AUBURN | When that phone rings at midnight, Jeremy Garrett already knows who’s calling.

Freshman Keldric Faulk is driven to achieve greatness so if he’s made an error in practice or doesn’t understand a scheme, he’s calling his defensive line coach regardless of the time.

“If there's a mistake being made, Keldric’s gonna call me at midnight and we'll talk through it,” said Garrett. “It's funny because it's the same way he was in recruiting — midnight conversations.

“So I told him, ‘Hey man, you call me. I'm here to help. My job is you.’ That's what I tell all my guys: ‘My job is you guys, so whatever I can do to help, you call.’ My family understands that I'm on call.”

Faulk, the highest-rated signee in Auburn’s 2023 class, enrolled in January and worked at Jack linebacker during spring drills. He’s transitioned to defensive end for fall camp.

“It’s more physical,” said Garrett. “It’s going to require more strain because every play there’s going to be the tackle or the tackle and the tight end on you every time. So it’s going to require a little more physically out of you. But he’s doing a good job.”

Faulk, 6-foot-6 and 288 pounds, is competing with senior Mosiah Nasili-Kite, a Maryland transfer, junior Zykeivous Walker and freshman Wilky Denaud for the starting d-end position.

“He’s in there fighting for the job,” said defensive coordinator Ron Roberts. “I don’t know how it’s going to pan out the next couple of weeks, but he’s going to be an impact player for us this season.”

It’s rare for a true freshman to start along the defensive line in the SEC. Not only does it take an unusual combination of size, strength and athleticism, but it also requires a lot of mental and physical toughness.

Faulk appears to possess all of the above.

“You get a kid with want-to and drive and he's mentally wanting to go,” said Garrett. “He's not tapping out of practice. He may get tired but he's gonna go. And then he wants to improve.”

Auburn will hold its seventh practice of fall drills Friday morning.