Could Alex McPherson be Auburn football's next placekicker?
The Carlson era at placekicker has been quite good to Auburn football. Daniel Carlson rewrote the record books. Hes the SECs all-time leading scorer and ranks second in NCAA history with 92 career made field goals on 114 attempts. Anders Carlson picked up right where his brother left off making 53 of 72 kicks over the past three seasons, including a career best 20 of 22 last year. But their impressive run on the Plains is nearing its end. Daniel has been in the NFL since 2018. Anders may soon follow  he has two seasons of eligibility remaining, but the 2021 season will be his fifth in college. The Fort Payne High standout took an official visit to Auburn over the weekend. The three-star recruit is ranked as the No. 1 placekicker in the 2022 class by both 247Sports and Kohls, which is one of the top kicking and punting camps in the country. He separated himself from everyone else by winning multiple competitions and hitting a 65-yard field goal with ease, their assessment of him reads. McPherson comes from a family of very good specialists and has multiple SEC offers. He has made long field goals throughout his high school career and has the talent and mind frame to be successful at the next level.  McPherson described the visit as awesome. He and Anders were already friends, but they got to spend more time together this weekend. He connected with special teams coordinator Bert Watts. He said he loved coach Bryan Harsin  especially the fact that hes a big special teams guy.  It was great getting to see all the coaches face to face and get to visit here officially for the first time with the coaches, the new staff, and getting to see Auburn again, McPherson said. Hes not ready to make a decision yet. McPherson will take official visits to Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia over the next three weeks and hopes to announce his choice sometime in July. But its clear that Auburn is very much in the mix. I love Auburn, McPherson said. Thats not a hidden fact.  Florida could play a significant role, too. McPherson is also part of a kicking family  his older brother, Evan, kicked for the Gators for three seasons, making 51 of 60 field goal attempts. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted him in the fifth round of Mays NFL Draft. Evan isnt pushing Alex to follow in his footsteps, though. My brother is all about guiding me, Alex McPherson said. Hes all about whats best for me and where Im going to fit.  That could end up being Auburn. If it is, McPherson could be the next name in a long line of successful kickers that have come through the Plains  the Tigers last non-Carlson kicker, Cody Parkey, is also in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. That shows how they treat the specialists here, McPherson said. They treat them good, and it shows. They go to the league. So its definitely a factor.  Josh Vitale is the Auburn beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can follow him on Twitter at @JoshVitale. To reach him by email, click here.