Freshman WR Ze'Vian Capers impresses coaches

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Freshman WR Ze'Vian Capers impresses coaches

By Giana Han

4-5 minutes

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Ze’Vian Capers is a lot taller than Bo Nix remembers.

The Auburn quarterback saw Capers play in high school, and he was impressed with the Denmark High School receiver. Nix noticed the way Capers caught the ball so naturally and how well he ran his routes.

Now that Capers has joined Nix at Auburn, Nix continues to be impressed and named him, along with running back Tank Bigsby, as one of the freshmen who has stood out to him. Not only is the 6-foot-4, 194 pound Capers “taller and rangier,” but he’s also very well-developed as a wide receiver and a hard worker.

“I’m really looking forward to him continuing to grow and develop and take the next step to play,” Nix said.

Obviously, Capers has to adjust to the next level. There’s “quite a bit of difference” between high school ball and SEC play, offensive coordinator Chad Morris said. Capers won’t just be able to rely on true athleticism. Nix, who went through his own adjustment period last season, said freshmen receivers typically have to work on things like “making releases and physicality from a receiver standpoint, how you get off the line and get covered.”

At the start of fall camp, Nix said he had confidence that Caper’s work ethic would help him through the learning curve, and so far Capers has rewarded that confidence.

After the third scrimmage, Capers was one of two true freshmen receivers coach Gus Malzahn mentioned alongside Auburn’s top returners, Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove.

“He’s gotten a lot of opportunities,” Malzahn said. “He’s one of those guys that, you know, (wide receiver coach) Kodi Burns is throwing him in with the ones some.”

Capers isn’t completely acclimated to the college game — he hasn’t even faced another team yet — but he’s getting there. Malzahn said he has shown playmaking ability throughout camp, and Malzahn is convinced in his ability to “definitely” help the team.

This camp has given Morris a chance to see if Capers is the player he thought he was during the recruiting process. Morris and Capers' relationship goes back to before Morris was hired as Auburn’s new offensive coordinator. The four-star receiver, who Morris calls “Ze,” was committed to Arkansas back when Morris was the Razorbacks' head coach. He announced his commitment in February 2019.

“We knew he was going to be a tremendous player,” Morris said, thinking back to when he was hoping Capers would be a Razorback. “The thing that really separated him, he’s got really good acceleration, really good speed.”

However, On June 7, six days after visiting Auburn, Capers decommitted. He flipped to Auburn one week later. Six months after that, Morris followed him to the Plains. After being dismissed from Arkansas, Morris joined Auburn on December 10. He realized he would once again get to watch Capers' development.

“Obviously, he commits here, and I come here,” Morris said. “Now I’m able to get on the inside of it and have him here and watch him develop.”

One of the first things Morris did as an Auburn Tiger was visit Capers. Accompanied by Malzahn and Burns, Morris visited Capers on December 12, six days before Capers put his commitment to Auburn on paper by signing his letter of intent.

“I loved the hire because they had the best of what I was looking for in my recruitment,” Capers told AL.com after the visit. “It was good to see each other again.”

Now, after four weeks of fall practice, summer walk-throughs and countless Zooms, Morris feels he can evaluate how Capers, who is now wearing a No. 9 Auburn uniform, will live up to the expectations.

“He’s going to be everything we thought he would be,” Morris said.

The biggest thing for Capers, besides adjusting to SEC ball, is getting the technique and the routes down. After that? He’s going to be a “really, really” talented player.