Auburn football is revamping their receiving core - and it's starting to look scary

Auburn football's passing offense was lacking last season, to say the least.

Most of the struggles to put the ball in the air revolved around poor quarterback play and an egregious offensive line.

The receiver room wasn't great, but by no means was it bailing out the other two phases of the passing attack. All of this could be somewhat excused by the poor coaching on that side of the ball, but I digress.

Since Hugh Freeze entered the picture last November the Tigers' three phases of the passing game have improved on paper.

Auburn got their transfer quarterback in Payton Thorne. The offensive line added three portal prospects and a handful through the freshman recruiting class. Those two positions have been the primary focus for the past couple of months.

It feels like the actual pass-catchers Auburn has obtained are going unnoticed, with now three players having committed through the portal... and potentially a couple more on the way.

The wide receiver core caught some flack online during spring practice from some major outlets, and even head coach Hugh Freeze had voiced his thoughts on how he needed to see more progression from the players.

It's not like receivers such as Camden Brown, Ja'Varrius Johnson and Koy Moore aren't talented. It's just taken a while for the unit to adjust to a new scheme that can competently throw the ball. The addition of a few more pass catchers wouldn't hurt the Tigers overall depth.

Here's a look at the transfer portal prospects and commits the Tigers have as well as the currently receivers on roster:

Transfer Prospects/Commits

Jyaire Shorter - North Texas

Shorter has played 30 games over the course of five seasons for the Mean Green (three of those seasons he played two games or less), collecting 1,320 yards and 20 touchdowns on just 58 receptions, ending his UNT career with an impressive 22.8 yards per catch. Shorter caught 23 passes for 628 yards, an average of 27.3 yards per reception.

Montana Lemonious-Craig - Colorado

Lemonious-Craig played in all 12 games last season for Colorado and had an amazing Spring game Saturday. Last year Lemonious-Craig caught 23 balls for 359 yards with 3 touchdowns on a team that lost 11 games. His career totals are 34 for 497 and 5 touchdowns in a very anemic offense.

He decided to test the transfer portal waters after he lit up the Spring game for three catches totaling 154 yards and a touchdown.

Keon Coleman - Michigan State

The former four-star played alongside Auburn portal commit Payton Thorne, was the lead receiver for the Spartans last year. He caught 58 passes for 798 yards and seven touchdowns. He caught seven balls for 50 yards and a touchdown in four games during his freshman season.

Caleb Burton - Ohio State (COMMITTED)

The former 4-star Austin, Texas native spent one year with the Ohio State Buckeyes and will have four years of eligibility now at Auburn.

On last year's roster, Ohio State listed Burton at 5-foot-11, 169 pounds. He was recruited to play both the outside and the slot positions when he was coming out of the high school ranks. This is one of Auburn's biggest gets in the portal thus far.

Nick Mardner - Cincinnati (COMMITTED)

Mardner spent three seasons with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors before transferring to play for the Bearcats. In three years, he accumulated 1,270 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He had 218 yards and three touchdowns in his lone season with Luke Fickell and Cinci. He was coached by former Auburn pass-catcher and new receivers coach Marcus Davis.

The Tigers have been looking for a strong outside target in the transfer portal and Mardner may be that pickup - standing at 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, he could end up being a versatile pickup.

His breakout season included 913 yards and five touchdowns in 2021, a season where he averaged 19.8 yards per catch.

Rivaldo Fairweather - FIU (COMMITTED)

Fairweather had 838 receiving yards and five touchdowns during his time at FIU and was the third-highest rated TE in the transfer portal. Another valuable get for Hugh Freeze's offense. Fairweather was one of the more consistent pass-catchers during spring.