7.24.23 Football Articles

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Auburn’s 2023 position battles: Outside wide receivers

Joshua Collins

9–11 minutes

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Who will Auburn football start at outside wide receiver in 2023?

In this story:

Auburn Tigers

Visiting our Auburn football 2023 position battles series once more, this time with our focus firmly set upon the wide receivers’ room, we ask again that familiar question as to who will Auburn football start at the outside receiver position this upcoming season?

With a retooled offensive scheme headed by Coach Hugh Freeze and Coach Philip Montgomery, the Auburn Tigers are looking to air the ball out much more frequently and consistently in 2023. Coach Montgomery has a knack for lulling defenses into complacent positions, then hitting them over the top with a deep passing attack. This new scheme places high priority on big body, explosive, and speedy receivers who are capable of breaking away from coverage to make big plays down the field.

With the recent addition of former Auburn Alum, Coach Marcus Davis, who is now leading the wide receivers’ room, the Auburn faithful can rest assured that he will be looking to make a difference right away. Accomplishing this task by fielding the right fit players to this new scheme to make an immediate impact.

In keeping this scheme and the skillset required to make it successful in mind, we now make the case for six young men, all vying for that coveted top spot as the starting outside receiver for the Auburn Tigers this upcoming 2023 season.

The Case for Shane Hooks:

© Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

We begin by making the case for the newly minted plainsman, Shane Hooks. The 6-foot-4, 191-pound receiver hails from Orlando, Florida and joins the roster as a graduate transfer from Jackson State University. Hooks originally committed to the Ohio University Bearcats with their 2018 high school recruiting class, where he played for two seasons before transferring to Jackson State. 

This young man has played in a total of 35 games during his collegiate career and has posted some respectable numbers so far. Boasting 116 receptions for a total of 1,609 receiving yards, while also lighting up the scoreboard to the tune of 18 total touchdowns.

Hooks is a very physical receiver with quick feet and solid hands. In watching film, he could be more consistently explosive off the line at the snap, but he has enough breakaway speed to counter this slight shortcoming. With his strong route running and ball securing ability, Hooks looks to be an extremely strong contender for earning the starting call at outside receiver this upcoming 2023 season for the Auburn Tigers. 

The Case for Camden Brown:

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Continuing with the battle for starting reps, we will next make the case for a familiar face on the plains, Camden Brown. The returning 6-foot-3, 203-pound sophomore receiver committed to the Auburn Tigers with the 2022 recruiting class by way of St. Thomas Aquinas High School out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Brown made appearances in 12 games for the Tigers during the 2022 season, putting up nine receptions for a total of 123 yards amounting to two touchdowns for his freshman debut.

Camden is a speedy receiver with great explosiveness off the snap. This speed allows Brown to get great separation of his defender in coverage, making him a solid big play target. This young man could be more physical on and off the ball during his reps, however he is a young player, and this skillset could be developed with solid coaching. 

The Auburn faithful could be hearing much more about this young talented player come Fall camp, as he puts in the hard work to place his name in the mix to earn starting outside receiver reps for the Tigers this upcoming 2023 season. 

The Case for Jyaire Shorter:

© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Highlighting another new face to the plains, we make the case for Jyaire Shorter. This young man joins the Auburn roster as a graduate transfer from the University of North Texas, joining his fellow teammate Larry Nixon III for another season of collegiate play. The 6-foot-2, 209-pound senior has appeared in a total of 32 games, where he has put up some respectable numbers thus far. Boasting 58 receptions for a total of 1,320 receiving yards to the tune of 20 total touchdowns.

Shorter is a competent route runner with solid hands and decent breakaway speed allowing him to bust up coverages. One glaring concern that other media outlets have highlighted is a reoccurring knee injury that has plagued this young man for at least two seasons of his collegiate career. 

Providing that Jyaire is able to remain healthy throughout the Fall camp and throughout the season, Shorter could be a strong contender to earn the starting outside receiver position for the Auburn Tigers this upcoming 2023 season. 

The Case for Malcom Johnson Jr.:

© John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Closing out our top four is returning junior, Malcom Johnson Jr. another familiar plainsman having played his entire collegiate career with the Tigers. The 6-foot-1, 193-pound receiver presents a strong case for starting reps this upcoming 2023 season. Malcom has played in a total of 18 games for the Auburn Tigers, having put up 8 receptions for a total of 110 yards amounting to one touchdown thus far.

Johnson has great hands in tight coverage with lightning speed off the snap, making him a formidable receiver to line up against. Malcom is a very physical receiver and has the speed to effectively run the jet sweep from the outside spot. With a few years of eligibility remaining, I imagine this young man will soon be garnering more media attention as he settles into the new offensive scheme on the plains. Rest assured he is looking to place his name in the mix for starting reps this upcoming 2023 season.   

