fall camp position breakdown: Wide receivers

[aubiefifty 17,488]

Auburn fall camp position breakdown: Wide receivers

 

Posted on July 25, 2017 at 5:50 PM

 

 

 

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Gallery: Auburn wide receiver Darius Slayton

 

 

 

 

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By James Crepea

jcrepea@al.com

AL.com will be previewing each of nine position groups leading up to the start of Auburn's fall camp on July 31. The fourth installment in the series reviews the wide receivers.

Arguably the most unproven position on the entire roster, Auburn's receiving corps has a lot of questions but also reasons for optimism heading into the season.

Who ultimately wins starting jobs and emerges as the go-to guy probably won't be determined until several games into the season, but the good news is there are lots of candidates.

While his numbers weren't all that impressive, Tony Stevens did lead Auburn with 31 receptions for 487 yards and three touchdowns last season and Marcus Davis was the vocal leader of the group.

Those voids will be filled by a sophomore group that was highly-touted as recruits. Nate Craig-Myers had a huge performance on A-Day and should be in line to start, Eli Stove will battle for time at flanker while Kyle Davis is set to return after missing spring practice due to an undisclosed personal matter.

Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis won't give up starting spots without a fight so there's going to be competition in fall camp.

Departed: Tony Stevens, Marcus Davis

Returning starters: Ryan Davis, junior; Darius Slayton, redshirt-sophomore; Jason Smith, senior

Other returning players: Kyle Davis, sophomore; Nate Craig-Myers, sophomore; Eli Stove, sophomore; Marquis McClain, redshirt-freshman; John Franklin III, redshirt-senior; Will Hastings, junior

Summer arrivals: Noah Igbinoghene, JaTarvious Whitlos

Outlook: There isn't a lot to look at by way of statistics from this group of returning players.

Slayton is the leader in terms of yards (292) and Ryan Davis has the most receptions (25) among them last season, when Auburn failed to produce a 600-yard receiver for the first time since 2008.

It's easy to play a lot of the blame there on quarterback play, but Stevens signed as an undrafted free agent and Marcus Davis did not get that far, so it wasn't the most talented group a year ago either.

With three of the top 20 receivers recruits from two years ago as targets for Jarrett Stidham, Auburn has plenty of cause for optimism about its wide outs.

Post-spring WR analysis: SE | F | Slot

Slayton, Kyle Davis and Craig-Myers are all bigger targets, Ryan Davis and Eli Stove offer a lot for shorter routes and end-arounds. Then we get to the smaller slot guys in Will Hastings and John Franklin III, who offers great speed but is still learning the position.

Franklin and Jason Smith are the lone seniors but neither has earned the clout to be a leading voice in the receiver room. A younger player could take ownership, but it'll require playing well and consistently once the season arrives.

Fall camp position preview: QB | RB | HB/TE

Battle to Watch: Split end could be interesting if that's where Kyle Davis ends up now that he's back on campus. Slayton was in a starting role by the end of last season, has the most yards of any returning player and a similar skill set.

Keep an Eye on: Craig-Myers. He had a huge A-Day and was very disappointed in how his freshman season went. If he's able to pick up where he left off in the spring, Craig-Myers could be locked in as a starter and major contributor.

Projected two deep:

Split end:
Darius Slayton: 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, redshirt-sophomore
Kyle Davis: 6-foot-2, 213 pounds, sophomore OR
Jason Smith: 6-foot-1, 186 pounds, senior OR
Marquis McClain: 6-foot-2, 226 pounds, redshirt-freshman

Flanker
Eli Stove: 6-foot, 183 pounds, sophomore
Ryan Davis: 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, junior

Slot
Will Hastings: 5-foot-10, 167 pounds, junior
John Franklin III: 6-foot-1, 184 pounds, redshirt-senior

Y/Big slot
Nate Craig-Myers: 6-foot-2, 213 pounds, sophomore
Sal Cannella: 6-foot-5, 228 pounds, sophomore

[boomstick 1,315]

Maybe James knows something I don't, but I thought Kyle was expected to play the Big Slot and split time with Hastings, depending on packages and formations. If there's a way to get Slayton, NCM, and K Davis on the field at the same time, that would be a ton of potential on the field together. I'm excited to see how we use Hastings in this offense. I think he can carve out a nice little niche for himself, provided he protects the football. And I'm interested to see how/if we incorporate JF3 into the offense. He seems like an ideal candidate for a speed guy on the outside who can stretch teams vertically. 

Supposedly, there's a 5-wide package in the playbook that will be used. That should be new and different for Auburn.

