Auburn defensive tackle Justin Rogers accepted an invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl, according to a post from the Bowl’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The East-West Shrine Bowl will be played this year on Feb. 1, 2024, in Frisco, Texas. It is an all-star showcase of college players pursuing NFL futures and generally is a path to the NFL Draft.

Though while Rogers is accepting an invitation, he is not required to enter the NFL Draft and it is not completely clear if he intends to leave school. Rogers has one more year of eligibility remaining.

Regardless of his future prospects, he does appear on track to play in the Music City Bowl with kickoff set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Nashville. Rogers was seen practicing Wednesday with Auburn during its on-site practice at Vanderbilt’s football facility.

Rogers played fellow defensive tackle Marcus Harris’ spot. Harris has already announced he plans to enter the 2024 NFL Draft and will opt out of the Music City Bowl.

Before Wednesday’s news of Rogers’ potential to leave school after this season, he appeared the obvious candidate to take Harris’ spot on the defensive front. He had already started multiple games for Auburn this season.

Should Auburn lose Harris and Rogers after this season, it will be left with a young and inexperienced defensive line.

Auburn brought in defensive lineman Gage Keys as a transfer from Kansas and will get back starter Jayson Jones. Outside of those players, Auburn’s defensive line is expecting to bring in four freshmen and effectively five with DJ Reed who redshirted this season.

Reed has been mentioned by both head coach Hugh Freeze and various Auburn players as a young face on the roster who has looked good in bowl practices. He and the crop of new defensive linemen could be looked at as a group Auburn will need early contributions from, given its roster construction for next season.

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