Standouts emerging at WR

AUBURN | There’s still plenty of competition going on between Auburn’s receivers.

Hugh Freeze is looking for 7-8 wideouts to fill out the playing rotation among 10 scholarship players. Two weeks into fall drills, at least six have stepped forward.

Freeze singled out slot receivers Ja’Varrius Johnson and Jay Fair along with outside receivers Shane Hooks, Omari Kelly, Jyaire Shorter and Nick Mardner before Thursday’s practice.

Hooks, Shorter and Mardner are transfers.

“Outside right now, those four big guys are probably in the rotation, along with those slot guys,” said Freeze.

Johnson, a senior, is the most experienced of the group having played in 25 career games with 45 receptions for 767 yards and five touchdowns.

Fair, who caught two passes as a true freshman last season, is probably the Tigers’ most improved receiver this fall.

Freeze also singled out transfer Caleb Burton III, who has been a standout in the slot and out wide.

Camden Brown, Koy Moore and Malcolm Johnson Jr. have all been slowed by injuries this fall, which have kept them from making a push for a spot in the rotation.

Brown, who also missed much of spring with an injury, finally returned to practice Tuesday and practiced again Thursday.

“Brown finally practiced (Tuesday), looked decent. Hopefully that adds some more depth to that room,” said Freeze.

It’s difficult to know exactly how much progress the receivers have made this fall. Freeze was pleased with their improvement last week before a disappointing scrimmage last Saturday.

They’ve bounced back with another strong showing this week.

“It was about 88 loafs on Saturday. That’s an exaggeration, but there were a lot,” said Freeze. “They had a really good week last week and they’ve had a better week this week. We had our best practice Tuesday night and I think they’re improving. Still way too many MAs. When I say MAs, the route is truncated. If it’s supposed to be a 12, it’s a 10. We have to get all of that cleaned up. We’ve got two weeks to do that. But we’ve had a solid week. Just did not have a good scrimmage.

“Truthfully, when I watched the film after the scrimmage, it made me sick. I didn’t think we competed. It was almost like we just melted under that heat. We’ve handled the heat pretty well. This has been maybe the hottest camp I’ve experienced. When you’re here, you get to take a break inside and we get to cool them down with all the water mists and all of that. You go over there (Jordan-Hare Stadium) for that game, there’s none of that going on that day. I just didn’t think we handled it extremely well. I’m excited for another opportunity this Saturday to see how we handle it.”

Auburn will hold its 12th practice of fall drills Friday afternoon and second scrimmage Saturday morning at Jordan-Hare.

POTENTIAL DEPTH CHART

WIDE RECEIVER

1. Shane Hooks, Sr. (6-4, 191)

2. Nick Mardner, Sr. (6-6, 206)

3. Camden Brown, So. (6-3, 203)

SLOT RECEIVER

1. Ja’Varrius Johnson, Sr. (5-10, 167) -OR-

1. Jay Fair, So. (5-10, 186)

2. Caleb Burton, RFr. (5-11, 171)

WIDE RECEIVER

1. Omari Kelly, So. (6-0, 178)

2. Jyaire Shorter, Sr. (6-2, 209)

3. Malcolm Johnson, Jr. (6-1, 193) -OR-

3. Koy Moore, Jr. (6-1, 198)