How likely is Auburn to have a 1,000-yard receiver in 2023?

The Auburn Tigers and wide receivers have not had much luck with each other over the past few seasons.

Last year was particularly rough as the Tigers' leading receiver was Ja'Varrius Johnson who caught 26 passes for 493 yards and three touchdowns.

2020 was the best year Auburn has had with the receiver core in recent years. Seth Williams got 47 passes for 760 yards and four touchdowns. Anthony Schwartz caught 54 passes for 636 yards and three touchdowns.

Going off the original prompt, the last Auburn receiver to break the 1,000-yard threshold was Ronney Daniels who totaled 1,068 yards in 1999.

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has talked about how much of a priority overhauling the wide receiver room has been since taking over the program.

Auburn has brought in four intriguing receivers through the transfer portal: Caleb Burton from Ohio State, Shane Hooks from Jackson State, Nick Mardner from Cincinnati and Jyaire Shorter from North Texas.

Burton is a freshman who saw no action with the Buckeyes during his time in Columbus. Hooks is a senior who caught 66 passes for 775 yards and 10 touchdowns for Deion Sanders' and company last season.

Mardner caught 19 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns for the Bearcats a year ago. Shorter pulled in 23 catches for 628 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Mean Green last season.

Auburn is returning Johnson, its leading receiver from a year ago, but the 1,000-yard threshold is more likely to be broken by one of the more experienced transfers.

Another factor is the quarterback position. Freeze has confirmed that Payton Thorne, a junior who also joined Auburn via the portal from Michigan State, will be the starting quarterback for the Tigers.

Thorne has played with a 1,000-yard receiver before. In 2021, Jayden Reed caught 59 passes for 1,026 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Thorne spread the ball around significantly more with the Spartans' offense in 2022. With a lot of new receivers to move around and try out different things with, Auburn's offense will likely be in too much of an experimental state to see one guy get significantly more targets than the rest of the group.

With that being said, it is unlikely the Tigers will break their 23-year-long 1,000-yard receiver drought in 2023.

How likely is Auburn to have a 1,000-yard receiver in 2023?

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