Tashawn Manning wrestled with his future at the end Auburn’s 2021 regular season.

The veteran offensive lineman was a starter in 2020 but saw his role diminish in the first year under Bryan Harsin; he started just three games late in the season and largely served as a reserve at left guard. So, he sat down with his parents and weighed his options.

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Then he came to the conclusion that he wanted to enter the transfer portal, so he did on Nov. 30, just four days after the Tigers’ regular season ended in a quadruple-overtime classic against rival Alabama.

“Auburn was my first love and first home,” Manning said Saturday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “It was hard to make that decision.”

Yet it was one Manning was at peace with, as he wanted to find a pro-style offense to play for in his final season. After entering his name into the portal, Manning committed to Kentucky less than two weeks later. He planned to spend his final year of eligibility with the Wildcats and playing for Mark Stoops and offensive line coach Zach Yenser’s zone-blocking scheme.

“(I was) just looking for the better opportunity to go out and show what I can do on the field,” Manning said. “I feel like Kentucky was that opportunity I needed to put myself in the situation I’m in now.”

The move paid off for Manning, who found himself back in a starting role in the SEC, as the 6-foot-3, 330-pounder started all but one game at right guard for Kentucky last season. He felt at home in Lexington, Ky., where he said the program and its fans embraced him like he was a fifth-year senior with the Wildcats instead of just an incoming transfer.

He also felt the year at Kentucky better prepared him for a potential NFL career.

“It prepared me to be a pro,” Manning said. “Just keeping my body healthy, digging into the film room and just preparing me for games, getting me ready for the next level and what I’m going to have to do for the rest of my career.”

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The season at Kentucky was the finishing note on a winding college journey for Manning, who first committed to Auburn as a defensive tackle in the 2016 class. At the end of his senior season of high school, though, he was diagnosed with leukemia, which delayed the start of his college career.

Manning underwent eight months of chemotherapy treatment and was declared cancer-free on July 10, 2016.

“It was kind of hard on my body,” Manning said. “I feel like the hardest part wasn’t even on me; it was on my family, having to watch them go through the things I went through and not being able to help them. What I did was try to get healthy as possible as fast as possible so I could take that burden off them.”

He finally enrolled at Auburn in 2017 and redshirted that season before moving from defensive tackle of offensive guard the following year. He went on to play in 30 games for Auburn, with 14 starts, including all 11 games during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season. While he finished his career as an offensive guard and projects as one at the next level, Manning believes his experience coming up as a defensive line provided benefits during his transition to offense.

“I kind of had the mindset of trying to attack everything like a defensive lineman, and honing that with technique and skills and using that to block and be aggressive on the offensive line,” Manning said.

Now Manning is at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week, where he got a chance to reunite with a handful of former Auburn teammates—including the guy he used to block for, running back Tank Bigsby. While seeing his former teammates was a treat, Manning’s focus is on what’s ahead, looking to prove himself worthy of being selected in next month’s NFL Draft. He’s projected as a potential late-round pick or an undrafted free agent, but he said he’s eager to show that “I belong here.”

Before he took to the podium in the Indiana Convention Center on Saturday, ahead of his on-field testing Sunday, Manning took a moment Friday night to reflect on the path he has taken to get to this moment.

It’s something he has not taken for granted, even if it wasn’t how he expected to get to this point.

“I talked to my parents last night,” Manning said. “Just listening to them and hearing how proud of me they are, from where I started and how far I’ve come, it’s just a blessing, honestly, to be in this position. I’m glad I’m here, and I can’t wait to show what I can do.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.