Camp Notebook: Competition brings best out of Auburn WR room

Camp Notebook: Competition brings best out of Auburn WR roomCamp Notebook: Competition brings best out of Auburn WR room

AUBURN, Ala. – The quarterback competition might be front and center for Auburn as it goes through fall camp, but the Tigers also need to figure out which wide receivers those quarterbacks will be throwing the ball to come Sept. 3 when they open the season against Mercer. 

Only one returning receiver, Shedrick Jackson, caught more than 20 passes last season. The fifth-year senior finished with 40 receptions for 527 yards in 2021. 

But what the wide receiver room lacks in experience, it makes up for in potential and just pure numbers after the position was made a priority in the offseason. Between the addition of three true freshmen, two incoming transfers and one position change, there are now plenty of options. It's just a matter of finding the right guys to play this fall. 

"It's coming along pretty well," Auburn wide receivers' coach Ike Hilliard said. "It's never as good as you want it to be as a coach, but we haven't had to question the work or the effort that's put in. We still need to continue to work on the detail. It's a process. It's a process for any player regardless of how many years you play ball. 

"We have a group that's relatively young, and there's a lot to learn there. It's been an intriguing journey so far, and we're looking forward to what's going to lie ahead for us."

Relatively young would be an understatement. Jackson is the lone scholarship senior at the position. Ze'Vian Capers, Ja'Varrius Johnson and Malcolm Johnson Jr. are the only juniors. The trio caught a combined 31 passes last season. After that, it's all freshmen and sophomores. 

Two of the sophomores, Koy Moore and Dazalin Worsham, are new to Auburn after transferring in, and another, Landen King, played tight end for the Tigers last season. 

Among the freshmen, Tar'Varish Dawson Jr. has had a leg up in camp because he redshirted last season and was in the program for a year. The others, players like Camden Brown, Jay Fair and Omari Kelly, will be going through their first season of college football. All three, however, have shown the ability to contribute early given the opportunity. 

"I've been around young groups before," Hilliard said. "They're eager to learn, eager to get out there. They're also more prone to make mistakes if they don't pay attention to the details or the concepts. But these kids are working their butts off. They really are. It's been remarkable for me to witness the load that these kids can carry and how they can run and run and run some more. And it's great because you're challenged when you're tired."

"I like where the receivers are as far as just the work," head coach Bryan Harsin said following Tuesday's practice. "We've got a ways to go. We've got to catch the ball better. But as far as the work goes, just the effort because they run so much, I think that group did a good job."


 'My time is now'
It's hard to envision Cam Riley as an afterthought. At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, he stands out every time he walks in a room. But until he made his first start last year in the Birmingham Bowl, he was relegated to a backup role at linebacker his first two years at Auburn. 

That's what happens when you play Zakoby McClain, one of the SEC's top tacklers in each of the last two seasons. McClain led the conference in tackles in 2020. 

But with McClain moving on to the NFL, Riley is taking aim at a full-time starting job this fall, and though it might have been difficult at times as a backup, he believes playing behind McClain will only help him in the long run. 

"Everybody knows Zakoby is a legend," Riley said. "He helped me out throughout my time here. Sitting behind him, I learned a couple of things from him. It was just his style, the way he plays the game. He's just different. I feel like me taking that time, the two years that I didn't play as much as I wanted to, it helped me become more of a student of the game."

"My time is now," he added. 

"Cam Riley has taken the steps we really wanted him to," said his position coach, Christian Robinson said. "To be a guy that understands he's going to be out there for us every game. To know that he belongs in this league and that he should go and perform at a high level. And I'm proud of the steps he's taken."
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