AUBURN | Auburn’s wide receivers had a long way to go after spring practice.

It appears they’re well on the way to getting there.

A summer of hard work, a lot of it on their own, has allowed an inexperienced group of wideouts to become comfortable in a new offense and begin to showcase their skills.

“We’re light years ahead of where we were when we finished spring,” said offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. “That’s a credit to those guys. We can have some meetings with them, what the NCAA allows and film review, but we can’t go on the field.

“They did a lot of that on their own and now we’re able to see they’re not thinking about what a certain formation is or what the motion is or what we call this route. They’re able to go out there and execute it and then we’re able to coach them on the route or how to attack coverages.”

Senior Shedrick Jackson, who is healthy this fall after missing spring with an injury, is one of Auburn’s most experienced receivers with just 10 career receptions.

The learning curve the receivers have to make in the new offense might be more than any position group, but Jackson sees that as a positive.

“I would say it’s a lot more to learn and that’s a good thing too,” Jackson said. “It’s more opportunities for us, route combinations and certain routes we never ran in the past before. Just learning to do things like that, it’s more of a pro-style. I think we’re getting the hang of it and starting to make plays.”

And it’s not just learning the offense. Jackson and the receivers are also studying defenses now.

“People have made plays, but it’s not only on the field; it’s off the field too in the film room,” he said. “We get together, we watch film because we understand we have to learn defenses and see the same thing that Bo (Nix) is seeing. That helps out the whole offense and makes it run more smoothly.”

The addition of freshman Tar’Varish Dawson and transfer Demetris Robertson gives the Tigers nine scholarship wideouts for the 2021 season. Bobo likes the speed that Dawson and Robertson bring to the group and the overall competition among the entire group, which also includes sophomores Kobe Hudson, Ze’Vian Capers, Elijah Canion, Ja’Varrius Johnson and Malcolm Johnson, and redshirt freshman J.J. Evans.

“Competition is the best thing you can have,” said Bobo. “It makes guys more alert and aware everyday of going out and working hard. Coach is about competition and so am I. It’s good to see that competition out there this fall camp.”

Auburn will don in full pads for the first time in Thursday’s practice. The Tigers will hold their first scrimmage Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.