Auburn adds transfer from Big 12 program

Auburn adds former Iowa State safety Craig McDonald.

On Saturday, the Auburn Tigers received a bit of good news for their upcoming season. Iowa State defensive back transfer Craig McDonald announced that he was transferring to Auburn via his Twitter account. He is the second defensive back to transfer to the Plains this offseason. The other player to transfer to the program was DJ James] who transferred in from Oregon.

McDonald was ranked as a three-star recruit according to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings. He held offers from other schools like Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Ultimately, he chose Matt Campbell’s program in Ames as a part of their 2020 recruiting class.

After redshirting in 2020, he proved his worth on the field this past season. In his sophomore season, he recorded 41 tackles and two interceptions on the year. His role increased as he was an important player on the Cyclones’ defense this past season. Now, he will be joining the Tigers’ defense that has assimilated a good unit on the defensive side of the ball for this upcoming season.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen-USA TODAY NETWORK

As of now, the Tigers have several safeties already in the fold. Players like Cayden Bridges, Zion Puckett, Marquise Gilbert, and Caleb Wooden are competing for starting roles at one of the two safety spots. Presumably, Puckett will be the starter at free safety. However, the strong safety spot is up for grabs heading into summer practices. With that being said, his role will likely be at safety on Jeff Schmedding’s defense. Standing at 6-foot-3, he certainly possesses the size to be an elite player in the SEC.

We will have to wait until the fall to see how Auburn’s defensive depth chart unfolds. It is clear that Harsin wanted to add members to the team’s secondary this offseason. By landing James and McDonald, he addressed those areas with two of the best defensive backs in the entire transfer portal. It will be interesting to see how the Minnesota native performs at Auburn and what his role will be on the defense this upcoming season.

[mm-video type=video id=01g2zrc20655jm8hnteg playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g2zrc20655jm8hnteg/01g2zrc20655jm8hnteg-3522195c6d4ec5a3405338f9f977c099.jpg]

[listicle id=47394]