AUBURN | Marquis Robinson played six snaps against Georgia last season, registering one tackle. That was nearly the extent of his Auburn career.

The redshirt freshman defensive tackle entered the transfer portal in January until a change of heart saw the Milton, Fla., native return to AU at the end of April.

Less than four months later, Robinson has been one of the rising young standouts during the Tigers’ fall camp.

“He surprised me, but anytime you get a guy that leaves football like that he’ll be hungry when he comes back,” said junior defensive tackle Marcus Harris. “I can definitely see the hunger he has since he came back. He has been improving.”

Auburn appears to have a deep and talented defensive line for 2022 that includes Harris, Colby Wooden, Derick Hall, Eku Leota, Marquis Burks, Zykeivous Walker, Oregon transfer Jayson Jones, Memphis transfer Morris Joseph and JUCO transfer Jeffrey M’Ba.

While Robinson is unlikely to secure a starting position this fall, being part of the playing rotation would be a big step forward and set him up to the a potential starter in the coming years.

“He’s done some good things,” said defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh. “He has really gotten his body weight down. He has really gotten more into it. He’s doing some different things and playing multiple spots up front for us.

“It’s just development. You’re 15 inches from a man and it happens so fast. People don’t understand the muscle memory and things you’ve got to have. He’s really learning those things right now.”

Robinson’s improvement is even more impressive when you consider he missed winter workouts and spring practice. Despite that, he returned to AU in better shape than when he left and has hit the ground running since.

“He wants to learn defense more,” said Harris. “He wants to help improve the defensive line better and he just came in more hungry and more want to, and you can tell about the drills and by the team reps. And I can tell he is getting better and I won't be surprised if he had a breakout year this year.”

Auburn will return to practice Thursday and hold its second major scrimmage of fall camp Friday afternoon at Jordan-Hare Stadium.