aubiefifty 16,791 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 al.com Wide receiver the position of strength for Auburn's offense this spring Updated Feb 22; Posted Feb 22 3-4 minutes We're taking a look at each position group as Auburn prepares to open spring practice on March 1. The third of a nine-part series looks at the wide receivers. Auburn returns all of its top wide receivers from last season, including Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton. With the receivers who caught a combined 17 touchdowns and a returning starting quarterback, Auburn's aerial game is in good shape this offseason even if Jarrett Stidham will miss at least four spring practices. Projected depth chart: Split end: Darius Slayton, redshirt-junior, 29 receptions for 643 yards and five touchdowns Nate Craig-Myers, junior, 16 receptions for 285 yards and three touchdowns Marquis McClain, redshirt-sophomore, 2 receptions for 47 yards Flanker: Ryan Davis, senior, 84 receptions for 814 yards and five touchdowns Eli Stove, junior, 29 receptions for 265 yards Shedrick Jackson, freshman Slot: Will Hastings, senior, 26 receptions for 525 yards and four touchdowns Noah Igbinoghene, sophomore, 6 receptions for 24 yards Griffin King, redshirt-junior, one reception for 0 yards Big Slot: Nate Craig-Myers, junior, 16 receptions for 285 yards and three touchdowns Sal Cannella, junior, 3 receptions for 31 yards Shedrick Jackson, freshman Departed: N/A Due to arrive in the fall: Matthew Hill, Anthony Schwartz, Seth Williams Outlook: There's a case to be made that the strength of Auburn's offense heading into 2018 will be its passing game and a big reason why is the receiving corps. The key parts are all back and have spent several years in the system. Having so many veteran receivers back should benefit the duo of young quarterbacks who will get the majority of reps for at least the first half of spring. It's hard to expect Ryan Davis to do more than his program record setting 84 catches last season and he's clearly the leader of the group in terms of production. Darius Slayton was the top deep threat, as the split end always is in Gus Malzahn's offense. His spring will be focused on drops though after he had issues with that last season. Will Hastings had a breakout year and could be asked to do more entering his senior season. A second divide in production comes after those three. Eli Stove was more productive as a runner than receiver, though it's the job he was asked to do and he did well in it. Nate Craig-Myers didn't have the kind of year many were expecting, particularly after he had a good spring last year. Sal Cannella had an extremely disappointing debut season given how much the coaching staff built him up as a matchup nightmare and red zone weapon. Whether Craig-Myers and Cannella can show improvement in the spring will be an early indication of whether they'll be able to do more in the fall. How much Noah Igbinoghene can develop this spring in order to get on the field more will be something worth watching as well. Shedrick Jackson is the one early enrollee of the four wide outs to sign in this year's class and is expected to play an inside role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAG 33,982 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 5 wide U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFE12 9,191 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 1 hour ago, DAG said: 5 wide U *crosses fingers* I've been talking about this for a while. I want at least one change in the starting lineup at wr. I would love to see McClain tear up secondaries as it looks like he should and I want to see Iggy get some PT at wr and hopefully not run straight into defenders. I know Slayton is going to do his thing along with RD but NCM needs to bring it. IDK what to expect with Sal or Eli since it seems like they're treating him like stanton truitt....more of a rb than wr. 5 wide would do wonders for the offense....and so would using two-rb sets.......and a TE......and slants....and curl routes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexava 6,973 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Canella only had 3 receptions??? Seemed like he played a lot early Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird 60,525 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 3 minutes ago, alexava said: Canella only had 3 receptions??? Seemed like he played a lot early He did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexava 6,973 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 9 hours ago, bigbird said: He did I remember more drops than 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kd4au 1,145 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 On 2/24/2018 at 10:53 AM, WFE12 said: *crosses fingers* I've been talking about this for a while. I want at least one change in the starting lineup at wr. I would love to see McClain tear up secondaries as it looks like he should and I want to see Iggy get some PT at wr and hopefully not run straight into defenders. I know Slayton is going to do his thing along with RD but NCM needs to bring it. IDK what to expect with Sal or Eli since it seems like they're treating him like stanton truitt....more of a rb than wr. 5 wide would do wonders for the offense....and so would using two-rb sets.......and a TE......and slants....and curl routes... You left out our third most productive WR.Will Hastings, senior, 26 receptions for 525 yards and four touchdowns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfsmoncrief 10 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I hope we don't rely heavy on the screen game like we did last year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logan adams 333 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Moderate passes in the midfield need to be utilized. It was only screens and deep passes last season. Some games it worked, and the games we lost, they didn’t work at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFE12 9,191 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 5 hours ago, kd4au said: You left out our third most productive WR.Will Hastings, senior, 26 receptions for 525 yards and four touchdowns. He needs more than the usual post route or whatever that route is called. Will is the goat and we could do so much more damage with him but I don't think we'll get that from the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,598 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 5 hours ago, WFE12 said: He needs more than the usual post route or whatever that route is called. Will is the goat and we could do so much more damage with him but I don't think we'll get that from the offense. Most of the passes Hastings caught were intermediate passes over the middle. You know, the ones people say we never throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUld fAUx@ 2,584 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 On 2/24/2018 at 10:53 AM, WFE12 said: *crosses fingers* I've been talking about this for a while. I want at least one change in the starting lineup at wr. I would love to see McClain tear up secondaries as it looks like he should and I want to see Iggy get some PT at wr and hopefully not run straight into defenders. I know Slayton is going to do his thing along with RD but NCM needs to bring it. IDK what to expect with Sal or Eli since it seems like they're treating him like stanton truitt....more of a rb than wr. 5 wide would do wonders for the offense....and so would using two-rb sets.......and a TE......and slants....and curl routes... + a QB = 9 would certainly reduce the number of new OLs we need to ID Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird 60,525 Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 On 2/25/2018 at 10:10 PM, Mikey said: Most of the passes Hastings caught were intermediate passes over the middle. You know, the ones people say we never throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,598 Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 40 minutes ago, bigbird said: It's hard, tough, dirty work but somebody has to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUIH1 1,515 Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 We have the QB and receivers to be better than good, Coaching on the O side of the ball is our biggest problem.. wde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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