Auburn’s secondary lost many of its most talented players from last season. Starting corners DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett were both selected in the NFL Draft along with starting safety Jaylin Simpson.

The secondary will feature multiple new starters this season, and it’s a position group head coach Hugh Freeze said is one the keys to the season.

When expanding on the outlook of the group, the highest praise he gave went to sophomore corner Kayin Lee.

“I think Kayin Lee’s going to be an NFL corner,” Freeze said before Auburn’s first practice of fall camp.

Despite not being a full-time starter, Lee saw a lot of playing time last season as a freshman. He played in every single game, finishing the year with 20 tackles, six pass deflections and a forced fumble.

Now, he likely steps into a full-time starter role with the departure of James and Pritchett.

“This is a big role I plan to play,” Lee said. “I just want to be able to help my team every which way I can to complete everything we would like to do this year.”

As one of the most talented players at the position, Lee’s continued development is important.

His speed and ability to dissect the game were the two biggest areas Lee said he improved in going into his sophomore season.

“Just slowing down the game was the biggest thing I tried to do,” Lee said.

While not having much starting experience, Lee can lean on his partner on the other side of the field, Keionte Scott.

Scott, who has been the other first-team corner in practice, started in the secondary each of the last two seasons for Auburn.

“That’s my dog,” Lee said of Scott. “Since I was a freshman, that’s one of the guys I looked at and still get stuff from his bag to this day.”

Lee isn’t the only young player Auburn will rely on in the secondary this season, though.

With Scott moving outside, Champ Anthony has taken his spot at nickel. While Anthony is a junior this season, 2023 was his first season playing Division I college football after starting his college career in the JUCO ranks.

Anthony also played in every game last season, despite not being a starter. After playing a lot on the outside in 2023, he made the switch nickel during the offseason.

Despite the change, though, Anthony is embracing the new role.

“I love nickel. I moved from corner and it’s been a happy transition. I love playing in the box, being able to be physical, being able to tackle. I kind of hate getting stuck outside, just kind of bored. But I love tackling and guarding the slot is the hardest position in college football to me, besides quarterback.”

With the new position, Anthony has been running with the first team during fall camp and has taken it upon himself to help replace the leadership Auburn lost in the secondary after last season.

“Stepping up and not only on the field, you’ll see me out there with the first group, but you’ll see me being a leader,” Anthony said. “Since we had so many guys leave, somebody had to step up and I just took that role.”

Leadership is another key for a unit that lost multiple experienced starters from last season.

The biggest move Freeze and the coaching staff made to made to fill that hole was signing safety Jerrin Thompson out of the transfer portal.

Thompson played four seasons at Texas and has started 31 games during his college career.

Freeze already called Thompson a leader back in February, despite not having been with the program long.

As a safety, being able to communicate is important and a must-have characteristic as a leader on defense. When asked what Thompson has meant to the secondary, communication was the first thing Lee mentioned.

“He’s going to talk to you every single play and make sure you know what you’ve got and make sure you know what the defense got,” Lee said. “He’s just going to communicate until the whistle blows and he’s going to give it his all.”