It’s heating up on the Plains as one of the top prospects in the Southeast is now on board.
Rivals250 safety Eric Winters, one of the top recruits inside the state of Alabama, has made the call for Auburn. Miami and Georgia were other finalists for the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder from Enterprise (Ala.) High School.
Winters, the No. 14-ranked safety in the country, has been trending in the Tigers’ direction for months. He’s long been a top target for Hugh Freeze, Charles Kelly and the entire Auburn defensive staff.
“They really stayed on me. They seemed bought into me and not only me, but my entire family,” Winters told Rivals of his commitment to the Tigers.
“That’s what stands out about Auburn, and it’s not just the football side,” he continued. “It’s Auburn as a whole … it’s just a family-friendly environment and they’ve welcomed me with open arms the entire process.”
The Tigers got Winters on campus throughout the spring and hosted him last after official visits to Miami and Georgia to open June.
The race tightened up leading into the summer, but Auburn has been a staple in Winters’ recruitment since arriving.
“Honestly it’s where I fit in, the environment and the people for me, and from a parent’s point of view, where can you send your child off to that you know they can come back as a better man, better person in life,” Winters, the No. 108 player in the Rivals250 told AuburnSports.com earlier this off-season.
“They want me here and they want to coach me. They feel this is the best place for me.”
Winters is headlining a massive recruiting weekend on The Plains and kicking it off with plenty of home-state fireworks.
The big-framed safety has been a priority for the Tigers since this staff got its toes wet in the state of Alabama.
“I just love being here,” Winters said.
“That’s really the school that’s been recruiting me the hardest so far,” he continued. “They’ve been recruiting me since my freshman year. Even with the coaching change, they’ve gone really hard.”
WHAT IT MEANS FOR AUBURN
Winters is not just the sixth in-state recruit to jump on board for Freeze and company, he becomes the highest-ranked prospect from the Yellowhammer State to jump in for the Tigers. It’s also a major notch against a conference power, Georgia, who really battled at the top of the list for the do-it-all prospect for the bulk of this recruitment. Miami, which has been able to win national battles on its own end, was also heavily involved with Winters.
Positionally, the four-star helps to complement the group of cornerback recruits already on board in the class of 2025 with a major land at safety. Winters told Rivals his recruitment has shifted towards the safety spot since the New Year began, though he is also open to other roles as Auburn sees fit. That’s a common theme with the blue-chipper and other versatile commitments in the back-seven like Bryce Deas and Jakaleb Faulk, among others.
Individually, AU adds arguably its most important member of the class of 2025 to date with the sheer athleticism and ceiling Winters brings to the program. Whether as a hybrid or safety down the line, this is the type of modern athlete that impacts an SEC defense sooner rather than later. A high school quarterback who has been asked to move all around both sides of the ball to date, getting Winters to focus on one spot could also lead to a downhill learning curve once on the Plains for good. —Rivals National Recruiting Analyst John Garcia
