‘Leave the number better than what it was’: Auburn defensive backs

AUBURN, Ala. – Three weeks into the NFL season, Auburn’s former defensive backs are making a name for themselves. If you haven’t noticed, you’re not paying attention.  

In week one, it was Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean locking down CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys. The next week, Dean pulled down two interceptions to help the Buccaneers knock off the Saints. On Sunday, New England’s Jonathan Jones had an interception and recorded the highest PFF grade (93.1) among all NFL cornerbacks.

Rookie Roger McCreary, the latest Auburn DB product to make the NFL, has started all three games for the Titans and has double-digit tackles in the last two.

With McCreary going in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft in April, Auburn has had a defensive back taken in the third round or higher in four of the last five NFL drafts. Since 2017, a total of nine former Auburn defensive backs have been drafted. Others, like Jones – a two-time Super Bowl champion – have made it despite not getting drafted. It’s gone from what started out as a trend in 2017 and 2018 to a full-on movement now.

The current Auburn defensive backs have taken note. They know the standard. They know what it takes. They also know that it’s possible. Just flip on the TV on a Sunday afternoon.

“I looked up to Noah (Igbinoghene) a lot. I saw all the NFL potential in him,” Auburn cornerback Jaylin Simpson said. “I still watch Carlton and Dean on TV to this day because it’s so crazy that they both played at Auburn and they’re both starting on the same team in the NFL. It just makes me think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”

“It definitely motivates you because it shows you that it can be done,” safety Donovan Kaufman said. “Just knowing that these guys are from the same school, they’ve been through a lot of the same things. It just shows you that it’s possible."

Kaufman was the newcomer to the group last year. He arrived as a transfer from Vanderbilt and once he got on campus, he quickly learned about the “Jack Boys” – the nickname the secondary likes to go by. It’s a tradition that started before any of the current defensive backs first took a snap at Auburn and has been passed down year after year.

So, what does it mean?

“They’re known for taking stuff like interceptions and getting turnovers,” cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett said. “Just taking from the opponent. That’s where Jack Boys came from.”

Auburn defenses have had nine or more interceptions in each of the last four seasons coming into 2022. The Tigers were tied for third in the SEC in takeaways in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019 with 45 combined turnovers forced, including 24 interceptions.

That mentality has carried over to the NFL level where you’re seeing the likes of Dean and Jones snag interceptions on Sundays. Davis has yet to get one this season, but he was among the league leaders with four in 2020. He’s also recovered and forced a fumble in the first three games of 2022. For McCreary, it’s only a matter of time. He had six interceptions while at Auburn.

This year, however, turnovers have been hard to come by for the Auburn defense. The Tigers forced their first two of the season – an interception by Derick Hall and a fumble recovery by freshman safety Cayden Bridges – in Saturday’s win over Missouri. They were the difference in the game.

But there’s no panic amongst the defensive backs. They know it’s coming.

“We haven’t really shown the world our full potential yet for sure,” Simpson said. “We’ve got it on the back end. I see it all the time. We’ve just got to figure something out. I don’t know what it is, but we’re going to figure it out real soon and we’re going to show what we can really do and what Jack Boys really mean.”

“We all feed off each other,” added Kaufman. “When one of us gets going, we all get going.”

It’s one thing to have a defensive back get drafted or make it to the NFL. It’s another thing to have it happen year after year after year. It starts with recruiting the right people and coaching them up, but there’s also a passing of knowledge in the DB room. Igbinoghene learned from Davis and Dean. McCreary learned from Dean and Igbinoghene. Simpson and Pritchett learned from Igbinoghene and McCreary.

“It’s been a blessing to have guys like that in front of me because I saw how they came out and worked, how they took notes in the film room,” Pritchett said. “So, coming in as a freshman, I just watched all those guys and saw how they operated and took that from them.”

It's no different at safety where Daniel Thomas and Jeremiah Dinson mentored the likes of Smoke Monday and Jamien Sherwood. Monday and Sherwood then passed on that same knowledge to Kaufman and Zion Puckett.

“I just try to make the legacy better than what it was,” Puckett said. “Leave the number better than what it was. Just being around DT (Thomas), Smoke, Sherwood, Dinson – the knowledge of being around those guys – it’s helped me a lot in understanding the game of football.

“No matter if they were injured, hurt, bruised, nicked – they came out and worked every day. I just try to keep my mind focused on that and just be positive every day.”

As a defensive back at Auburn, the path to the NFL has been laid. Now it’s up to the current group to carry on that legacy and create their own identity at Auburn.

“We’ve definitely got to create some turnovers,” Kaufman said. But the identity for this group is to go out there and have fun. We’ve got a good group, kind of a young group, but everybody can play. Once everybody goes out there and gains confidence in themselves, I think you’ll really see the difference.”

“We have plenty of games left, plenty of opportunities left,” Pritchett added. “We just want to put on a show for the rest of the season.”