HOOVER, Ala. -- It's no secret that Auburn's defensive woes were spread out in 2014, but the root of the problem was up front with a relatively nonexistent pass rush.

The hope is that three new additions will help take care of that.

The obvious positive influence is new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who owned a tremendous defense for the better part of his four-year stint as Florida's head coach, but the other two come in the form of defensive ends Carl Lawson and Byron Cowart.

For Cowart, the immediate trait that teammates gawk at is his size. Listed at 6-foot-3, 277 pounds, Cowart has dropped some jaws with his presence around Auburn's football facility this summer.

"He's a big guy. He's a really big guy," linebacker Kris Frost said of Cowart. "I'm telling you, they make them bigger and bigger. I don't know where it came from. It's amazing seeing him out there running around."

Lawson, who is coming off of an ACL injury that cost him all of the 2014 season after he registered four sacks as a freshman, could be a superstar, but Cowart -- freshman status and all -- could be exactly what the Tigers need to generate a respectable pass rush in 2015.

For as bad as the Tigers were overall, getting to the quarterback -- or lack thereof -- sucked the life out of this defense. Auburn finished last season with just 21 sacks, ranking second to last in the SEC with 10 sacks in conference play.

"The big thing for us was the ability to get a pass rush kind of diminished as the season went on," Frost said. "That hurt us pretty bad and that could have been a little detrimental to our confidence a little bit."

But the addition of Cowart could do wonders. Even with no collegiate experience, Cowart, the former No. 1 recruit in the nation, brings what Frost has observed as some monster talent and athleticism. His frame alone will bring attention from offensive linemen, taking bodies away from guys such as Lawson and defensive tackle Montravius Adams.

The workouts have been minimal and the weight room sessions have been relatively ordinary, but Frost said he sees something special in the frosh who garnered lofty praise and expectations in high school when he produced 185 tackles and 29 sacks during his junior and senior years.

"Seeing him run around is pretty great when you see a guy that big be able to move the way he does," Frost said.

"We feel like he's going to be great for us this year. We trust him and we know that once he gets our system, it's going to be sky's the limit for him."

With Cowart's size, speed and strength, he should be a great complement to Lawson and others lining up opposite him in the trenches. He'll also help take pressure off a group of interior linemen who should be able to get after quarterbacks even more this fall.

"Will [Muschamp] has a great plan for him," coach Gus Malzahn said of Cowart. "He is a guy that is going to play and is going to help us. Will will bring him along the right way. He's a very talented young man."