4.21.24 Football Articles

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saturdaydownsouth.com

Auburn sees another receiver opt for transfer portal as youth movement takes hold

Derek Peterson | 17 hours ago

3–4 minutes

Auburn has lost another receiver to the transfer portal.

According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, third-year wideout Jay Fair has submitted his name to the transfer portal and plans to leave the Tigers after 2 seasons and 22 appearances. He is the fifth Auburn receiver to transfer out of the program since December.

BREAKING: Auburn WR Jay Fair plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports

The 5’11 186 WR was a 2 year starter for the Tigers

2nd on the team in yards & receptions, averaged 11 yards per catch

Will have 2 years of eligibility remaining https://t.co/QF4bT5n3rg pic.twitter.com/Q9wQOZMGlY

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 20, 2024

Fair was the team’s third-leading receiver last fall, bringing in 31 receptions for 324 yards and 2 touchdowns in 13 games. The 5-foot-10 Dallas native had 2 receptions for 34 yards as a true freshman last season.

His departure when taken in conjunction with the rest of the attrition in the room is just the latest sign things have officially been handed over to the youngsters.

Nine receivers caught a pass last year for Auburn. Only 3 of them return. The 2024 class brought Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis and Cal transfer Sam Jackson V, as well as perhaps the best crop of freshmen wideouts anywhere in the country.

Cam Coleman and Bryce Cain went through spring ball with the team. Coleman shined in the spring game, with 4 receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown. Perry Thompson and Malcolm Simmons — both blue-chippers — join the program this summer.

Coleman has star potential. But Auburn is understandably excited about each of the 4 freshmen. The Tigers aren’t done, though.

After the spring concluded, coach Hugh Freeze told reporters that wide receiver was an area he wanted to target in the transfer portal to add depth to the room. Clearly boosting the pass game was a point of emphasis this offseason for Auburn, which ranked 124th in passing yardage last year.

“The more talented receivers we get, the better our passing game is going to be,” Freeze said. “I’m confident that we can move the football if we continue to add pieces to the talent of the roster. And I think we’ve done that some, but we need to continue to do that.”

The Tigers haven’t even had a top-80 passing offense by efficiency since 2018. Finding ways to generate more explosive plays through the air is at the top of Freeze’s to-do list this offseason.

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Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson comes to the Pac-12 after years of serving as a college football beat writer at Oklahoma and Nebraska. He's a firm believer that teams should never punt. Follow on Twitter.

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si.com

Recruiting And Transfer Portal Notes

Brian Smith

5–6 minutes

College football is in full recruiting and Transfer Portal mode

In this story:

College Football Recruiting

Recruiting And Transfer Portal Notes

With the vast majority of spring games done, like Auburn, Alabama and Georgia, college football fans should know that it’s time for recruiting and the Transfer Portal to take centerstage. Here are a few of the storylines taking place around the SEC and college football.

College football players have through April 30 to enter the Transfer Portal. Players entering their names are beginning to surface but look for a lot more this next week as paperwork clears with the NCAA.

Auburn’s biggest Transfer Portal need is a defensive tackle. There are actually more solid to good defensive tackle prospects transferring than some might expect. There is a downside, however. The market is overflooded with teams that want and need a top interior defensive linemen (or two). That means at least some of the defensive tackles might ask for a lot of NIL, to the point of teams flat-out needing to overpay. Of course, that takes away from the overall cash Auburn or any other team has for other players. Tough decisions could be coming for several programs.

The recruiting saga for quarterback Jaden Rashada is one for the ages. Committing to both Florida and Miami, signing with the Gators, and then the ridiculous NIL scandal with the Florida boosters, just incredible. Rashada ends up at Arizona State. Well, he’s now back on the market. Rashada is in the Transfer Portal and there are whispers that Georgia is interested, among several other college football programs.

Despite numerous SEC and ACC schools like Auburn, Florida State, and many others pushing for Homestead (Fla.) High School wide receiver Cortez Mills it’s going to be hard to knock off the hometown Miami Hurricanes. Their NIL is very strong and Mills lives less than an hour from UM’s campus in Coral Gables.

Sticking with wide receiver, Duncanville (Texas) High School talent Dakorien Moore is an LSU commitment but he’s far from a sure thing. Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, and many other schools are chipping away. Intel is consistent that Moore’s recruitment is far from over. Watch out for Oregon.

