Few units of Auburn’s roster have seen as much turnover as the defensive line.

The Tigers added five new defensive linemen through the transfer portal on top of signing five defensive linemen from the high school ranks.

Sophomore Keldric Faulk talked about the playing with the new group at SEC Media Days, praising the group’s work ethic.

“Some of the guys came in in the summer so we haven’t put on pads to actually practice yet, but just seeing those guys coming to work every day, we take no days off. We come in and we want to strive for greatness every day,” Faulk said.

Faulk was a key contributor on Auburn’s defensive line as a freshman in 2023, tallying 35 tackles, three and a half tackles for loss and a sack.

“Keldric has just had an incredible voice that people listen to, because he’s wise for his age and his work ethic is incredible,” Hugh Freeze said at SEC Media Days.

Philip Blidi, Gage Keys, Trill Carter, Keyron Crawford and Isaiah Raikes are the five incoming transfers to the room.

When asked who has stood out during the offseason, Faulk mentioned Crawford and Blidi while also giving praise to returners Jalen McLeod and Jayson Jones.

Freeze mentioned the defensive line when asked about which position group is the most contested going into fall camp, despite having a slightly different outlook on the group.

“We’ve got six guys inside on defense that you might say it’s contested, but I don’t see it that way. I think we need to rotate all six of them,” Freeze said.

The added depth on the defensive line, both in the interior and on the edge, is something that Freeze feels better about going into the upcoming season.

“I do think we have six guys inside,” Freeze said. “We’ll miss the explosiveness of Marcus Harris, but I do think we have six guys that we can rotate in there and keep really fresh and hopefully we’ll stay healthy there.

“We’re gonna have some young kids play on the edge to give [McLeod] and Keldric a break,” Freeze said. “Defensively, if you don’t have to play more than 30 to 35 snaps a game you’re gonna probably be better as an individual and the NFL doesn’t care how many reps you play, it’s what did you do with the ones you had.”

Among those young players, Freeze mentioned incoming freshmen Amaris Williams and Jamonta Waller, along with Arkansas State transfer Keyron Crawford.

Williams and Waller were both top 100 prospects coming out of high school, and ranked as the No. 6 and No. 8 EDGEs in the country, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.