It’s unquestionably a barometer of the Auburn Tigers recent losing ways that we only find four players from last year’s squad extended invites to this year’s NFL Combine.

The Tigers have had four-straight seven-loss seasons with head coach Hugh Freeze overseeing the last two. However, it was well understood the talent at Auburn had reached its lowest point in recent memory when he took over. 

With back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes, no one doubts Freeze is improving the talent on the Plains. However, seeing only four players invited to the combine speaks to the monumental task Freeze had when he took over.

Auburn’s four players, wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, running back Jarquez Hunter, linebacker Eugene Asante, and edge rusher Jalen McLeod puts them 10th in the SEC. Georgia and Texas lead with 14 invites each with Ole Miss and South Carolina coming in next with 11. 

SEC NFL Combine Invites

Georgia 14

Texas 14

Ole Miss 11

South Carolina 11

Alabama 9

Florida 9

LSU 8

Tennessee 6

Arkansas 5

Auburn 4

Kentucky 4

Missouri 4

Oklahoma 3

Texas A&M 3

MSU 0

Vanderbilt 0

Hunter is currently ranked as the No. 26 running back by NFL Mock Draft Database. So it figures that he’ll seriously have to turn some heads at the combine if he wants to appear far higher on teams radars.

McLeod has the upside of playing the edge position which NFL teams traditionally covet, but despite racking up a team-leading eight sacks last year, he’s brushing up on playing inside in order to improve his draft value.

“Off ball – that’s all I want to get better at,” McLeod told Nathan King of Auburn Undercover. “That’s one of my main focuses right now, playing that off ball. They know I can rush; they want to see me playing first and second down.”

Perhaps it’s rather puzzling that Lambert-Smith isn’t getting a little more buzz in scouting circles. Disappointingly, Lambert-Smith wasn’t even extended a Senior Bowl invite after finishing fourth in the SEC in both yards and touchdowns. That debilitating knock on effect of poor quarterback play has really had a negative impact.

Working in Lambert-Smith’s favor is how he’s already used to switching systems after coming over to Auburn from Penn State for his last year of eligibility. Lambert-Smith still delivered results under less than favorable conditions.

In the bigger picture of things, that should bode well for the plethora of events and tests which will be thrown at the hard working pass catcher at the end of this month.

These four Tigers will have an opportunity to impress ahead of April’s draft, but it’s a safe bet four invites will be the low mark for Auburn for years to come.