Auburn’s fall camp is still young, but freshman wide receiver DeShawn Spencer is wasting no time making noise.
The buzz around Spencer started back in the spring, when he took advantage of extra chances in the receiver room and turned heads during A-Day. That momentum has carried straight into camp, and now the praise is coming from everywhere inside the program.
Not just one coach. Not just one teammate.
Multiple voices are saying the same thing about a player who is still early in his college career.
Head coach Alex Golesh made it clear after Auburn’s second practice that Spencer has more than flashed. He said the freshman is “mature beyond his years in the sense of football intelligence” and added, “He's got stuff you can't really coach.”
Golesh also pointed out that Spencer is still growing physically, but his grasp of the position has already helped him get on the field with the first two groups. In Golesh’s eyes, the freshman isn’t just hanging around older receivers - he “stands out at times.”
That’s a strong sign this early in camp, especially with Spencer appearing to run with the ones more often than Jeremiah Koger, who was expected to hold that spot heading into Week 1.
The quarterback room is seeing the same thing. Starting quarterback Byrum Brown said Spencer “practiced like a real deal vet,” pointing to the way he shows up every day and keeps working to get better.
Keshaun Singleton echoed that sentiment almost word for word. “He plays like a vet already,” Singleton said. “If you watch practice, you wouldn't even expect him to be a freshman.”
That kind of consistency in the feedback matters. When the coach, the quarterback and a veteran receiver all describe a freshman in the same way, it tells you Spencer is making a real impression inside Auburn’s offense.
He’s also getting some help away from the practice field. During Auburn’s 13-day stay at the Marriott Resort at Grand National in Opelika, Spencer is rooming with veteran receiver Chas Nimrod. The former South Florida receiver said part of his job is showing Spencer “the ropes” and helping him understand how to handle everything that comes with college football.
That setup fits the vision Golesh had when Auburn moved the entire roster away from campus.
There’s still plenty left to sort out before Auburn settles on its receiver rotation for Baylor. Nimrod and Singleton are expected to handle most of the target share and bring the most experience, while other wideouts keep fighting for their chances throughout camp.
But right now, Spencer is firmly in the mix - and he’s doing it while playing like he’s been here a lot longer than he has.
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The bigger early development has been Byrum Brown, who has quickly become one of the louder voices in the huddle. Brown has already shown more confidence than he did in spring practice, and this stretch of camp is where Auburn gets its first real chance to see how that command holds up once the contact level rises and the competition tightens. [Read more 🡒]