The transfer portal’s “OPEN” sign will be plugged back in and buzzing again come April 16, the first day of the two-week spring transfer window for college football.

While Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has long maintained a desire to build Auburn’s program through the high school ranks, he recognizes the transfer portal as an opportunity to supplement areas of attrition on his roster.

And such will be the case during the spring transfer portal window, when Freeze and the Tigers’ coaching staff will peruse the transfer portal with a specific need in mind: adding depth to the defensive line.

“I think inside is where we’re still a little thin,” Freeze said of the defensive line. “We’ll be looking, maybe, for some portal help there.”

After losing defensive linemen Marcus Harris and Justin Rogers to the NFL Draft in the offseason, Auburn knew it would have a need along the defensive front. Together, Harris and Rogers combined for 57 total tackles and 13 tackles for a loss in 2023.

“We miss Marcus and Justin for sure,” Freeze said Tuesday.

In an effort to replace some of Harris and Rogers’ production, Auburn added a pair of defensive linemen in Texas transfer Trill Carter and Kansas transfer Gage Keys. Together, Carter and Keys join a trio of freshmen defensive linemen: Amaris Williams, TJ Lindsey and Malik Blocton.

Those five join a defensive line room that returned Jayson Jones, Zykeivous Walker, Quientrail “Bobby” Jamison-Travis, Keldric Faulk and Darron Reed Jr.

“You need Jayson Jones to come on and continue to improve along with Gage (Keys) and Trill (Carter). Those are the three guys inside that have played decent snaps,” Freeze said.

Together, Jones, Keys and Carter have played in a combined 104 game across their careers.

And behind them is a mixed bag of experience as Jamison-Travis is the oldest in terms of year, but Faulk is next in line as the most experienced after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman last fall.

“All young kids that’ve come on pretty fast to give you the needed depth inside there,” Freeze said.

And as it sits, many of the young guys that’ve recently enrolled at Auburn are likely to find themselves in a similar situation of quickly getting thrown into the fire and seeing early playtime.

The good news is Freeze and the Tigers landed a strong 2024 signing class of defensive linemen.

“Really excited about Amaris and Waller,” Freeze said, referring to 5-star defensive lineman Amaris Williams and 4-star edge rusher Jamonta Waller. “I mean those freshmen are going to be… they’re really talented and probably going to have to play significant snaps in year one. TJ Lindsey’s another one that I think’s got a huge ceiling tinkering with moving him inside.”

Lindsey ranked as a 3-star defensive lineman coming out of high school but has since started to transition to the end of the defensive front as an edge rusher.

While Auburn’s defensive line room clearly has bodies, there’s a drop-off in terms of experience.

And for that reason, it’s expected the Tigers could dip into the transfer portal, despite Freeze generally shying away from it.

“It’s difficult to manage,” Freeze said of navigating the transfer portal. “But we’re going to hit it hard on and embrace it and try to do what’s best for our roster in every scenario.”