Auburn's roster will have a wide open competition at tight end in 2026.

Transfers Rico Walker and Preston Howard, along with 2025 signees Ryan Ghea and Hollis Davidson, are expected to make up the room in 2026. With a relatively youthful room, it's an opportunity for whoever Auburn signs in the 2026 class to come in and seriously compete for some playing time.

The Tigers will likely follow the same game plan that they did in the 2025 class for the position — sign two or three tight ends. Who could they sign? Here are six candidates to keep an eye on this cycle.

Xavier Tiller — Fairburn, Ga.

Tiller committed to Texas A&M in November, sure, but that won't stop Auburn from pursuing a flip. Auburn was once considered to be one of Tiller's top schools and that likely remains the case, seeing that he'll visit for Auburn's junior day in a couple of weeks.

Head coach Hugh Freeze and tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua even went to visit Tiller at his school last week, so Auburn's definitely made him a priority.

Evan Jacobson — Waukee, Iowa

Measuring in at 6-foot-7, Jacobson is a massive tight end that's also expected to attend Auburn's junior day next weekend. Auburn's making a strong push, as Aigamaua went to Iowa last week to watch Jacobson play basketball.

He's been a frequent visitor to Iowa State, where his brother attended and is 45 minutes from his hometown of Waukee, so the Cyclones could be the program to watch in this one. However, more and more programs continue to get involved for the high three-star. Stanford, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Miami all sent coaches to visit with Jacobson over the last week and a half.

Kaiden Prothro — Bowdon, Ga.

One of the top players in the state of Georgia, Prothro had the triple crown of visits last year to Auburn. One for a spring practice, one in the summer and one for a game in the fall. Freeze and Aigamaua went to visit the 6-foot-6 tight end at his school last week, who holds programs like Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas and Miami near the top of his list.

JC Anderson — Mt. Zion, Illi.

Anderson made the trek from Illinois to Auburn not once, but twice last year. He visited last summer in the days following Big Cat Weekend and returned a month later for the Tigers' home opener. Aigamaua also went to watch Anderson in one of his games last November, as the Tigers work to get Anderson into the SEC.

It could prove difficult to pull Anderson out of that region — Illinois is recruiting him incredibly hard and have hosted him more than any other program. Penn State is also heavily involved in this one.

Mack Sutter — Dunlap, Illi.

Alabama and Ole Miss appear as the current favorites in the race for the four-star out of Dunlap, Illi., but he made a game day visit to Auburn last fall and the Tigers haven't stopped recruiting him. Aigamaua made the trip up north to go visit Sutter Friday, but so did Penn State head coach James Franklin as the Nittany Lions fight to keep him out of the SEC.

Javar Bowden — Panama City, Fla.

Although a return to Auburn hasn't officially been set up yet, it's definitely a place that Bowden will get back to. Bowden and Aigamaua talk "almost every day," as Auburn was a school he heavily favored following his first trip back in July for Big Cat Weekend.

He'll visit Miami this weekend and doesn't have anything else planned as of now for the rest of the contact period.