Auburn was hit with a pair of surprising losses to its defense Tuesday with the transfer portal departure of both redshirt freshmen cornerbacks Colton Hood and Tyler Scott.

Both were four-star high school recruits. Both were redshirted because Auburn thought highly of them and both and wanted to maintain their eligibility for the future. Both were among the first names out of their teammates’ mouths when asked about which young defensive players fans should be keeping an eye out for.

Their future at Auburn was promising and set to, in time, have a significant amount of playing time.

Early reports suggest the two could look at Houston, which hired former Auburn secondary coach Zac Etheridge, and UCF, which hired former Auburn staffer Trovon Reed.

But barring Auburn coaxing them back out of the portal, those two bright pieces are gone. And it means Auburn is going to have to re-adjust to its long-term plan in the secondary.

Returning cornerbacks coach Wesley McGriff and new co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Charles Kelly now have a developmental question on their hands.

Below is a list of all Auburn defensive backs with sophomore eligibility or younger:

• Kayin Lee
• Terrance Love
• Antonio Kite
• Sylvester Smith
• C.J. Johnson
• JC Hart
• A’Mon Lane-Ganus
• Jalyn Crawford
• Kensley Faustin
• Kaleb Harris

Lee is the only one from that group who is guaranteed to be in line for significant playing time this season. Sylvester Smith was another big riser during spring practices. Auburn brought in two older safeties out of the transfer portal in Laquan Robinson from junior college and Jerrin Thompson from Texas, both with junior eligibility or older.

They were needed after Auburn lost four starters in its secondary from last season: Jaylin Simpson, Zion Puckett, Nehemiah Pritchett and DJ James.

Auburn’s secondary also lost Marquise Gilbert, Austin Ausberry, JD Rhym and Donovan Kaufman.

And now losing Scott and Hood, Auburn’s depth at cornerback in the short term takes a real hit.

Keionte Scott and Lee are likely to be Auburn’s starting cornerbacks. Champ Anthony had a strong spring and could be in line to be Auburn’s nickel corner.

Behind them?

Kite came to Auburn from Alabama and is talented enough to join the depth quickly. So could incoming freshman Jalyn Crawford and, upon his arrival on campus, A’Mon Lane-Ganus.

This was an Auburn secondary that already needed to reload and now lost pieces of its short-term depth and long-term future.

Auburn has been committed to rebuilding this team for the long term through high school recruiting instead of looking for quick fixes in the transfer portal. In the short term, Auburn may need to bring in another cornerback out of the transfer portal purely to offset what it just lost.

But it may also put an added emphasis on recruiting defensive backs in 2025 that Auburn might not have previously felt it needed before Tuesday. Auburn currently has one committed defensive back, four-star cornerback Devin Williams from Buford, Georgia, in its 2025 class.

What the secondary looks like after 2024 is largely uncertain as a result.

Keionte Scott is gone after the upcoming season. Lee will be an expected starter in 2024 but needs to take a step forward as he’ll then be in line to be Auburn’s No. 1 corner in 2025.

The 2024 season will be a proving ground for someone to get in line to be a 2025 starter. And that’s barring Auburn making further personnel additions out of high school or the transfer portal.

Without Scott and Hood, the so-called next guy up doesn’t seem so obvious anymore.

Who is next now? That might take some time to find out.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]