Game Athleticism Score metric. As that figure might suggest, Singleton has track speed with the ability to hit a home run at any point. His 664 receiving yards on deep balls since 2023 lead all returning Power Four receivers.”
Cam Coleman was named the No. 6 returning wide receiver.
General consensus among different scouting outlets is that Coleman is on track to be a first-round pick in the 2027 draft.
PFF: “Eric Singleton Jr.’s future teammate slots in one spot behind him on this list. Coleman was one of three wide receivers among the top five overall recruits in the 2024 class, joining the aforementioned Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams. While it took him a bit longer to get going than those two, he still showed off his absurd potential down the stretch.
“During the final three weeks of the 2024 regular season, the true freshman led the nation with six receiving touchdowns and racked up the sixth-most receiving yards (306). He accomplished that while dealing with the worst quarterback play of anyone in this top 10, which could be remedied by Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold’s arrival for 2025.
“Coleman scored near the 100th percentile of PFF’s Game Athleticism Score metric, boasting ridiculous movement ability at 6-foot-3 and 197 pounds to go along with a large catch radius. Expect a monstrous sophomore breakout campaign from him.“
Connor Lew was named the No. 5 returning interior offensive lineman.
Lew has been graded as high as a second-round pick in next year’s draft by some scouting outlets.
PFF: “Lew was named to PFF’s 2023 All-Freshman team after performing admirably at center for the Tigers, and he followed it up with an even better sophomore campaign. His 76.4 PFF overall grade ranked fifth among Power Four centers, and he was one of only six who earned top-20 grades as both a pass blocker and a run blocker. Lew surrendered a sack or hit on 0.2% of his pass-blocking snaps, tying for the eighth-best rate among Power Four centers.“
