Auburn cornerback Jaylin Simpson has been around the block a time or two.

The Brunswick, Ga. native came to The Plains as a 4-star signee in 2019, which was 20 pounds ago.

“I was a little one,” joked Simpson, who has gone from 160 pounds to 180 pounds during his time at Auburn.

Since then, Simpson has played for three different head coaches after catching the tail end of Gus Malzahn’s tenure, playing the entirety of Bryan Harsin’s time at Auburn and now playing under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze.

“I was just thinking about that the other day,” Simpson told media members Friday afternoon. “Like, we was just in the meeting room just going over regular stuff and I just got referred to as a vet — and I was just like, ‘Dang, I’m a vet’.”

This year’s fall camp is Simpson’s fifth at Auburn. And according to him, it’s been the most seamless.

“It has been a lot smoother than previous camps I have been a part of with the old coaching staffs,” Simpson said.

But smoother doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been easier.

“The workload is a lot harder,” Simpson says. “We got pushed and strained a lot more, but it’s good work.”

If this year’s fall camp has been an adjustment for a seasoned college player like Simpson, imagine what it’s been for the younger guys.

Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts says the young talent on Auburn’s defense is plentiful. But it’s just that – young talent.

And for the better part of fall camp so far, those green players have likely been left with their heads spinning, Roberts says, as they continue to adjust to the tempo and intensity of college football preparation.

The Tigers have 14 true freshmen on defense, of which seven are either cornerbacks or safeties.

That’s where Simpson, as well as the other veteran defensive backs like DJ James, Nehemiah Pritchett and Zion Puckett, step in.

Simpson remembers being the little fish in the big pond, looking up to the likes of former Auburn safeties Jeremiah Dinson and Daniel Thomas.

“I’m in their position now,” Simpson says. “When I do look in the mirror, I think about T-Love, T-Scott, Colton, Kayin Lee, all those guys and I got an obligation to get these guys ready to play.”

Terrance Love, Tyler Scott, Colton Hood and Kayin Lee all help round out a defensive secondary room that boasts plenty of young talent.

Of the four, two have stuck out to Simpson.

“Young guys like K Lee and Colton Hood, those are two guys that stand out to me,” Simpson said.

Lee, a 4-star prospect out of high school, enrolled early and has been with the program since January – a luxury that has put him well ahead of the curve when compared to his fellow freshmen teammates.

Since his arrival, Lee has generated quite a buzz – all positive.

And Simpson sees what everyone else sees.

“I tell him all the time, ‘You don’t need to walk around here like a freshman because you’re going to play.’,” Simpson said.

Unlike Lee, Hood just arrived in June, yet has shown a ton of upside.

There’s freshmen like Lee and Hood all around the Tigers’ defense, which is slowly but surely coming together, Simpson says.

Roberts hopes to have 25 guys he can roll through at any given moment on Saturdays. As of Monday, Roberts guessed the Tigers were close to the 15 or 16 mark.

But if what Simpson says stands to be true, it shouldn’t take Roberts much longer to round out that list of 25.

“We’ve just got a bunch of ball players. We’ve got people with some heart on our defense. All these new guys? We’ve got some real ball players,” Simpson said. The edge room? Dogs. DB’s? Dogs. Safeties? Dogs. Linebackers? Dogs. It’s just all over the place and when you’ve got a group of guys that just want to ball and play, we’ve got players that know their role.

“Some players probably know they’re not going to start, but people embrace their role and you’ve got a team.”