A former Ohio State commitment would be Cocoa (Fla.) High School wide receiver Jayvan Boggs. He’s visiting Notre Dame for the Irish spring game, and several other programs would love to land the prospect coming off a junior campaign with 93 receptions, 1,493 yards, a 16.1 average, and 23 touchdowns, per MaxPreps. 

In case anyone missed it, Kirby Smart and UGA now hold a 2025 quarterback commitment from Findlay (Ohio) High School product Ryan Montgomery. That leaves the door a little more open for Auburn, Alabama, and Colorado to flip 5-star quarterback Julian “Ju Ju” Smith from Southern California. Lewis is from Carrollton (Ga.) High School. UGA previously went after Lewis hard, but it’s tough to say how that situation will play out now with a quarterback commitment in the fold for Georgia.

There are still questions about Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and whether his West Coast roots will be able to recruit well in SEC country. One thing he can do is bring more talent from out West to Tuscaloosa. A top recruit visiting for Bama’s spring game, per the Bama Central website, would be elite Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School cornerback DJ Lee. He’s also going to be taking an official visit to Alabama (June 21).

Auburn also needs help at defensive end and it could come via South Florida. Former Miami defensive end Nyjalik Kelly will be a redshirt sophomore this next season. Auburn, Missouri, UCF, and several other programs will be under consideration, per 247.

There’s been a lot of optimism for LSU’s offense in 2024, but the secondary looked terrible in the spring game. Losing another cornerback to the Transfer Portal is not likely to help the Tigers either. According to several reports including Tigers Wire, Ryan Yaites is no longer with LSU and is entering the Transfer Portal. LSU might score a lot of points this fall, but the Tigers probably need at least two top-notch defensive backs to join their roster to be a top SEC contender.

Speaking of LSU, big-time running back prospect James Simon from Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist may not be a true lock for the Tigers as originally believed. He recently visited Alabama and Notre Dame and will be at the Texas spring game this weekend. 

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al.com

Auburn wide receiver Jay Fair reportedly enters transfer portal

Published: Apr. 20, 2024, 11:57 a.m.

2–3 minutes

Auburn wide receiver Jay Fair (5) runs the ball against Mississippi State during the first half of an NCAA football game Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in Auburn, Alabama. (Julie Bennett | preps@al.com)Julie Bennett | preps@al.com

After two seasons on The Plains, Auburn junior wide receiver Jay Fair will look to test the transfer waters after reportedly entering his name into the transfer portal.

The War Rapport’s Mike Gittens and On3 Sports were among the first to report the news Saturday.

Fair was Auburn’s third-leading pass catcher last fall as he hauled in 31 receptions for 324 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

During Auburn’s A-Day spring game, Fair was targeted five times and hauled in one pass for just six yards.

Meanwhile, the new faces in the Tigers’ wide receiver room shined during the spring game as freshman Cam Coleman finished the game as Auburn’s leading receiver with 92 yards on four catches with a touchdown and Georgia State transfer receiver Robert Lewis hauled in five catches for 73 yards. Cal transfer receiver Sam Jackson V also logged a pair of catches and totaled 27 yards.

And based on comments Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze made after the game, it sounded like he and the Tigers are hoping to add more talent to their wide receiver room.

“We’ve got a couple spots left on our roster,” Freeze said. “If you’re going to fill it, let’s fill it with D-line and receivers. I think that’s where we need to add some more depth.”

With Fair reportedly transferring, Auburn’s wide receiver room is set to consist of senior Koy Moore, senior Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis, junior Camden Brown, junior Cal transfer Sam Jackson, sophomore Camden Burton III, freshman Cam Coleman, freshman Bryce Cain and incoming summer enrollees Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson.

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[aubiefifty 16,813]

i will check back later folks..............

[Mikey 16,630]

Players leaving who were starters/regulars at their old school. What the devil do they want? A guaranteed position with no competition?

[weagl1 1,785]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

Players leaving who were starters/regulars at their old school. What the devil do they want? A guaranteed position with no competition?

The human brain (particularly the prefrontal cortex that controls cognitive ability) does not mature until the mid 20’s.  These kids are simply not playing with all their marbles when they are making these decisions.  They have not learned that the grass is not always greener.  

[SaltyTiger 7,816]

47 minutes ago, weagl1 said:

The human brain (particularly the prefrontal cortex that controls cognitive ability) does not mature until the mid 20’s.  These kids are simply not playing with all their marbles when they are making these decisions.  They have not learned that the grass is not always greener.  

Unless they enter the portal and transfer into our program from another. In that case the cognitive ability is years ahead of age.