He had 11 tackles and 4 TFLs against Missouri last October. Auburn lost. Now he plays for the Tigers.
The number
6 — Missouri players drafted in the 2026 NFL Draft, tying a program record. Woodyard was brought in through the portal to help replace them. Four of those six were defenders. The linebacker who anchored the unit — Josiah Trotter, 84 tackles and 13 tackles for loss — went 46th overall to Tampa Bay.
The vitals
Height/Weight: 6-0, 241
Class: Redshirt junior (one year of eligibility)
Hometown: Mobile, Ala. (Williamson High School)
Previous school: Auburn (2022-2025)
Recruiting class: 2022 — 4-star, No. 141 nationally, No. 13 LB (247Sports Composite)
Originally committed to: Alabama (flipped to Auburn on Early Signing Day 2021)
The resume
2022 — Auburn: 4 games, 4 tackles, 3 solo, 0 TFL, 0 sacks, 0 PD
2023 — Auburn: 3 games (stats unavailable)
2024 — Auburn: 10 games, 17 tackles, 13 solo, 3.0 TFL, 0 sacks, 1 PD
2025 — Auburn: 12 games (11 starts), 67 tackles, 47 solo, 7.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 1 PD
Career: 29 games, 88 tackles, 63 solo, 10.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 2 PD
2025 highlights: 11 tackles and 4 TFLs against Missouri (Oct. 18). 9 tackles at Texas A&M. 16 QB pressures. Only 6 missed tackles all season (7.7% miss rate — top 10 among SEC starting linebackers).
The tape
What he does well:
- Elite run defender — 88.4 PFF run defense grade in 2025
- Auburn's highest-graded defensive player all season (80.1 PFF overall)
- Low missed-tackle rate (7.7%) — reliable finisher in the open field
- 16 QB pressures from the linebacker position — disruptive as a blitzer
- Physical striker with explosive closing speed
Where he's limited:
- Zero career interceptions and zero forced fumbles in four seasons — no splash plays in the turnover column
- Coverage grade not publicly available — an unknown
- Only one full season as a starter; limited sample size at SEC level
PFF grades (2025): 80.1 overall. 88.4 run defense. Second-highest graded linebacker in the SEC. First-team All-SEC (PFF).
In his own words
On his development at Auburn:
"It was a lot different with me coming in. I was injured, so I couldn't really play to my full ability, so it was like a step back. Now that I'm healthy, y'all better watch out."
— 247Sports, preseason 2024
After his career game against Missouri (11 tackles, 4 TFLs — Auburn lost 23-17 in double overtime):
"Just keeping our team level headed, always keep the main thing the main thing. And as a man, you just got to go out there everyday and put your best foot forward no matter what happens in the past."
— 247Sports, October 2025
On Auburn's recruitment out of high school:
"The people, just the Auburn family. It's all one. There are great things at Auburn that can be accomplished."
— 247Sports, December 2021
What the coaches said
Hugh Freeze, former Auburn head coach (after the Missouri game):
"That was Robert's best game since we've been here, by far. That's a kid that really struggled and contemplated 'do I need to move on' back in the crazy portal world. I give a lot of credit to his father, who spoke real truth to him. He hung in here and now he has worked his tail off to get better and better."
— 247Sports, October 2025
Antonio Coleman, Williamson High School defensive coordinator and former Auburn player:
"He had the 'it' factor when I first saw him ... It's night and day. He has 'it,' and I don't know if I've seen a kid with 'it' in the past 10 or 15 years."
— SI.com
The story
Robert Woodyard Jr. had his best game of the 2025 season against Missouri. Eleven tackles. Four tackles for loss. Auburn's defense held Missouri to 17 points through regulation at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Oct. 18.
Auburn still lost 23-17. And two months later, Woodyard entered the transfer portal and committed to Missouri.
The irony is hard to miss. The team he dominated is now the team he plays for.
Woodyard arrived at Auburn in 2022 as a 4-star recruit who had flipped his commitment from Alabama to Auburn on Early Signing Day. He tore his meniscus during his senior season at Williamson High School in Mobile — the same school that produced former Auburn cornerback Roger McCreary — and spent his first two years at Auburn recovering and developing behind the scenes.
He earned Auburn's defensive scout team player of the year award as a true freshman. His teammates noticed the growth. "He looks like a whole new guy from a couple months ago," senior linebacker Cam Riley said during spring practice in 2023.
The breakout came in 2025. Woodyard started 11 games and finished second on the team in tackles with 67. His PFF overall grade of 80.1 was the highest of any Auburn defender. His run defense grade of 88.4 was among the best in the SEC.
Then Hugh Freeze was fired on Nov. 2, one day after a home loss to Kentucky. It was the third coaching change of Woodyard's Auburn career — Bryan Harsin was fired in 2022, Freeze in 2025. Freeze himself had revealed that Woodyard previously "contemplated 'do I need to move on'" during a prior portal window and credited Woodyard's father with talking him into staying.
This time, the father's advice wasn't enough. Woodyard entered the portal in late December and visited Kentucky and Missouri before committing to the Tigers on Jan. 6.
At Missouri, he steps into a defense that lost its backbone. Josiah Trotter (84 tackles, 13 TFLs) was drafted 46th overall by Tampa Bay. Khalil Jacobs and Triston Newson exhausted their eligibility. Those three combined for 312 tackles across their Missouri careers. Woodyard projects as a starter alongside returning linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez (61 tackles, 1.5 sacks in 2025) — the two linebackers with the most proven SEC production on Missouri's roster.
Missouri went 30 players deep in the transfer portal this cycle. Three of those 30 came from Auburn. Woodyard is the headliner.
He has one year to make his case for the 2027 NFL Draft. Missouri's track record of developing linebackers into draft picks — Ty'Ron Hopper, Josiah Trotter — suggests he's in the right place to do it.
The verdict
Robert Woodyard Jr. was Auburn's best defensive player in 2025 and the most productive SEC linebacker available in the transfer portal. Missouri needed exactly what he does — stop the run and get to the quarterback. He has one season to prove he belongs on an NFL roster. If last October's performance against Missouri is any indication, Eli Drinkwitz got the right guy.
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