Auburn's Daren Bates Selected To All-SEC Freshman Team

True Freshman Daren Bates is the fourth straight Auburn defensive back to be selected to the All-SEC Freshman team. He follows in the footsteps of cornerback Neiko Thorpe, safety Zach Etheridge, and cornerback Jerraud Powers.

Arriving on campus only a few weeks before the 2009 season began, Bates started all twelve regular season games.  Many would say this was from an abundance of injuries and lack of depth, while the minority would say he came in and won the job because he showed the coaches he belonged on the field right away.

While it is obvious that without the season—ending injury to returning starting safety Mike McNeil that Bates would not have been a starter, his play throughout the year made it clear that he would have seen ample playing time. 

Bates finished the season with 63 total tackles (40 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, one interception and one fumble recovery.

He seemed to have nose for the football, playing near the line of scrimmage and being included in nearly every play.  He played without fear and with little depth in the secondary, he played without rest. 

As mentioned above, Daren Bates is following a long line of Auburn defensive backs that have had breakout freshman seasons. 

Let's play a little game of "where are they now?" and look into the crystal ball to see how Bates' career on the Plains might turn out.

Powers, who won the honor in 2006, declared early for the 2009 NFL draft and was picked in the third round by the Indianapolis Colts. As a (redshirt)freshman Powers tallied 26 solo tackles (Bates—40).

The next two years for Powers were a success, as he received the Zeke Smith Award, given to Auburn's best defensive player as a sophomore and was third team SEC in his final season.

In 2007 Etheridge won the honor as a true freshman, along with Sporting News' Second Team Freshman All-America, and Collegefootballnews.com's Freshman All-America Third Team. His first full year he had 65 total tackles (Bates—63). 

Etheridge went down in this season's Ole Miss game with a serious neck injury, but before going down he played alongside Bates, who credited him for "showing him the ropes". Not a bad guy to study under. Etheridge hopes to return to play his final season for Auburn next year.

Last season saw Thorpe named to the All-Frosh team.  Though he only started one game, he played in every one, racking up 20 solo stops and two interceptions (Bates—40 solo, one interception).  This season, Thorpe finished with 43 solo tackles and one pick in what some would call a lackluster year.

There's no doubt Bates is in some pretty good company and it seems he will only continue to improve. He looks to have tremendous upside. Once the Olive Branch, Miss. native has a full spring training, as well as summer workouts and time in the film room, it seems the sky's the limit.

One last note for the star gazers out there, Bates was 2-star out of high school.  Not bad for a two star.