The Case for anyone else on the roster:

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Having picked up some solid receiving talent this offseason with the transfer portal, Coach Hugh Freeze & Co. has put their best foot forward to address a need on the offensive front. This being said, there are a few other plausible contenders for at least rotational if not starting reps this upcoming 2023 season. Two players worth mentioning are transfer additions Nick Mardner and Kassidy Woods.

Nick Mardner was one of the first transfer portal receivers to join the Auburn football roster this offseason. The 6-foot-6, 206-pound senior comes to the plains having five seasons of collegiate play under his belt. Mardner has appeared in 46 games boasting 81 receptions for a total 1,488 receiving yards which has amounted to 11 career touchdowns thus far. This young man has some familiarity with Coach Davis already, as he played under his tutelage at the University of Hawaii during the 2021 season.

Mardner has great size as an outside receiver with quick feet and decent speed. Despite having good hands, Mardner has been seen as being slightly inconsistent when targeted by the passer. Hopefully with some additional development this Fall, this issue can be rectified. I believe Mardner will see the field this upcoming 2023 season, the question is just in what capacity will it be.

Kassidy Woods has flown under the media radar with his graduate transfer to the plains by way of Northern Colorado University this offseason. The 6-foot-4 215-pound receiver joins the Auburn roster with four seasons of collegiate play so far. During this career, Woods has put up a total of 63 receptions amounting to 691 receiving yards to the tune of 4 total touchdowns.

This young man is a physical player with quick feet and solid hands. Kassidy has decent top end speed which could allow him to breakaway for some big play catches if targeted. Woods could become a key rotational player for the Tigers this upcoming 2023 season. 

Although all these young athletes look good on paper, it is important to remember that it is not only the stat sheets that determine who play and who doesn’t, its also the player’s determination, drive, hard work, and passion for the game that plays a huge role in the final squad selections.

In closing Coach Hugh Freeze & Co. have made some valuable additions to the receiving core this offseason. Adding not only top end talent, but even more so by adding some valuable experience to the receiving room. Should the pieces all fall together. The Auburn fanbase has a lot to be excited about this upcoming 2023 season. Making for some exciting football this year at Auburn University.

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Jyaire Shorter named a top-10 player in the SEC West ahead of 2023 season

Taylor Jones

~2 minutes

During his SEC West preview, ESPN’s Bill Connelly documented what Hugh Freeze has done to correct Auburn’s passing troubles.

“Auburn’s 2022 offense could only run, so Freeze brought in Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne and five receiver transfers,” Connelly said.

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Connelly is keeping an eye on one of Auburn’s five receiver transfers.

Included in his preview were his ten favorite players from the SEC West. He mentioned North Texas transfer Jyaire Shorter.

Shorter was a valuable asset to the North Texas offense for the last five seasons, with his best season coming in 2022. He reeled in 23 passes for 628 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns. According to Pro Football Focus, Shorter caught 41% of passes thrown his way with only five drops.

Connelly feels that Shorter will be a great deep-ball option for Auburn.

In the past 10 seasons, only two players have averaged at least 2.5 yards per route with a catch rate under 50% (and 50 minimum targets): Michigan State’s Jalen Nailor (2021) and Shorter at North Texas (2022). Doing so requires a lot of deep routes. Deep routes are fun.

Shorter joins a long list of exciting receiver transfers. Auburn also added Shane Hooks from Jackson State, Nick Marder from Cincinnati, Caleb Burton from Ohio State, and Rivaldo Fairweather from FIU.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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Looking at the betting lines for Auburn's 2023 football schedule

Andrew Stefaniak

2–3 minutes

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Auburn opens as an underdog in a handful of games this season.

Taking a look at the betting lines, Auburn is an underdog in a whole bunch of their ball games. 

Lines are out for the matchups with UMass, Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama. 

Let's take a look at these lines. 

Auburn vs. UMass (Auburn -39)

Auburn at Texas A&M (Auburn +8)

Auburn vs. Georgia (Auburn +17.5)

Auburn at LSU (Auburn +14.5)

Auburn vs. Ole Miss (Auburn +1)

Auburn vs. Alabama (Auburn +13) 

This means that of the six games that there are lines out for, Auburn is an underdog in five of them. 

I was surprised Auburn was an underdog against Ole Miss, especially since this game is in Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

All this says to me is that people are underestimating this Auburn football team, and they are going to shock some people. 

It seems like Auburn always has a good season when people predict otherwise, so perhaps that is in store for this Tiger team. 

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247sports.com

Freeze looking for playmakers at wide receiver heading into Year 1 with Tigers

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze knows the importance of making big plays at the wide receiver position with the way football is played today. It’s something that was a big part of things for him going back more than a decade when he took over at Ole Miss. In his first season with the Rebels, Freeze had Donte Moncrief and Vincent Sanders, who combined for 94 receptions, 1,256 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Laquon Treadwell got added to the mix a season later with Auburn High’s Cody Core and tight end Evan Engram adding more firepower in 2014. Going 10-13 in 2015, Treadwell caught 82 passes for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns while Core added 37 receptions for 644 yards and four touchdowns. Throw in 38 catches for 604 yards and seven touchdowns by Quincy Adeboyejo and that’s 157 catches for 2,401 yards and 22 touchdowns from just three receivers.

