Bryson Washington’s first Auburn game comes with a familiar opponent on the other sideline, but the Baylor transfer is trying not to turn Saturday into anything bigger than that.
On Tuesday, during mock game week and 11 days before his Auburn debut, Washington was asked whether facing Baylor made the matchup feel more meaningful. He kept it measured.
“I most definitely look forward to it, playing my old team, but I look at it as just another game,” Washington said. “So, we’ve just got to go handle that.”
That’s the line Washington has chosen publicly, even if the move from Baylor carried real weight. He admitted in the spring that transferring was not an easy call. He’s from Franklin, Texas, a small town just over an hour from Waco, so leaving Baylor meant leaving home as well as leaving behind the program where he was the clear RB1.
Washington was a major part of Baylor’s offense, rushing for 1,836 yards and 18 touchdowns over two seasons as the Bears’ starting back. He also crossed the 1,000-yard mark in 2024.
At Auburn, though, the role is different. He’s battling Omar Mabson II and Nykahi Davenport for snaps behind the top spot in the backfield.
Washington expected competition when he signed with the Tigers, and he said that battle has sharpened everyone in the room.
“We’ve all got our different styles, different things that we’re great at,” Washington said of the Auburn running backs. “But the competition is making each other better, and that’s what we rely heavily on, just pushing each other and making each one of us better.”
His first months on the Plains weren’t smooth. Injuries slowed him in spring practice, and Washington also said he wasn’t in shape when he arrived, a rough fit for Auburn’s up-tempo offense. At the start of preseason camp, that left him fourth on the depth chart behind Cobb, Mabson and Davenport.
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze was blunt about where Washington stood at SEC Media Days.
“Bryson is still fighting like crazy to change his body. We’ve been hard on him and the demand in this offense is hard,” Golesh said during SEC Media Days.
“He’s not there yet. He’s physically at 100 percent.
But from a conditioning standpoint, he’s still fighting like crazy to get there.”
Golesh said Washington would work his way into shape during camp, and that’s exactly how it played out over the last month. In both preseason scrimmages, Golesh emphasized Washington’s ability to handle fatigue and stay on the field for long drives.
Now the tone around him has changed.
“He’ll certainly play. He’s continued to work really hard,” Golesh said. “I’ve been really impressed with him the last two weeks.”
At 6-feet and 210 pounds, Washington brings a hard-running style that gives Auburn another piece in its up-tempo ground game. He may not be the starter, but camp has put him in position to matter.
The adjustment has gone beyond football, too. Washington is still settling into life outside small-town Texas and has even been jokingly asking for fishing recommendations around Auburn.
On Saturday, he’ll line up against the school he left, and in a way, against the place he came from. After a camp that changed his standing, he could end up being a real factor in the opener.
“He’s done a really good job of getting himself into shape, learning, growing,” Golesh said. “I know he’s excited for this one.”
In Other News...
LSU Just Dropped Auburn Into A Fresh SEC Eligibility Fight
A Louisiana judges ruling has put LSU back in the middle of a familiar college football fight over eligibility, and it carries a ripple effect Auburn fans will recognize right away. Zxavian Harris and DaeQuan Wright were cleared to regain their status to play despite recent NFL roster involvement, even after the SEC went to federal court seeking to block their participation. The courts order also barred the SEC, NCAA and LSU from taking actions that would hurt the two players, leaving the Tigers with another roster decision to sort through as the season approaches.
For Auburn, the bigger concern is less about the courtroom and more about what this kind of ruling could mean for a league where eligibility disputes have already become part of the calendar. Harris and Wright have been practicing with LSU ahead of the opener against Clemson, and LSU now decides whether to formally add them. However that plays out, the case adds another layer of uncertainty around SEC roster rules at a time when every marginal advantage matters. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn May Have Found A Defensive Lineman Fans Didnt See Coming
Cody Siglers path to Auburn has never followed the usual script. The New Hope High School product started as a walk-on at UWA, redshirted his first season there and then got into 10 games the next year before moving on to Arkansas State, where he turned himself into an all-Sun Belt performer and put up the kind of defensive production that got attention beyond his previous stops.
Now at Auburn via the transfer portal, Sigler is suddenly part of the conversation as one of the Tigers top defensive linemen heading toward the 2026 season. For a player who kept climbing a level at a time, the intriguing part is not just how far he has come, but how quickly he has gone from an under-the-radar addition to someone Auburn fans may need to keep a close eye on. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Suddenly Has Another SEC Problem To Watch Closely
A federal ruling in Louisiana has stirred up another SEC issue worth tracking for Auburn, because the decision could help clear the way for a wave of former pro athletes to compete immediately in college football. Judge William Jorden granted an injunction that allows NCAA and SEC eligibility for more than 40 athletes, including former NFL players Zxavian Harris and DaeQuan Wright, who are expected to land on LSUs roster.
The SEC is not letting the matter sit there. The league plans to appeal the ruling and has already filed a separate lawsuit aimed at enforcing new punishments against teams that add ex-professional players, leaving the status of those athletes in flux while the legal fight plays out. For Auburn, it is another conference storyline to monitor closely, since the outcome could shape how aggressively rivals try to use this route and how the SEC handles it going forward. [Read more 🡒]