Year one on The Plains: Meet Auburn’s transfer Jack linebacker Jalen McLeod

A new coach at Auburn meant significant roster turnover was sure to follow. Before Hugh Freeze’s team lines up for fall practices in a few weeks, his roster has more than three dozen new faces, including more than 20 transfers. In his first offseason back in the SEC, Freeze took advantage of the new landscape the transfer portal has made for college football to reshape the Tigers. Auburn brought in the fifth-ranked transfer class, according to 247Sports, and led the nation with 11 four-star rated transfers.
Here’s a look at one of them…
No. 35 Jalen McLeod, Jack linebacker, junior
Hometown: Washington, D.C. (Friendship Collegiate Academy)
Previous university: Appalachian State
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 237 pounds
A look back at the past: After prepping at Friendship Collegiate Academy in the Washington, D.C. area, Jalen McLeod was rated a 3-star prospect by 247Sports before enrolling at Appalachian State after a quiet recruiting process. Alongside the Mountaineers, McLeod was also offered by UMass, Morgan State and Stony Brook. But it was a successful three-year stint with Appalachian State that paved the way for McLeod’s eventual transition to the SEC. While with the Mountaineers, McLeod appeared in 30 games, tallied 76 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss and three forced fumbles. In 2022, McLeod played a big role in Appalachian State’s upset win over Texas A&M as he notched a pair of sacks. Before transferring to Auburn, McLeod was graded as one of the top returning edge rushers by Pro Football Focus.
2023 season outlook: McLeod joins a handful of new defensive players who will help make up Auburn’s Jack linebackers — a unit whose responsibilities will be very similar to your typical edge rushers, but a bit more dynamic. McLeod is set to join fellow transfer Elijah McAllister as the room’s more seasoned veterans, who boast different skillsets. While McAllister has a lot of SEC experience after transferring from Vanderbilt and has proven to be able to stop the run with his long, 6-foot-6 stature, McLeod is a bit smaller in frame but more athletic than McAllister.
“He’s a guy who’s unique: athletic, super twitchy, plays at a high level and rushes the passer at a high level,” McAllister said of McLeod. “So I think we’re going to marry up and have a nice one-two punch in the jack room.”