Fa’Najae Gotay, Jahquez Robinson ‘picking things up quickly’ after late transfers to Auburn

DALLAS, Tex. — Fa’Najae Gotay entering the transfer portal in June was a bit of a surprise. When Auburn announced his signing just one week ago, there was certainly some surprise as well.

On Wednesday night at a speaking engagement in Dallas, head coach Hugh Freeze said adding Gotay to the roster was an important addition.

“We’re excited to get him, we needed some depth there,” Freeze said. “He’s played a lot of snaps at a Power Five school. Coach (DJ) Durkin knew of him and knew his family. I think we needed some extra depth there with experience.

“I really like our young linebackers, I do. But you are never sure how those young ones will perform the first time you roll out their in this league. I felt like if we could get another guy…another linebacker, we’d feel better about our maturity in that room.”

Gotay is the 15th transfer addition to Auburn’s roster since last season ended. He will have one year to play at Auburn as he is a sixth-year senior going into 2024.

Arriving in the summer won’t be the easiest of transitions for Gotay, but with five years of college football already under his belt, the transition shouldn’t be that difficult. The same goes for Colorado safety transfer Jahquez Robinson, who committed in June.

“The good thing is they have done this. They have gone through installs, and they have run similar defenses,” Freeze said.

“I talked to DJ the other day to go through the whole defensive roster and he felt like they were picking things up quickly, even though they have been here a short period of time. We’ll see in fall camp. Our other kids, spring practice and then install every week, the few hours we have to be with them, are certainly ahead. He felt good about their football IQ and how they are picking things up.”

In five seasons at Maryland, Gotay had 133 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 2 interceptions. He had the most success in 2023 totaling 44 tackles, 27 solo, 2.5 sacks, and 1 interception. Freeze certainly took notice of Gotay’s six-tackle performance against Auburn in the Music City Bowl.

In his lone season at Colorado, Robinson made seven appearances and two starts. He finished the year with nine tackles—one for loss—along with one interception.

In his three seasons at Alabama, Robinson played in seven total games, registering two unassisted tackles, one tackle for a loss, and one sack. He did not see any action during his true freshman season.

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