Auburn safety Eric Winters may be one of the most underrated players on the Tigers' defense entering 2026. Tim Banks has praised his versatility, physicality and growth during fall camp as Winters looks ready to become a major piece of DJ Durkin's defense.
The Auburn Tigers defense certainly deserves respect.
With DJ Durkin returning as a defensive coordinator after having a great unit in 2025, retention was a key offseason priority, and it worked on the Plains.
And although there is plenty of focus on the defensive line and the linebacker room, the team's secondary might have the most underrated player on Auburn's roster.
Eric Winters appears to do everything right, and Auburn's coaching staff continues to give us reasons to believe that he is set to take another step forward in 2026.
Although players such as Xavier Atkins, Jared Smith, or Elijah Melendez pop up before a name like Winters, there are plenty of players who have received more attention throughout the offseason. However, that could change very quickly.
Auburn safeties coach Tim Banks had plenty of good things to say about Winters during fall camp, calling his performance "tremendous" and saying the sophomore has been "awesome" while Auburn moves him around the secondary.
That's important.
Banks wants his safeties to be interchangeable this season, potentially changing their positions from game to game depending on matchups. And Winters appears capable of doing everything Auburn is asking from the position.
Then there's his size.
"He'll be one of the bigger safeties in the country," Banks said.
That size will not only help him stay healthy during the season but will make him a physical threat when covering some of the top receivers in the country inside the SEC.
Banks said Winters is "playing with some violence" and believes his size should create mismatches when Auburn gets him around slot receivers who are asked to block him.
Winters played a lot of football as a freshman and consistently showed an ability to be around the ball. Now, with another offseason in Auburn's defense, he should have an even better understanding of what he's seeing in front of him.
Although the safety room seems to be a lot deeper of a unit than originally expected heading into spring, it is clear that Winters is a sure-fire starter.
It also appears that he's beginning to take another step as a leader. Banks mentioned that Winters isn't naturally the loudest player in the room, more of a player who leads through what he does instead of what he says. Auburn Head Coach Alex Golesh has been very clear on that type of "leadership".
Multiple times this offseason, he has stated that leading by example isn't leading. It's just doing what you're supposed to do.
And it appears that Winters has taken that as gospel. The sophomore has become more vocal throughout his development, something that he sees to be important as his role grows inside Auburn's defense.
And with that, our expectations of him should probably grow too.
