After many years of waiting: The Auburn tigers football has officially announced the coming of an all time player.
Auburn finally received some wonderful news that they had been waiting for. Caden Story, a four-star defensive end, has revealed his decision to attend Auburn.
Despite publicly claiming he was debating this decision, Story has been significantly favoring Auburn for over a month. One major reason is his relationship with Auburn’s new coaching staff, notably new defensive line coach Nick Eason. The big man had offers from Florida State, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and many others. However, his final two options were Auburn and UCF. The Knights were prominently involved because of the Story family’s long-standing relationship with Gus Malzahn and Travis Williams. In the end, the option to stay near to home while playing in the SEC for a former NFL defensive line coach was too appealing for the Lanett native to pass up.
Story is Nick Eason’s first major win. Eason has received a lot of acclaim early in his Auburn recruiting career from top prospects, and he has probably done the greatest job of regularly bringing high talent to campus this summer. However, before Story, he had yet to win a recruitment. He now has his first blue chip on board and the opportunity to produce a good debut class. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Story’s contributions to Auburn’s defense is his versatility. That’s a buzzword you’ll hear a lot regarding Auburn defensive targets, as new defensive coordinator Derek Mason wants to be able to accomplish a variety of things with the same players. Story was Exceptionally prolific last fall, recording nearly 60 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 18 sacks. He is a great athlete, standing 6’4″ and weighing over 260 pounds. He may set the edge on the outside or drop inside to rush the passer. He will need to work on his quickness, particularly his first step, in order to be a more successful disruptor at the next level, but he has a lot of the raw attributes to become a high-quality SEC defensive lineman. He’s someone who, in my opinion, will benefit from a year in the program to develop his skillset before bursting into the rotation as an impact player in his second year.
