Auburn football's wide receiver room is heavily undervalued heading into 2022
There's a common perception of Auburn's wide receiver room.
The rotation (supposedly) has a lack of talent. Therefore, according to the media, Auburn's passing game will struggle.
Preseason narratives suggest that the Tigers as a whole lack talent, cohesion, and unity... and will eventually fall off of the rails once the season gets going. While there is reason to believe that the whole Bryan Harsin fiasco back in the spring effected the locker room and shook the bonds within the program, everything that has come out to the media since then has been nothing but positive. Auburn is rallying.
On top of that, they've still got some talent on roster. According to 247Sports' Blue Chip Ratio, 54% of Auburn's current roster consists of four or five-star signees, which is good for 15th nationally.
Let's look specifically at the receivers and their talent. Despite being ranked 13th in the SEC in Athlon Sports' preseason SEC unit rankings, and described as a corps that "is in dire need of playmakers" by Lindy's, Auburn's starting wide receiver rotation has the fifth-best average star rating (all ratings are from the 247Sports Composite) in the SEC.
If the Tigers have the talent on paper, then wouldn't these preseason projections base Auburn's "lack of playmakers" on Bryan Harsin's inability to develop the room?
Consider last season's numbers.
In 2021, Auburn's passing offense averaged 240.1 yards per game (up from the 220.1 yards per game the team averaged in 2020- with two NFL draft picks in the unit, might I add), which was only good for 59th nationally. However, that's Auburn's best yards per game total since 2004... back when Jason Campbell was throwing to Courtney Taylor and Devin Aromashodu. With a "lack of playmakers," the Tigers managed to have their best passing offense of the 21st century.
All of this despite Harsin firing receivers coach Cornelius Williams four games into the season.
With former receivers coach Eric Kiesau stepping into his new role as offensive coordinator, who did Auburn see fit to go out and fire as the new man in the WR room?
Ike Hilliard, an NFL receivers coach who has a track record filled with nothing but star-studded pass catchers and consistent development.
If anything, the Tigers should maintain things. Around 240 passing yards, similar production, etc. What's more likely is that players like LSU transfer Koy Moore, freshman Tar'Varish Dawson, and converted tight end Landen King breakout and help bolster what could potentially be a pretty deep unit.
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