Auburn is building one of the best transfer portal classes in the country and on Saturday it got even better with the addition of former Ole Miss linebacker [autotag]Austin Keys[/autotag].
Keys entered the transfer portal on Jan. 6 and quickly became a priority target. He took an official visit to the Plains this weekend and capped the visit off with a commitment.
The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder broke out in 2022 for the Rebels, making 39 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, forcing a fumble, and recovering a fumble in 13 games. He redshirted the 2020 season and appeared in six games in 2021 before an injury ended his season.
The Collins, Mississippi, native will have two seasons of eligibility left and he projects to be a middle linebacker.
The Tigers are set to return a trio of veterans in Cam Riley, Wesley Steiner and Desmond Tisdol but none of them are proven playmakers.
Keys is the second transfer linebacker Auburn has landed this offseason, former LSU Tiger [autotag]DeMario Tolan[/autotag] announced he was coming to Auburn on Jan. 8. Tolan appeared in 12 games for LSU last season and made 10 tackles as a true freshman. These additions give new linebacker coach [autotag]Josh Aldridge[/autotag] two players who can make an impact for multiple seasons.
Auburn has now landed 12 players from the transfer portal as [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] works to flip Auburn’s roster ahead of his first season. Six of those additions have been along the front seven of the defense.
#WDE🦅 pic.twitter.com/y7jKSC2E38
— KEYS (@iamAustinK_) January 15, 2023
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