During the 2015-2016 football season, Auburn’s quarterback struggles were well chronicled. The hype brought on by the national media about preseason Heisman hopeful Jeremy Johnson’s tribulations covered up an underlying issue at Auburn — the receivers.
Coming into the 2015 season, things were looking up for the Tigers despite the loss of leading receiver Sammie Coates to the NFL Draft. The coaching staff turned to D’haquille “Duke” Williams to take the throne as the primary receiver and Ricardo Louis to step into a strong support role.
After a rocky start and an apparent lack of chemistry between quarterbacks and receivers in 2015, things began to get worse. On Oct. 5th, Duke Williams was dismissed from the team, making Louis the primary target.
The Tigers' receivers hit a low point on Oct. 24. The team combined for seven dropped passes en route to a four-overtime loss at Arkansas. On the second play of the fourth OT, Louis dropped a pass that would’ve lead to a touchdown and possibly the game-tying two-point conversion. The game ended two plays later with a final score of 54-46.
On National Signing Day, it became apparent that Auburn had made a concerted effort to build up their receiving talent. Auburn brought in four receivers in this year's class — 4-stars Kyle Davis, Nate Craig-Myers and Eli Stove and 3-star Marquis McClain.
All of these freshman have a chance to contribute right away, but there is no doubt there will be a learning curve.
“I don’t care where you come from. I don't care how good you are in high school,” said receiver coach Kodi Burns. "Once you get to college it's an entirely different ballgame. As good as those guys were in high school, once they get here, we have to develop them.”
The four incoming freshman are joined by another newcomer of sorts. Burns, who played at Auburn from 2007-2010, took over the position on Feb. 15th only a day after former coach Dameyune Craig left.
The combination of a new coach with a new bunch of receivers may seem worrisome, but Burns views it as a positive.
“I think its really good that we’re young because I get to mold them they I want to,” Burns said. “They don't know any better right now. So right now, they are kind of a blank canvas.”
Coach Gus Malzahn has been more actively involved in the quarterback competition this season, but he hasn't forgotten about the fresh faces catching the ball.
“We have some experience, but overall I think we’re inexperienced," Malzahn said. "That’s what it is, but I think that can be a good thing. Those guys are flying around out there, and Kodi’s flying around with them. There’s quite a bit of potential; that’s the good thing. So this spring will be very critical to the development. Then we’ve got a couple of guys coming in that we feel like will have a chance to help, too, like we talked about earlier. But I really think the big thing is that we will have some talent to work with there.”
The Tigers take the field this Saturday in the annual A-Day spring game. Davis, an early enrollee, is the only new receiver expected to participate, but he will be limited after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason.
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