[80Tiger 904]

1 hour ago, boomstick said:

Maybe James knows something I don't, but I thought Kyle was expected to play the Big Slot and split time with Hastings, depending on packages and formations. If there's a way to get Slayton, NCM, and K Davis on the field at the same time, that would be a ton of potential on the field together. I'm excited to see how we use Hastings in this offense. I think he can carve out a nice little niche for himself, provided he protects the football. And I'm interested to see how/if we incorporate JF3 into the offense. He seems like an ideal candidate for a speed guy on the outside who can stretch teams vertically. 

Supposedly, there's a 5-wide package in the playbook that will be used. That should be new and different for Auburn.

Agree completely on Kyle Davis in the slot. While still creating the mismatches on coverage, it gives IMO a better blocking advantage at that position. Hastings and Franklin are more than likely liabilities when it comes to blocking.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, 80Tiger said:

Agree completely on Kyle Davis in the slot. While still creating the mismatches on coverage, it gives IMO a better blocking advantage at that position. Hastings and Franklin are more than likely liabilities when it comes to blocking.

I think Hastings's value is in his ability to get in and out of breaks extremely quickly, creating separation and getting him open on those underneath routes. Franklin's value is, of course, getting way down the field in a big hurry. Whether or not those qualities garner them meaningful reps on Saturdays this fall, I don't know. But they do bring unique skills that the other guys- supremely talented in so many ways though they are- don't specialize in. (Jason Smith was turning into a nice deep threat option in 2015, but Franklin is faster. Ryan Davis could possibly be a better Hastings, but no idea if he runs equally good/better routes or not.)

[boomstick 1,315]

54 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

Agree completely on Kyle Davis in the slot. While still creating the mismatches on coverage, it gives IMO a better blocking advantage at that position. Hastings and Franklin are more than likely liabilities when it comes to blocking.

If you K Davis in the slot (5) with NCM at flanker (2) and Slayton at split end (9), I think that would be the most ideal grouping. Then, you can work in Stove/R Davis/Hastings/Cannella in various packages and formations.  

[boomstick 1,315]

5 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I think Hastings's value is in his ability to get in and out of breaks extremely quickly, creating separation and getting him open on those underneath routes. Franklin's value is, of course, getting way down the field in a big hurry. Whether or not those qualities garner them meaningful reps on Saturdays this fall, I don't know. But they do bring unique skills that the other guys- supremely talented in so many ways though they are- don't specialize in. (Jason Smith was turning into a nice deep threat option in 2015, but Franklin is faster. Ryan Davis could possibly be a better Hastings, but no idea if he runs equally good/better routes or not.)

JF3 seems like a perfect fit for the split end/9 position where Gus has liked to use that guy as a deep threat. We used Darvin and Sammie in that role. But if I remember correctly, they used JF3 mostly in the slot in the spring game, which I thought was interesting. Like you, I see him more in the mold of some of the speedy Baylor WRs of the past few years (though not as bulky). The track star type speedster that can run past everyone and be utilized almost exclusively in that role. I hope that's how we use him.

[boisnumber1 2,844]

Imo we have more potential at WR than ever before, and I do mean ever. Lot of quality depth.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

4 minutes ago, boisnumber1 said:

Imo we have more potential at WR than ever before, and I do mean ever. Lot of quality depth.

Agreed. Devin, Ben, and Courtney were great but I can't remember having this much potential talent at AU. Slayton, K Davis, R Davis, NCM, etc - we just need to get them the ball. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

23 minutes ago, boisnumber1 said:

Imo we have more potential at WR than ever before, and I do mean ever. Lot of quality depth.

Agreed (as far as I can remember)

Having Prechae and Courtney on opposite sides was pretty awesome in 06'. Likewise, Coates and Williams in 2014. This group definitely has the talent to be "great".

edit: Man, my memory is clearly way off. Rodriguez was not the receiver that I somehow remember him to be. 

[bigbird 60,624]

I'd expect to see jf3 on a lot of reverses like TZach used to run.

[oracle79 3,569]

Can we do a poll on banning Crepea and references to him on this site?  Just curious how others feel about him.

[WFE12 9,192]

4 hours ago, boomstick said:

Maybe James knows something I don't, but I thought Kyle was expected to play the Big Slot and split time with Hastings, depending on packages and formations. If there's a way to get Slayton, NCM, and K Davis on the field at the same time, that would be a ton of potential on the field together. I'm excited to see how we use Hastings in this offense. I think he can carve out a nice little niche for himself, provided he protects the football. And I'm interested to see how/if we incorporate JF3 into the offense. He seems like an ideal candidate for a speed guy on the outside who can stretch teams vertically. 

Supposedly, there's a 5-wide package in the playbook that will be used. That should be new and different for Auburn.

