AUBURN | The votes from our subscribers and moderators are in as we continue our Top 20 with a linebacker who provided one of the biggest plays of the 2019 season.
NO. 13 ZAKOBY MCCLAIN
6-0, 210, Junior
Valdosta, Ga.
VOTES: Jay G (13), BMatt (17), J Lee (11), Nate (10), Bunker (16)
Zakoby McClain has played in all 26 Auburn games since he arrived as a true freshman in 2018, but it was his performance in the 2019 Iron Bowl that cemented his spot in school history. McClain earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week and Athlon National Player of the Week honors against Alabama returning an interception 100 yards for a touchdown and leading the Tigers with 11 tackles. He added a tackle-for-loss.
One of the most impressive stats from McClain last season is that he finished fourth on the team with 55 tackles despite not starting any games. He also led the team with three forced fumbles. He finished the 2019 season with an 80.4 defensive rating by PFF, which ranks fifth among defenders with 100 or more snaps.
McClain will enter the 2020 season as the primary backup to Owen Pappoe at Sam linebacker and should push the sophomore for the starting position throughout the season as linebackers coach Travis Williams makes his players earn it every week.
WHY NO. 10 (Nate): I said for most of last season that Zakoby McClain was Auburn's most underrated linebacker, lost in the hype surrounding an All-SEC season from K.J. Britt and a standout freshman campaign from Owen Pappoe.
That was, until McClain became one of the heroes of Auburn's 48-45 Iron Bowl win with his 100-yard pick-six in the second half. Then everyone knew his name.
McClain obviously closed out the 2019 season with a bang, notching that seismic touchdown and 11 tackles against Alabama. But midway through the year he was also producing at a high level, ranking fourth on the team in tackles after the Florida game.
A rising junior, "Ricochet Rabbit" has mostly lived up to the monikers of praise from his coaching staff. He's not been perfect through two seasons as a Tiger, but he's a quick-twitch playmaker that can attack tailbacks in space — and he improved pass defense on short patterns over the course of the season.
Britt will be preseason All-SEC, and Pappoe's seemingly endless potential continues to excite Auburn's staff for his sophomore year and beyond. But don't sleep on McClain's "Jackrabbit" presence as a tackler and overall jolt of athleticism for the middle of Kevin Steele's unit in 2020.
