The highest-rated signee in Auburn’s 2022 class is on track to be a regular contributor for the Tigers’ defense this fall after redshirting as a true freshman last season.

Robert Woodyard Jr., who flipped from Alabama to Auburn during the early signing period in December 2021, contributed mostly on special teams while appearing in just four games last season. This spring, however, the former four-star in-state prospect has carved out a spot for himself in the Tigers’ core linebacker rotation.

“He looks like a whole new guy from a couple months ago during the season at practice,” junior linebacker Cam Riley said. “…If you see Robert now, he looks like a whole new person.”

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Woodyard has been working mostly alongside Riley with Auburn’s second pairing at inside linebacker, while Ole Miss transfer Austin Keys and senior Wesley Steiner have been the first grouping in the rotation this spring.

It’s a promising step forward for Woodyard after playing sparingly during his first season on the Plains, when he was relegated mostly to special teams work and earned the designation as defensive scout team player of the year.

“He’s got a tremendous attitude,” linebackers coach Josh Aldridge said in February. “He’s always in the building, which is what everybody told me when I got here, that he was the guy that spent a lot of time in that facility. And so that so far has been really good. Pretty mature for a young kid.”

Woodyard is the youngest player in a surprisingly experienced linebacker room for Auburn this spring. Despite losing leading tackle, team captain and four-year starter Owen Pappoe to the draft, Auburn returns Riley and Steiner from its primary rotation last season, as well a veteran Eugene Asante, while also bringing in a pair of transfers with SEC experience in Keys and LSU transfer DeMario Tolan.

The 6-foot, 241-pound Woodyard signed with Auburn as the nation’s No. 141 overall prospect and a top-10 player in the state. A highly touted linebacker out of Mobile, Woodyard was committed to Alabama for a year and a half — since the summer before his junior year — but the Tigers’ former staff managed to flip him during the early signing period that cycle. He became the first player to flip from Alabama to Auburn since Opelika safety Stephen Roberts did so during the 2014 cycle.

Though he was the highest-rated player in Auburn’s class, he spent part of the offseason before his freshman year recovering from a meniscus injury that cost him the final three games of his senior season at Williamson. Now fully healthy and with a year of learning experience under his belt, as well as a new coaching staff in the picture, Woodyard is positioned for a key role in the Tigers’ defense this season.

Roberts said last week that he would like to be able to go three-deep at the two inside linebacker spots this fall, and he believes he currently has five linebackers who are game-ready. Woodyard is one of them.

“He can strike,” Roberts said. “He can make tackles. He’s athletic. For him, it’s just being young, and you want to be able to see him be more vocal on the field with communication and getting everybody in the right spots, being able to help people out on the field. That’s some of the things we kind of expect from that position, so we kind of need him to take those growth steps forward.”

While Woodyard still needs to develop from that standpoint, he at least has the ideal size to play the Mike position in Auburn’s defense and the kind of hard-hitting mentality required to be an effective linebacker in the SEC.

“He’s a physical guy; he’s always around the ball,” Riley said. “He has a knack for the ball, like he wants to make every play He takes the time to actually learn the defense. He’s a new guy, man. I can’t believe it.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.