AUBURN | One of Auburn’s thinnest positions will be without one of its best players for perhaps the rest of the season.

Edge Eku Leota, who is second on the team with 5.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.0 sacks, injured his pectoral muscle against LSU last Saturday.

“He's going to get that repaired tomorrow, so most likely that is season-ending,” AU coach Bryan Harsin said Monday.

Leota, a Northwestern transfer, has teamed up with senior Derick Hall the last two seasons to give the Tigers a formidable duo of edge rushers.

He had 23 tackles, 10.0 tackles-for-loss and seven sacks last season, and entered 2022 bigger, stronger and ready to be a full-time starter opposite Hall.

“Eku’s a big loss, and this has nothing to do with anybody behind him; it’s just he’s an emotional leader, he’s one of the smartest football players we have,” said Harsin. “I mean, he is a guy that you want on your team—how he prepares, all the things he does, the respect he has of his team.”

Marcus Bragg, a Western Kentucky transfer, stepped in for Leota against LSU finishing with for tackles and a sack.

“You never want anything to happen and obviously Eku went out with an injury. He stepped up and played really well,” said Hall of Bragg. “We were communicating a lot on the sidelines back and forth on what he’s getting and what I’m seeing. Just really trying to help each other out to be successful. I think he did a really good job for us tonight.”

The only other scholarship edge on Auburn’s roster is redshirt freshman Dylan Brooks, who has played just 20 total snaps in three of AU’s five games this season including three against LSU. He has recorded one tackle.

Sophomore linebacker Joko Willis has previously worked at edge in practice while starting defensive end Colby Wooden has experience at the position and might be a better matchup against a big and physical Georgia offensive line this week.

“Getting that ironed out on what we want to do with that edge position, that’s what we have to work through this week,” said Harsin. “We’ll see what that looks like as we put the packages in and who we have to utilize, but we still want to get the best front seven we have out on the field, especially against what Georgia does — they run the ball effectively, alright, they obviously can throw it; you got to get pressure on the quarterback.

“If you give him too much time, those guys create out in the open space. We’re still working through some of that, but I thought overall, I thought Bragg played well.”

Auburn plays at No. 2 Georgia Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.