How 17-year-old Kail Ellis quickly earned a crucial role at Auburn

Football can be an unforgiving sport.

Auburn has felt that throughout the 2025 season, and it only got worse during last week’s 23-17 double-overtime loss to Missouri.

Not only did the Tigers lose their fourth game in a row, they also lost their leader and arguably the team’s best offensive lineman, starting center Connor Lew, to a torn ACL.

That made way for 17-year-old true freshman Kail Ellis, the youngest player in the FBS, to play 40 snaps last week, according to Pro Football Focus. Now, with Lew out for the season, Ellis is in position to make his first career start in what’s expected to be a wet, rainy, late-morning SEC scrap against Arkansas.

If you followed college football last season, you’ll know that this isn’t the first time a 17-year-old has starred in the SEC.

However, it’s rare for a freshman to start at center. Seeing a player who should still be suiting up for his high school team leading an SEC offensive line is nearly unheard of.

“He’s a mature kid for his age, but it’s really his toughness and preparation,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said of Ellis. “He’s going to be an outstanding player. You hate to have to throw him out there quite this early, but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt.”

Competitive roots

Long before Ellis found himself in competitive, high-stakes environments in the SEC, his most competitive battles came in the backyard.

Ellis is only 13 months younger than his brother, Kaden, who also started playing football at a young age, but became a defensive lineman.

With one brother building a career for himself as a quarterback protector and the other one as a disruptor, there was no better competition than the one in the house.

“It’s a big-time benefit,” said Kail and Kaden’s father, Matt Ellis. “Kaden will tell you that Kail is a very good center because of him. And then Kail will tell you Kaden’s a great defensive lineman because of him.”

Kaden now plays at Appalachian State, and Matt says the time the brothers spend training together now is more uplifting than competitive, even if they used to go at it as young kids.

“They’re each other’s best supporters, No. 1 fans,” Matt Ellis said. “They talk every night. They’re constantly uplifting. And it’s a really, really, really cool time right now in our in our family.”

Kail began playing football at about 5 years old, but eighth grade was when those around him began to realize he could play at the next level.

The physical development came early, allowing him to start on the varsity team for all three years at Cass High School in Georgia. He started as a tackle, but moved inside to center, where he’d eventually be recruited by numerous big-time college programs such as Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia and others.

Later in his high school career, Auburn approached Ellis about reclassifying, and by his junior year of high school, he was already physically prepared.

Before arriving at Auburn, Ellis was already bench pressing over 300 pounds and squatting over 500 pounds, his father said. That led Ellis’ family and Auburn offensive line coach Jake Thornton to believe he was prepared to enter college football a year early.

By the end of his first summer on campus, Ellis was up to 315 pounds, and already on Thornton’s radar despite the experienced players ahead of him on the depth chart.

“I think Kail has really stood out,” Thornton said during a preseason interview session. “He’s 17 years old, doesn’t turn 18 until next summer. But he’s done a phenomenal job of getting himself prepared mentally and physically prepared.”

Learning from Lew

Part of what intrigued Ellis about the idea of coming to Auburn a year early was being able to spend a year learning behind Lew.

Now in his third season as Auburn’s starting center, Lew has become one of the top centers in college football and is projected by some outlets as a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Ellis’ ability and willingness to learn from Lew often comes up if you ask any of his coaches and teammates what stands out about him.

“He’s easy to lead. He’s never going to talk back,” said Auburn offensive tackle Mason Murphy. “He’s always going to ask questions, but he’s never going to think he’s doing the right thing. He’s always going to take in the information and be coachable.”

Josh Richardson, the owner of Velocity Athlete Development, trains both Ellis and Lew.

He’s seen the two together up close outside of an Auburn setting and said they share some of the same traits. One thing that stands out to him about Ellis is his intelligence, especially for someone his age.

“He understands schemes. He can understand not just setting the point on the Mike when we’re blocking double teams, but understanding what kind of the complexities are and what could happen in those situations,” Richardson said. “As offensive linemen we have to make split-second decisions, right?

“Being able to understand what could happen before the play happens allows you to make those adjustments on the fly. Kail does an extremely good job of that, along with Connor.”

Losing Lew’s intelligence and leadership was a major concern for Freeze and Auburn’s staff when he went down, but there’s some confidence that Ellis can at least hold his own in that regard.

The first example of that came last week. On Ellis’ first snap of the game, Auburn running back Jeremiah Cobb broke off a 41-yard run after a nice block from Ellis created a hole in the A-gap.

Mistakes are to be expected from a true freshman — Freeze mentioned that Ellis’ snaps could improve — but that play was a glimpse of the good things Ellis can do for the offense, even if he doesn’t bring everything Lew does.

Despite not being able to play, Lew is still important to the offensive line. He was at practice this week with a piece of paper in his hand, and you could have easily mistaken him for one of Auburn’s coaches.

He was voted one of Auburn’s team captains before the season, and his leadership still seems to be valued, even if he’s not on the field.

“An injury like that, it’s really easy to kind of like crawl back into your shell, and kind of disengage,” Richardson said. “That speaks volumes, that this is a tough time for him, but he’s still there pouring into his teammates.”

Lew will likely continue to be a resource for Ellis as the season goes on, and his influence seems to be having a positive impact on the young freshman.

Playing high-major college football at 17 years old isn’t easy for anyone. But from childhood battles in the backyard to early physical development and a good mentor, those around Ellis seem confident that he’s ready for the moment.

“I’ve always told my kids that when you get the opportunity, you gotta make it count,” his father said, “and I think that he has.”