AUBURN — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze only got half of his wish.

At Baumhower's Victory Grille for an episode of Tiger Talk in November, Freeze led the crowd in a chant in an attempt to convince tight end Luke Deal and defensive lineman Marcus Harris to come back for one last season at Auburn.

"One more year!" the customers, under Freeze's direction, pleaded to Deal and Harris. The players were in attendance as special guests on the show.

Andy Burcham, the voice of the Tigers, complimented Freeze's recruiting abilities in that moment.

"That's two big recruits right there," Freeze responded.

Deal obliged, opting to return for his sixth and final season on the Plains. Harris is off to the NFL, though, selected by the Houston Texans with the No. 247 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. His leap to the pros comes after he had a standout season in 2023 that featured career-high marks in tackles (40), tackles for loss (11.5) and sacks (7.5).

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Harris finished with an overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus of 82.1 last season, and his run defense grade settled at 87.4. Those figures ranked No. 19 and No. 11 amongst defensive linemen nationally, respectively, and both ranked No. 1 amongst linemen in the SEC.

Auburn lost other rotational pieces on the defensive line as well, with Lawrence Johnson running out of eligibility and the Dallas Cowboys choosing Justin Rogers with the No. 244 overall pick.

All told, more than half of the snaps played along the defensive line in 2023 left the Tigers this offseason; they bring back 43.6% of those reps, with Keldric Faulk (441), Jayson Jones (347) and Zykeivous Walker (237) leading the way.

With so much out the door, Auburn attacked the portal. Among transfers Gage Keys (Kansas), Philip Blidi (Indiana), Isaiah Raikes (USC/Texas A&M) and Trill Carter (Texas), the defensive line will often be made up of players who weren't on the roster last season.

Keys and Blidi lean more towards playing defensive tackle, a position that's easiest described as a cross between a nose tackle and defensive end. They're sometimes tasked with taking on one-on-one blocks and creating pressure as a pass rusher, but they're also expected to hold the point in the run game when needed.

The nose tackle, a position that'll likely be led by Raikes and Carter alongside Jones and Bobby Jamison-Travis, is a bit more stout. Duties here include stuffing gaps and not getting pushed off the line of scrimmage.

As for defensive end, that'll be captained by Faulk. As a true freshman in 2023, Faulk had to play more than expected after Maryland transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite suffered a season-ending injury to his bicep against Georgia in Week 5. Faulk performed admirably, collecting 35 tackles and a sack.

Auburn doesn't have a star like Harris to rely on, so it's prepared to lean into the depth it collected this offseason. Including redshirt freshman DJ Reed and true freshmen Malik Blocton and TJ Lindsey, the Tigers could have as many as 11 players rotating through the three spots along the defensive line.

Freeze would rather Harris have stuck around for another season, but the plan to focus on depth is clear. If someone like Faulk could take a sophomore leap, then the Tigers would really be in business.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football Defensive line analysis: Star power replaced by depth