Five-star DT Derrick Brown spurns in-state Georgia for Auburn

Tampa Catholic receiver Nate Craig-Myers gave Auburn’s coaching staff its biggest commit of the day when he announced his decision to pick the Tigers over the University of North Carolina. “We hand picked them, we got them”. Among the most disappointing aspects of the 7-6 campaign was inconsistency at the quarterback position and a leaky defense that allowed 405.2 total yards of offense per game – which ranked No. 13 in the SEC.

Still, Auburn brings back some intriguing pieces next fall-ultra-talented but injury-prone defensive lineman Carl Lawson chief among them-and could emerge as a candidate to return to contention after a disappointing 2015 campaign. Brown was also named the Georgia Player of the Year by the Associated Press. Auburn and Georgia were considered the major front-runners for his services until he ended the suspense and chose the Tigers. Davidson, Jackson and James are all early enrollees.

Following his visit with the Vols this past weekend, the 6-foot-4, 320-pound senior tweeted pictures from his last official visit in Knoxville featuring song lyrics from “Rocky Top”, the unofficial fight song of Tennessee.

“I know every year I’ve been here I’ve gotten up before (the media) and said how excited I am, which I was, but this class is a little bit different”. DT Derrick Brown, 6-4, 322 – This was the one who made the class special.

Auburn’s defense significantly improved by the end of last season.