The last Auburn team to even have that many touchdown catches in a season was 2014 when the Tigers had 23 touchdown receptions, but six of those came from a combination of tight ends and running backs.

Finding guys that can make plays on the perimeter in the passing game was one of the biggest reasons why Freeze and his staff went hard and heavy in the transfer portal to try to bolster the receiving corps on the Plains. Adding Nick Mardner before the spring, Auburn added to the group in a big way over the summer with the additions of Jyaire Shorter from North Texas, Shane Hooks from Jackson State and Caleb Burton from Ohio State.

Now the search for playmakers begins when Auburn opens preseason practices on August 2nd. Freeze said it’s a huge part of what they need to get accomplished before opening the season a month later.

“Well, for our offense, it’s vital,” Freeze said. “It just—it doesn’t work. If we’re truly going to be what we’ve always done, you’ve got to have guys that can win in one-on-one situations. Do we have that right now? I’m not sure. We’re going to find out soon. But I love the way that they’ve been working. I didn’t get to see the full totality of that in spring practice. But I’m excited to see how much better we can get that room.”

A guy that will have an opportunity to become a difference maker for the Tigers is Burton. The highest-ranked wide receiver on the roster, coming in as the No. 71 player in the country on 247Sports in the 2022 class, Burton is unlike his fellow transfers in one big way. Redshirting his first season with the Buckeyes, the Texas native still has all of his eligibility remaining.

That means Burton is someone that could help now, but also set the tone for what Auburn wants out of its wide receiver room for years to come.

“His high school tape was pretty dang special and he’s a future,” Freeze said. “The other guys are one-year stop-gap guys that help improve our room I think some way or another. But Burton’s a little different. Burton’s got four years left with us and I think he’s got skill sets that are really going to help us in the future.”

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Can Auburn finally change the narrative on the offensive line in 2023?

The Tigers' front has struggled for the last few years. But, thanks to a mix of old and new, the chatter on this OL is different.

Justin Ferguson

OL Kameron Stutts (Austin Perryman/Auburn Athletics)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kameron Stutts has seen a lot during his time at Auburn.

Stutts arrived on the Plains as part of a 2018 recruiting class that produced the likes of Roger McCreary, Zakoby McClain, Smoke Monday, Jamien Sherwood, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz. Half of those players are about to enter their third seasons in the NFL. The other half are in Year 2 as professionals. 

But Stutts has stayed at Auburn — now on his third head coach and his fourth position coach — for what will be six seasons of college ball. He redshirted in 2018 and decided to use his sixth COVID year of eligibility this past offseason, along with fellow veteran offensive lineman Jalil Irvin.

How long is six seasons of college football? During Stutts’ time, Auburn has started 21 different offensive linemen for at least one game. 

Stutts is one of just three of those linemen who are on Auburn’s 2023 roster under Hugh Freeze and his new staff. Additionally, he’s the only one who has started more than two games — Tate Johnson started two before a season-ending injury last fall, while Irvin got a spot-start in the 2021 Birmingham Bowl and Wright started last season against Ole Miss.

And that count of starting linemen during Stutts’ time in Auburn could easily get up to 25, or higher, by the time he’s done playing for the Tigers. 

Throughout Stutts’ career on the Plains, there has been one constant about an offensive line that has had to roll through a large number of players due to injury, performance and roster attrition: An overwhelming amount of concerns.

The year before Stutts got to Auburn, the Tigers ran all the way to the SEC Championship Game with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback and conference Player of the Year winner Kerryon Johnson as the star running back. 

In 2017, Auburn’s offensive line ranked inside the top 25 nationally in adjusted line yards, inside the top five in power success rate and inside the top 10 in stuff rate — all of which are advanced blocking stats from Football Outsiders. 

In the five seasons since then, Auburn has had 15 opportunities to reach those benchmarks again as an offensive line. It has done so just twice: hitting the adjusted line yards mark in 2020 and the power success rate mark in 2022.

More often than not, the Tigers have been inside the bottom half of Power 5 teams in those categories, compounding the overall offensive issues that have plagued the team since their last trip to Atlanta. 

But something has felt different this offseason. While the improved feelings of a fresh reset at the program level might play some part in it, the way the offensive line has been talked about has been remarkably much more positive.

“It feels good,” Stutts said last week at SEC Media Days in Nashville. “I mean, we’ve put in a lot of hard work. So for that hard work to be paying off and for everybody to have an opportunity to be successful, it’s exciting. 

“But we’re just going to continue to take it week by week and get after it.”