Nate Craig-Myers is a peculiar case.
He was the nation's top overall recruit as a high-school junior, but suffered a broken leg during the first game of his senior season. His star faded a bit in prospect circles as a result. However, Auburn's lofty opinion of the kid never changed. Craig-Myers started his college career slowly, but moved into the starting lineup last season and became what amounts to the third or fourth option in the passing game.
Does that seem like a miniature assignment for a player with so much athletic potential? The problem, such as it is, involved the Tigers' pass-game paradigm with Chip Lindsey now in charge. Last season mostly was about Jarrett Stidham going deep for Darius Slayton or throwing short for Ryan Davis and letting him shimmy his way through defenses. Both of those receivers are excellent in those specific roles — Slayton with his ability to win aerial duels and Davis for his Red Grange-inspired moves in the open field.
Craig-Myers didn't have a calling-card skill. Considering he's 6-foot-2, he doesn't win aerial duels all that often. He lacks Davis' shiftiness. And he didn't get open often enough during the 2017 season. Simply being big and/or fast and/or reliable in terms of catching the ball isn't enough; creating separation within particular defensive coverages is a skill. Some players are born with it. Others gain awareness through practice reps, game reps, reviewing film. Craig-Myers is in that second group. He made some progress last season, coming up big with touchdown catches against Alabama and against Georgia in the SEC Championship game, but struggled to put himself in advantageous positions over the course of, say, 30 snaps per game.
There is a lot to like here. Craig-Myers still is an excellent athlete who is coachable, whose hands are a tick above average and who clearly is making progress as a college receiver. I also believe that players with even-keeled, introspective personalities tend to maximize their athletic potential; that description matches Craig-Myers' personality.
At the same time, Slayton and Davis and Stidham enjoyed career seasons in 2017 following their various scripts. Why would those scripts change now? If Craig-Myers can continue improving in terms of beating man defenders and exploiting zone defenses in real time, he'll have more opportunities to create a bigger statistical footprint this fall. How big? A lot of that depends on the Auburn run game and just how much Lindsey must rely upon his passing game to keep things thriving.
ON THE UP SIDE: Height, experience, consistent effort
ON THE DOWN SIDE: Aerial duels, doesn't create much separation
VOTING RESULTS: No. 6 (Jeffrey Lee), No. 9 (The Bunker), No. 16 (Jay G. Tate), No. 18 (Bryan Matthews)
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: No. 16 in 2017
THE AUBURNSPORTS.COM TOP 20 FOR 2018:
10. Nate Craig-Myers
