Auburn pulled off a strong recruiting finish in 2015, finishing ninth in the country and fifth in the SEC, per the 247sports industry composite rankings.

The Tigers will be looking to do the same in 2016 to power the next great Auburn team. With noted recruiting ace Will Muschamp now in the fold, will the Tigers be able to address their biggest needs to keep pace in the SEC?

Cornerback

Losing after 2015: Jonathan Jones, Joshua Holsey

The defensive backfield is Auburn’s weakest spot heading into 2015, and will lose two of its best players after the season, including dangerous cornerback Jones. The Tigers are thin behind those two as is, with walk-ons like Michael Sherwood contending for playing time after several defensive backs transferred out.

Auburn has offers out to several of the top players in the country at the position, but they’re going to have to fight off a variety of SEC and national contenders. Landing a big corner like Donte Vaughn would be a big boost for Muschamp’s defense.

Linebacker

Losing after 2015: Kris Frost, Cassanova McKinzy, Justin Garrett, Kenny Flowers

The Tigers were fortunate to get both Frost and McKinzy back for their senior years, but that means they’ll both have to be replaced next year. Tre’ Williams is more than promising as a backup, and JaViere Mitchell will be a senior in 2016.

Several of Auburn’s top targets are outside linebackers that would fit well in Muschamp’s system, including some of the top players at the position in the country, but look for the Tigers to go after a few more middle linebacker prospects as well.

Wide receiver

Losing after 2015: D’haquille Williams, Ricardo Louis, Melvin Ray

The 2015 class added some talent to the receiving corps, including converted quarterback Jason Smith, but after losing Quan Bray and Sammie Coates the Tigers are breaking in a few new starters. One of them, Louis, will be gone after 2015, and Williams could be a first-round draft pick next year. Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis both have big potential, but the Tigers will need to restock the group. Losing a commitment from top prospect Nate Craig-Myers certainly doesn’t help matters.

Tigers still have work to do

Auburn was off to a good start in the 2016 cycle, but losing the early commitment from Craig-Myers is a blow, although he could eventually come back to the Tigers. Earlier this month, Auburn scored a commitment from four-star cornerback John Broussard, and the hope is that several others will follow him. The only linebacker in the class so far is a three-star prospect, although they have offers out to several of the top players in the country, as mentioned above.

Already committed to the class, though, are some players who will add depth across the roster: two three-star defensive linemen, and a three-star tight end. Four-star athlete Stephen Davis Jr. still stands as a commitment, but he’s recently talked about re-opening his recruitment, saying he committed to Auburn too early in the process.

Outlook

Pairing Gus Malzahn with Muschamp is not only shaping up to be a strong pairing on the field, but off the field as well. Despite his subpar results record-wise, Muschamp reeled in some very good recruiting classes at Florida, finishing no lower than 11th in the composite rankings from 2011-14. He’ll need to apply that magic at Auburn as well.

Outside of the needs listed here, the Tigers have other needs to fill in that they’ve been working on. They’ll want to add another quarterback, considering that if Jeremy Johnson lives up to expectations he could go pro; Jawon Pass is the biggest target there. Adding offensive and defensive line depth should be a priority as well. Given the reputations of both big-name coaches on the staff, there’s good reason to think they’ll get the kind of class Auburn needs to continue to compete in the West.