Tray Taylor is not allowed to play for the Auburn Tigers in an actual football game at the moment.
Taylor was one of several 2022 recruits who were granted an extra year of eligibility. He used the opportunity to return to college football to sign with the Auburn Tigers. Alex Golesh updated Taylor’s eligibility on Monday.
“Right now, Tray is eligible to practice,” Golesh said. “We're still waiting, and if you can keep up with what's going on, God bless you. But right now, from our compliance, he's eligible to practice and not eligible to compete yet as the back and forth of the TROs and the NCAA go, so he's practicing with us.”
Golesh also explained Taylor was recruited by him previously to be a threat in the return game, and he said the Tigers hope to use him in a similar way.
“The reason to bring him in, and we recruited Tray a couple years ago when he was coming out of Tyler, the skill set as a returner was the most intriguing piece," sad Golesh. "He's been productive as a wideout coming in as late as he did into camp. He's trying to get caught up offensively. I thought coming in, honestly, the biggest value he would have that doesn't take as much schematic work would be a return value as a kick and a punt returner. He was dynamic for the last two years, both at Coastal (Carolina) and at Troy as a returner. Hopefully, as he gets cleared, we'll be able to use him in that way, but we haven't done a ton with him on offense as he's trying to figure out and learn what the heck is going on. But what an incredible young guy. I thought that coming out of Tyler. He’s a special young man that is smart, but also hungry to go get one more year of college football. He's come in here, gained everybody's respect quickly, and he's a cool cat. I really like Tray. That was the reason, we thought, as a return guy could certainly help us, and then we'll see as he integrates into the offense, how he could help us. We’ve got to get over the hurdle of having him ready for competition here first.”
Auburn is gearing up to open the season against Baylor on Sept. 5.
