AUBURN — Auburn sophomore linebacker Xavier Atkins has been named a second team Walter Camp All-American, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced Friday night.
Houston native Atkins is Auburn's first All-American linebacker Karlos Dansby in 2003. He is the first Auburn player to receive All-America honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation since Derrick Brown was both a consensus and unanimous selection in 2019.
Throughout his standout season, the 6-foot, 210-pound defender posted impressive numbers, topping Auburn's roster with 84 total tackles while recording a conference-leading 17.0 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and adding 9.0 quarterback sacks.
His performance peaked with 13 tackles during Auburn's victory over Arkansas on the road, marking one of two contests where he registered 4.0 tackles for loss, a feat not accomplished by a Tiger since Stanley McClover nearly two decades earlier in 2005. He brought down quarterbacks twice in three separate games: against Ball State, Missouri, and Arkansas.
On defense, Atkins made several game-changing plays, including a 73-yard interception return versus Texas A&M, forcing turnovers against both A&M and Arkansas, and recovering a fumble in the South Alabama matchup.
His 17.0 tackles for loss set a single season record for an Auburn interior linebacker and represented the highest total by a freshman or sophomore defender since Antonio Coleman's 18.5 in 2007. Both his tackle and sack numbers placed him third across the SEC, with 13.0 of his tackles for loss occurring during conference games, the most in the league.
Atkins is also the first true linebacker to earn First Team All-SEC honors for the Tigers since Deshaun Davis achieved the distinction in 2018.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information. The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients dating back to 1935.