What it means: Auburn retains DE/Edge Amaris Williams
First-year Auburn edge/defensive lineman Amaris Williams has decided to stick with Auburn after signing the papers necessary to enter the NCAA transfer portal according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett. Williams also confirmed this with his own social media. “God said it’s gon’ be alright,” he told Fawcett.
Williams played in more than five games as a freshman at Auburn in 2024 burning his redshirt. He had 7 tackles and .5 sacks for the Tigers.
Williams was a four-star recruit, the No. 64 overall player in the class of 2024, the No. 10 edge, and the No. 2 player in the state of North Carolina according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He will have three years left to play at Auburn.
What it means
When Williams hit the portal, we wrote this about the loss for Auburn…
Williams did not light up the stat sheet as a freshman, but he began to earn more playing time as the season went on. Williams was talked about as a strong piece returning to Auburn’s defense. He leaves the Tigers with only Keldric Faulk who has played meaningful snaps at the 5-technique position. Malik Blocton contributed some at the 5-technique as well. Williams was expected to have a bigger role in 2025. Departure impact: Major
When Williams decided to test the transfer portal, it left Auburn in a tough spot in regards to the 5-technique defensive end position. Williams, who has a versatile skillset, is probably going to slowly transition into playing some of the Buck edge position as well.
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Auburn decided it was a better bet to fight for Williams to come back rather than scour the portal for another 5-technique. Even though Williams is young and has not made a huge impact to this point, the Tigers were planning to start working him in more this offseason and eventually be ready to be a key rotational piece for the 2025 season, spelling starter Keldric Faulk, while also working in on the other side.
Auburn now has a known commodity back at the strongside end/5-technique position and does not have to rely on trying to hit on an evaluation from the portal.
