Will AU give Landen King a shot at receiver?

[WFE12 9,191]

Will Auburn give freshman Landen King a shot at receiver?

• by Nathan King

Landen King was recruited as three-star tight end out of Atascocita High School in Beaumont, Texas, but he’s always thought of himself as a wide receiver.

In the offseason, he jokingly lobbied on social media for Auburn to change his position on the roster to receiver. His Instagram and Twitter bios both read “wide receiver at Auburn University.”

Regardless of his listed position, one thing stood out last week about King — something that’s become increasingly important over the course of the season for Auburn’s offense.

“He can catch,” Bryan Harsin said Wednesday.

King, a 6-foot-5, 214-pound true freshman, impressed on the scout team in preparation for the Georgia game, Harsin said. So the coaches decided to give him some opportunities against the Bulldogs. That is, after all, one of Harsin’s mantras — that if a player proves himself in practice, regardless of his age or standing on the depth, he deserves his shot in a game setting.

King played three drives, making two receptions from backup quarterback T.J. Finley on the team’s final possession of the game as time expired.

With Auburn’s pass-catchers continuing to struggle — the Tigers lead the SEC in drops, according to Pro Football Focus, with 22 on the season — could King’s role continually grow in the second half of the season?

“The receiver part is extremely natural for him,” Jerel Orr, King’s position coach at Atascocita, said. “He’s good at that. That part is probably what’s going to get him on the field in college initially.”

In high school, King played in a four-wide system, Orr said, so it didn’t really matter what his position was. He was bigger and more athletic than most defenders, so he was split out wide and told to go make plays.

“There were probably more catches I remember in practices than in games,” Orr said. “He’d make turnaround catches, one-hand catches — he makes it look easy.”

King is wired with “competitive DNA,” Orr said, which comes from his father, Trevence King, who played basketball at Stephen F. Austin, and his mother, Hope King, whom Landen “is probably still scared of,” Orr joked.

“He’s probably worried his mom is going to get on his butt if he doesn’t go as hard as he can,” Orr said. “He told me he gets coached very hard (at Auburn). But he’s used to it. He’s come from that kind of family. That’s what he expected.”

An early enrollee in the spring who stuck with his Auburn commitment afer Gus Malzahnwas fired, King found himself near the bottom of the depth chart at tight end heading into the season. But with some strong showings on the scout team, Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo thought he deserved some snaps; he got eight of them against Georgia, and was lined up as a big-slot receiver each time.

“He always makes plays in practice,” senior running back Shaun Shivers said of King this week. “Just from him being young, he goes out there and catches the football. You know, he knows what he’s doing. So I really expect to help us.”

The fact that King got himself involved in an SEC game because of his work ethic didn’t surprise Orr.

“He’s not going to shy away because oh, I’m second team, I’m third team, I’m fourth team,” Orr said. “He’s not going to view scout team as scout team; he’s about to view it as, oh, I’m about to make some plays out here. I’m trying to show what I can do. He’s just different that way.”

King told Orr recently that he’s now up to around 230 pounds as compared to the 214 he’s listed at on Auburn’s roster. King’s goal is to become a “complete tight end,” but that doesn’t mean he’ll stop catching passes. Auburn knows it has an athletic anomaly; the question now is whether the Tigers’ offense will use King’s abilities more in the coming weeks.

“He’s trying to maximize the physical gifts he has — because he knows he’s gifted,” Orr said. “But he wants to get better. He wants to be great. And it comes from his competitive DNA.”

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

Hope so. I was in the camp that thought he'd should see reps split out wide this year before the season started. Honestly surprised it took this long. He was turning heads all summer.

[WFE12 9,191]

9 minutes ago, ValleyTiger said:

Hope so. I was in the camp that thought he'd should see reps split out wide this year before the season started. Honestly surprised it took this long. He was turning heads all summer.

Several players turning heads all summer and nothing to speak of it so far..that said hopefully he gets his chance and goes crazy.

Edited October 15, 2021 by WFE12

[wildlife alumni 310]

Anyone know how fast he is now? I know good hands and good routes trump speed a lot of time but, I am just curious.

[bigbird 60,580]

2 minutes ago, wildlife alumni said:

Anyone know how fast he is now? I know good hands and good routes trump speed a lot of time but, I am just curious.

I'm not sure now, but in HS he was easily in the 4.6-4.8 range but had a 2nd gear when he needed it. 

[Win4AU 4,055]

At this point Auburn needs reliable targets on the field.  JSS and Kobe have played well.  Harsin is known to like nickel and dimming down the field and King could add another option.  This would also let someone like Robertson, Malcolm, or whoever open up the top for the long bomb.

