Auburn’s first fall camp practice gave an early look at a wide receiver room that’s been heavily reshaped, and a few names started separating themselves right away.
The Tigers brought back only three players at the position and added eight newcomers during the offseason, so Wednesday morning was as much about sorting through fresh faces as it was about establishing any kind of hierarchy. Offensive coordinator Joel Gordon had already pointed to South Florida transfer Chas Nimrod on Tuesday as a player who had been leading the group all summer.
“He’s one of the most physically gifted guys in the room. He’s one of the smartest guys in the room.
I think when you add all of that up, you hope that guy is standing out every single day,” Gordon said. “I think he did that throughout the summertime.
I think there are other guys that have had really good summers that we’re excited to see what it looks like starting [Wednesday].”
Once practice began, the receivers opened with hand-swatting work at the line under position coach Kodi Burns, who urged his group to attack and be violent in every rep. They then moved into a second drill that mirrored the first before adding post and slant routes after swatting Burns’ hands away.
After about 15 minutes, the group shifted outside for skeleton work with the quarterbacks and tight ends, and that’s where some of the first-day standouts started to emerge.
Nimrod got things going with a sharp slant catch from Byrum Brown. Keshaun Singleton also flashed with a clean grab on the far end of the field from John Colvin. Nimrod, Singleton and Erik Smith were the most consistent receivers in the group, with each of them running crisp routes and avoiding drops.
The day wasn’t as smooth for everyone. Freshman DeShawn Spencer dropped his first pass from Brown on a slant, and freshman Brian Williams had a tougher stretch after bobbling a slant route, which led to a sideline coaching moment from Alex Golesh. Williams later dropped another pass in the final minute of practice, and the whole group ended up doing push-ups.
Jeremiah Koger delivered the best catch of the day, stretching for a deep ball and hauling it in with a diving effort out of bounds.
Bryce Cain and freshman Brady Marchese also stood out for their route running, showing quick feet from the slot.
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