I've been waiting for us to incorporate 5-wide, now that we have the qb it'll be great for obvious passing situations.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 hours ago, boomstick said:

JF3 seems like a perfect fit for the split end/9 position where Gus has liked to use that guy as a deep threat. We used Darvin and Sammie in that role. But if I remember correctly, they used JF3 mostly in the slot in the spring game, which I thought was interesting. Like you, I see him more in the mold of some of the speedy Baylor WRs of the past few years (though not as bulky). The track star type speedster that can run past everyone and be utilized almost exclusively in that role. I hope that's how we use him.

The key with Franklin is that we're going to need to get him out there early, in game 1, and get him some catches. Until opposing coordinators see that he is actually a threat to catch the ball, they aren't going to bite on his routes.

[toddc 13,195]

Don't forget Marquis McLain! He could be nice in the deep middle crossing routes!

[gr82b4au 5,568]

4 hours ago, oracle79 said:

Can we do a poll on banning Crepea and references to him on this site?  Just curious how others feel about him.

I agree with you - not a fan. It seems most of the time he will say/write anything to bring the AU program down. It also seems like he is "stuck" writing about AU and is not happy about it. Notice during the press conferences he is a royal turd. He would get thrown out and never heard from again if he was covering alabama. 

ok off my soapbox. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

4 hours ago, bigbird said:

I'd expect to see jf3 on a lot of reverses like TZach used to run.

I am interested in how much he will be used. Obviously speed kills. He may be used for reverses because he is quick as lightning but I think he needs more practice as a WR to really contribute catching the ball. He looked timid and a little off in the spring game as a WR, probably because he has so little time in the position. Right now I think he is a one trick pony - the omac role. But if he finds a hole (or gets blocking) he is gone. 

Another player I think we will see in that position is Eli Stove. He can run reverses and is a better WR overall so he will have multiple uses in the RPO for Stidham. 

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

We lit!

 

And oh yeah Crepea is an asshat!

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

On 7/26/2017 at 9:17 AM, boomstick said:

Maybe James knows something I don't, but I thought Kyle was expected to play the Big Slot and split time with Hastings, depending on packages and formations. If there's a way to get Slayton, NCM, and K Davis on the field at the same time, that would be a ton of potential on the field together. I'm excited to see how we use Hastings in this offense. I think he can carve out a nice little niche for himself, provided he protects the football. And I'm interested to see how/if we incorporate JF3 into the offense. He seems like an ideal candidate for a speed guy on the outside who can stretch teams vertically. 

Supposedly, there's a 5-wide package in the playbook that will be used. That should be new and different for Auburn.

 

I like Hastings and the fact that he and JS seem to have good chemistry. However, Hastings and JF3 concern me in regards to if they can take a good hit and not fumble the football. Love their quickness, speed and what they can do with the ball after the catch though. 

[LKEEL75 2,567]

1 hour ago, WarEagle1983 said:

I like Hastings and the fact that he and JS seem to have good chemistry. However, Hastings and JF3 concern me in regards to if they can take a good hit and not fumble the football. Love their quickness, speed and what they can do with the ball after the catch though. 

This definitely concerns me.  JF3 has had a few fumbles before and it is all about ball security.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 hours ago, WarEagle1983 said:

I like Hastings and the fact that he and JS seem to have good chemistry. However, Hastings and JF3 concern me in regards to if they can take a good hit and not fumble the football. Love their quickness, speed and what they can do with the ball after the catch though. 

 

20 minutes ago, lkeel75 said:

This definitely concerns me.  JF3 has had a few fumbles before and it is all about ball security.

I've vouched for Hastings quite a bit and I've offered optimism for JF3 as a WR (starting as soon as we signed him), but yeah, I'll hop off those wagons pretty quickly if there are ball security issues. Goes for the bigger guys, too. But that's the beauty of having the depth at WR that we have right now. We'll find 4-5 guys we can count on. 

[warhogone 103]

Lots of potential to anticipate and salivate over! Crepehead's future limited till he goes back where he sprouted from, 'The Ohio State Asylum'. He is and always will be a royal jackass!

[80Tiger 904]

I think this conversation correctly points out the quality depth that we have at receiver. Sounds like a lot of guys that are speedy, have, hands, run good routes and are interchangeable when it comes to the passing game. IMO the difference comes to who can block the best.  Who are the ones that can be on the field and the defense truly doesn't know if it is a pass or run based on the personnel package.

[cole256 17,085]

If JF3 makes any noise at wr IMO at LEAST two guys aren't as good as we think. Hastings should actually be able to be better now that we should actually be throwing downfield.....But Ryan Davis is very good at that role as well