[Southwest 186]

Atascocita High School in Beaumont, Texas? Huh 

[TigerHorn 1,354]

2 hours ago, bigbird said:

I'm not sure now, but in HS he was easily in the 4.6-4.8 range but had a 2nd gear when he needed it. 

With that height, his separation from DBs is vertical, doesn't necessarily need horizontal from speed. 

[weagl1 1,789]

If he can catch the dang ball I hope he starts!  The dropping has reached ridiculous proportions!  It’s time to sit the ones with butterfingers and give someone else a chance!  I don’t give a rip how many stars they had when they were recruited or how fast they are or how well they can get open if they can’t catch the ball that’s all for naught!  It’s time for a change!

[bigbird 60,580]

21 minutes ago, Southwest said:

Atascocita High School in Beaumont, Texas? Huh 

I laugh every time I see that.

[Gr82batigr 97]

Hoping King can be our version of the success that Evan Ingram had at Ole Miss and still in the NFL. Great hands, big frame, and a major mismatch for LBs and DBs. 

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

17 minutes ago, Gr82batigr said:

Hoping King can be our version of the success that Evan Ingram had at Ole Miss and still in the NFL. Great hands, big frame, and a major mismatch for LBs and DBs. 

I've comp'd him to Engram. They're clones as far as body type and skill. 

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

2 hours ago, Win4AU said:

Harsin is known to like nickel and dimming down the field

Need to Shed some light coach!

[Southwest 186]

40 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I laugh every time I see that.

Like saying Opelika High in Montgomery Al.

[NoALtiger 3,873]

Play him. 

[woodford 3,680]

You had me at “catch”

[Beaker 2,457]

1 hour ago, woodford said:

You had me at “catch”

100%      

PLAY HIM

[steeleagle 2,945]

I never thought of King at the wide out position since his position was TE.

But if he more consistent at catching the ball, and definitely has the height, then I hope he continues to get reps.

I am curious if he could start to take snaps away from Jackson, since Jackson simply has quite a few drops this year?

Is that possible, depending on the position Jackson ahs been playing? 

I have no problem if he can replace Jackson to get more sure hands on the field for Bo.

[CCTAU 3,357]

38 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I never thought of King at the wide out position since his position was TE.

But if he more consistent at catching the ball, and definitely has the height, then I hope he continues to get reps.

I am curious if he could start to take snaps away from Jackson, since Jackson simply has quite a few drops this year?

Is that possible, depending on the position Jackson ahs been playing? 

I have no problem if he can replace Jackson to get more sure hands on the field for Bo.

Someone mentioned him at the end of the game thread. I made the comment that he looked long and lean and can catch. And I said that I would put him in the slot and cause all sorts of mismatches.

He definitely needs a good look at.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,822]

Had a pretty good adjustment to one of the Finley passes 

[USATiger 741]

Is this a seeking article of who hasn't played but by damn they deserve to.  Do other beat writers do this for bama players riding the pine?  cool if so

[Guest MustardSeed]

Will Hastings was a walk on kicker, swapped to receiver and did well and made it to the NFL. He didn’t really outrun anyone (4.5 40…not slow by any means but not a sub 4.4 guy unless Gus was timing him 😂) and was short (5’10”). But he ran solid routes and caught the ball.  No reason this guy can’t. Especially being taller than 5’10. 

[TexasTiger 13,204]

3 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Will Hastings was a walk on kicker, swapped to receiver and did well and made it to the NFL. He didn’t really outrun anyone (4.5 40…not slow by any means but not a sub 4.4 guy unless Gus was timing him 😂) and was short (5’10”). But he ran solid routes and caught the ball.  No reason this guy can’t. Especially being taller than 5’10. 

He was the quickest guy on the team. And faster than most.

[NoALtiger 3,873]

3 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

He was the quickest guy on the team. And faster than most.

White Lightning 

[Guest MustardSeed]

5 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

He was the quickest guy on the team. And faster than most.

His official 40 time at pro day was 4.51. That’s not faster than most WRs. The average time for DBs and and WRs is sub 4.45.  He may have been faster than the fake timed guys Gus always claimed had sub 4.4s and then ran 4.6s and 4.7s on real timers. Like I said, he certainly wasn’t slow, but he didn’t run away from too many SEC DBs with 4.5 speed.  He was quick which is what helped him run solid routes. 
http://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=1027144&DraftYear=2020

Edited October 16, 2021 by MustardSeed