AUBURN, Ala. – Either path he chose, Noah Igbinoghene figured, he would succeed.
Return to Auburn for his senior season to lead the secondary in 2020, or make the jump to the NFL.
"It definitely was hard," said Igbinoghene, who chose the latter and figures to have a short wait before hearing his name called in next week's NFL Draft. "I love Auburn. Auburn is the reason I'm here. Auburn let me change positions, allowed me to grow into myself playing this position, and so it was very hard to leave. Auburn gave me everything.
"I was really debating if I wanted to come back and be the leader of this team. Decided to leave, felt like it was the best thing for me and my family."
A receiver as a freshman, Igbinoghene switched to cornerback during spring practice before his sophomore season, becoming a two-year starter who's projected to be picked in the second round and perhaps even in the first (see below).
"I've only been playing the position for two years," he said. "if I would have been playing the position a little bit earlier, who knows what could have happened? It's a blessing. I didn't plan to come here and play cornerback. It just shows God's plan for me, and so I'm very appreciative of Him, and I'm thankful for Auburn.
"I'm still raw, so just my overall knowledge of this game. I don't know everything. I'm still a student of this game, becoming more knowledgeable, learning new things, new systems. We've a very man team here, so learning off man and zone."
A two-sport athlete on the Plains, Igbinoghene displayed his athleticism at the NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.48 40-yard dash while seeking to equally impress during his meetings.
"Interviews all day," he said. "The most I've ever talked in my life honestly. It's a job now, it's a business, and that's how I looked at it. I know how to talk, I know how to talk about myself as well. It was a fun experience. "
"I love Auburn. Auburn is the reason I'm here."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) April 3, 2020
🗣@Noah_Igbo9
Four weeks after @AuburnFootball Pro Day, three weeks before the @NFLDraft, the former WR-turned prime DB prospect... on the Combine & his pre-draft process ⤵️
📷: @shannalo pic.twitter.com/FkYVTfFkuB
NFL COMBINE
40-yard dash: 4.48 seconds
Bench press: 15 bench reps
Vertical jump: 37 inches
Broad jump: 128 inches
DRAFT ANALYSIS
"Igbinoghene is one of the biggest risers during the pre-draft process because as more people got to his film it became a consensus opinion that he's a ridiculous athlete for the cornerback position, and despite only playing there for two years, he's pretty polished when mirroring in man and finding the football as it's arriving. Sure, he can be a little grabby, but you have to be physical as a man-to-man cornerback. The sky is the limit for Igbinoghene, and don't be stunned when he's picked near the end of the first round." – Chris Trapasso, CBS Sports
SIGNATURE MOMENT
It was, as Auburn coach Gus Malzahn calls it, a house call. Igbinoghene described it as 'a surreal moment."
In his final Auburn game, Igbinoghene flashed his track speed by returning a kickoff 96 yards for a first-quarter touchdown in the 2020 Outback Bowl, the first kickoff return touchdown in Auburn bowl history.
"One cut, and I just ran," he said. "It was easy. I credit out to them. It was a big hole. That was all on them. I just ran and it was a pretty easy touchdown."
Igbinoghene also returned a kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown against Arkansas in 2018.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer