It's the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. trash talk chat. You also get an ad-free version of your favorite locked on show and a whole lot more. You can check it out by tapping the everyday or club link in the show notes. Auburn's wide receiver room, impossible to predict, which feels weird because they all play together already. You are locked on Auburn, your daily podcast on the Auburn Tigers. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Yes, welcome on in to Locked On Auburn, your daily Auburn Tigers podcast. I'm your host, Zach Blackerby, and thank you so much for making Locked On Auburn your first listen. Every single day, happy Charlie. Tuesday to all who celebrate Auburn message board legend, the Charlie five, also known as Kyle rush. He's the man over the barn, Auburn dot, um, which non wide receiver will lead Auburn in receiving yards as well as, you know, who, who could be next up, uh, you know, maybe a dark horse in the wide receiver room this off season. But I thought it'd be fun, Kyle, to go through this receiving room and say, Hey, you know, so-and-so is going to lead. They're going to be number two. They've got a chance to be the number three guy. and as I was sitting down to do this and I guess you were doing the same thing too I'm wondering if you had the same situation it's a fascinating discussion and thought process because there's so many questions about all these guys but it's weird because they have all played in this offense it's not like it's a bunch of different guys with varying levels of upside and skill and production coming together is guys that have already had production together, following their coach, following their quarterback. And so when you predict what the production could look like at Auburn this year, is it too lazy to just look at what they did at USF last year and say that the pecking order that happened at South Florida is most likely the pecking order that we'll see at Auburn. Is that entirely fair? I think in most cases it is fair to say that. Yeah, I do too. It's really after the first two guys is when you could kind of flip a coin and see what you think. Because like there are three, four, and five receivers, there wasn't a ton of separation as far as statistics, catches, things like that. The only thing that really jumps out to me where I'm like, could this guy make some noise would be Chaz Nimrod was really having a good beginning to the season. He's averaging over 20 yards a catch and he's coming in. He's got a ton of experience, three touchdowns, you know, almost 500 yards receiving. And he got, like I said, got injured. So could he, could he be better than we think he's going to be, but they're all like the same guy. You know what I mean? They're all so similar. They're all 6'2", around 200 pounds, and they can all run. Yeah, and then there's Neptune, who's like the slot guy, which is fun to see him and Bryce Kane in the room together. But you're right. You're absolutely right. And when you look at the numbers, like you said, there's not a ton of separation after Keyshawn Singleton. And you look at the average yards per catch. Keyshawn Singleton, 17.5 yards per catch. Jeremiah Coger 15.7 yards per catch Chaz Nimrod 20.3 like you said Christian Neptune 8.8 which is reasonable you know for a slot guy it's gonna be a little bit lower can you do that in this conference like these massive plays that you're having over and over and over again essentially getting way well over a first down every time you catch the football is that realistic to expect in this transition from South Florida to Auburn, that's where I have some pause because I don't think those numbers are going to be as high. If they are, oh my goodness, it's going to be so fun in the Alex Golish era of Auburn football. And hopefully that happens. But what happens if they're not making their money or making their production with these big plays? And so then you look at the skill set of, all right, who's better in tighter spaces. Who's better, you know, in catch and run situations or catching in traffic or whatever it might be. And to me, that typically goes to the older guys, which in this room will be Keyshawn Singleton. And to your point, Chaz Nimrod. But that transition to me is the biggest thing is, okay, you're not going to get, I don't think, I hope I'm wrong. Goodness gracious. I hope I'm wrong, but you're not going to get 15 yards of pop every time you catch the football in the Southeastern Conference. But man, if they do, Kyle, buckle up. Yeah, and I don't know that that is what, at least me, I don't know that's what I'm expecting, to literally just carbon copy it over and see the exact same results. Like you said, it would be fun. But the thing is, you kind of touched on it. You're going to have to achieve it in different ways. It's probably not going to be just running by people and hitting verticals all the time. you know you might see you might see the average yards per catch go down but you may see receptions go up like sure you know what i mean like that that could be that that could be what you see so i don't i really i don't know that you're going to be able to just stamp it and just move it like guy for guy what you did last year this year but i would i mean i wouldn't be shocked if these numbers for the most part are pretty similar you have a guy around you know 800 900 yards and then you have four or five guys that are all right around that from anywhere from four to 600 yards receiving that kind of feels like the way this offense really kind of works. Yeah. Which is a good thing, which is a good thing. And it makes it kind of impossible to predict, but I'll take a stab at it. I have Keyshawn Singleton leading Auburn and receiving that I have Jeremiah Coger then Chaz Nimrod then a Neptune who out of this world And then I have Bryce Kane I have Bryce Kane as the fifth receiver when it comes to receiving yards My question was, where was an Auburn guy like, and I say Auburn guy, where was a previous Auburn guy going to fit on that list? I'm curious to see what they do with Duke Smith. because I think he's got some freakish athletic ability. Like some of these can run like these South Florida guys do, especially after the catch. But, yeah, the true slot guy, that battle between him and Neptune could be very interesting. If you are doing like, you know, two wide on both sides and you have two slots, that could be something to watch for sure. and who of these guys that played outside of South Florida would you expect to be able to play in different spots? I think that's Coger, I think. He's so big. Yeah, I mean, he could do a lot of stuff. He's a matchup problem. Some of those workout videos, he's a very big kid, and he's only a sophomore. He's only in his second year. He's going to be a lot to handle. It feels like the bigger he gets, though, the more like kind of locks himself into what an outside guy would be to me nimrod's the guy that could flex and you could put him all over the field because he's longer you know yeah but he's still got that explosion and quick twitch you know quick twitch ability yeah i curious to see how much they move the receivers around but just because of the whole you know veer and shoot and tempo thing like you want to line up and go and not have to think that much which is the whole point of the offense, which I love. And I know you're going to move the tight end around and you might do some different stuff with the backs, but, and your slot guy is going to move around. But I think you're going to probably pretty much primarily have those two outside guys stay outside is what I think is going to happen. Yeah. I think that's probably, I think that's probably fair. They get them outside those, outside those hashes and they pretty much keep, like you said, they keep one-on-one and one on the other side. Yeah. Spread it out. Love it. Love it. There's several guys, though. There's like four dudes. I don't really know what you do with them. And the upside is tremendous. And there's also a chance that they don't crack the rotation. I want to jump into some of that next right here. Unlocked on Auburn. Today's show brought to you by our friends at Mazda. Mazda's moving the game forward. For those who show there's more to the score than what's on the screen. As far as moving the game forward, Keyshawn Murphy on Saturday. Best game is an Auburn Tiger. I don't think I'll get much pushback on that. He was incredible in Auburn's win over Kentucky. Mazda puts that same passion into every model. Highlights to make the real what it takes to get there is what makes it count. 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I don't know what to think of. And I do think they have upside. Corey Pettigrew is the South Florida receiver that came over with all these other guys, and it's like, okay, curious to see how he fits. I don't think he's a plan for the 2026 season, but could he be a guy? Could he be a Nimrod, Chaz Nimrod replacement? Because they're similar. Yeah, maybe that was the plan at South Florida, and he's like, hey, come on, let's just do this at the SEC level, which is interesting. He took, he being goalish, took Pettigrew and didn't have to, which is saying something. He was one of the first commits, too, and I remember people kind of freaking out. Starting to freak out a little bit. Got him and Lachlan Hewlett, and I'm like, they're trolling us. Yeah. They're trolling us right now. Yeah. That's okay. That's okay. Sam Turner, I think it's interesting. You mentioned Duke Smith. His brother, Eric Smith, I also think is interesting. Kind of got the size. but then a guy that I can't stop thinking about how he fits into this offense early is true freshman Deshaun Spencer I I think he's like good enough to where he's like it's worth questioning like can you keep him off the field he's going to probably be my freshman of this class that I talk about way too much and then he ends up just not even being a part of the rotation but I think Deshaun Spencer's electric well I mean when you talk about a guy who put up better numbers at Sarah Lynn than Ryan Williams. I mean, why wouldn't you think that he's got a chance to be something special? And he's got – I think Ryan Williams got engaged. Yeah. Congratulations. Congratulations to him. Congrats to him. Why wouldn't – he always seems like a guy that plays bigger than what his height and weight actually is. Right. There is a role for that player in this offense, as you can look by the stat sheet. So he almost seems – he almost has like a smaller Eric Singleton vibe to me, like watching him on film, like somebody that can do more than just run routes. Now, I trust Gullish to be able to make him into something other than someone that doesn't run routes that you get the ball to, like we saw last year, but maybe utilize both. I'd love to see him catching, you know, some screens or jet sweeps or things like that, but not only that. I think he can be a good first down target going over the middle or those sit down routes in between zones. He seems like he could be somebody that could do that and break a tackle and go 80. Yeah. I think a name that Auburn fans are going to want to talk about this spring is Sam Turner Yeah I love the idea that he on this roster still Yeah. I love the upside. I just think the role he's going to play, I don't see him passing Singleton or Coker. Yeah, I think that's fair. Or Nimrod. but it sounds like he thought about leaving did he enter the portal or say he was leaving that happened right yeah he did and then uh i think we kind of what happened there yeah i think he went in and we kind of like changed our mind they kind of like changed their mind and wanted him back so he's so much like jeremiah koger like i feel like body type and yeah i don't know about top end speed and athletic ability and he was injured too at the end of last year so how is he going to be is he going to be back to full health because this spring I think is huge huge huge for him yes but he's so much like Coger to me that that could be an interesting dynamic an interesting battle there may not be very many other spots where he could go in and be successful it may just be that outside spot yeah yeah so I'm a little I'm happy pleasantly surprised that he came back um during that sequence but like you said you know if he was banged up towards the end of last year like you know how much did he have to give up some leverage because of that i mean i know that sounds awful but like that's got to be part of it you know right right um so if you had to guess right now of these kind of toss-up guys that we think are good enough to get a part of the rotation they just got to do it um who do you think leads Auburn are receiving out of these guys? So you're talking about – Okay, you're going to give me the list. Sorry. I'm giving you the list, yeah. Gotcha. Bryce Kane, Corey Pettigrew, Sam Turner, Duke Smith, Deshaun Spencer. I thought you'd say Bryce Kane right out of the bat. Yeah, I think two of the Auburn guys, I think between Bryce Kane and Duke Smith, I would take off that list, I think. I think both of those guys are more gifted in the spot that I think the most playing time is going to be available. I think those two are the most gifted out of that list. Okay, and then just for the sake – I agree with you. For the sake of the discussion, so the remaining three, Sam Turner, Corey Pettigrew, Deshaun Spencer. I would say Deshaun Spencer probably next, Corey Pettigrew, and then Sam Turner. Wow. Okay. I would have said, I would have put Pettigrew at the end just because of the question marks. But there's question marks about Sam Turner too. Sure. To me, those are not, those guys are all maybe. They're a year away. Yeah, they're all a year away, so it's tough. It's tough. It's still wild to me that we didn't add a receiver from anywhere other than South Florida. That's still wild to me. well i mean uh you know what i'm yeah that's wild but something else that i noticed there's literally there's a guy if you notice there's a guy from south florida on offense in every single position group too like if you look like all the position groups were covered too i thought that was kind of interesting it's like they wanted one guy so they could that that whole culture of the whole on the offensive side they got one for every single at least one for every single position group but you're right there was no wide receiver anywhere else I'm trying to even think if there were any that we were trying to get like it looks like we were pushing hard for that NC State guy I forgot his name and I don't even know where he went but that was the one I feel like we talked Noah Rogers that's right is his name and there was one other guy he's escapes me there was two there was two that we were somewhat trying we were pushing pretty hard for and they just went elsewhere that weren't. Yeah, they knew they wouldn't play over the South Florida All-Stars, baby. The South Florida. I can't wait to see the South-Stars. I can't wait to see it. Yeah, I want to go back and watch the offense. I want to go back and watch their offense against everybody just to get a crash course. Yep. All right. Which non-wide receiver will lead Auburn in receiving? That's next. Right here, Unlocked on Auburn. We talk a lot about fit, whether it's coaching searches, whether it's players coming over. It's the same when you're running your small business. Kyle, you know this. It's about fit. and Indeed is the best when it comes to finding the fit for the job that you have posted. They do a great job of kind of tailoring all the strengths and all the resumes that come in for your position and saying like, hey, here are the people you need to interview. You don't need to go through all of these. We've done it for you. These are your guys. You're busy. Interview these people. You're welcome. Indeed saves you so much time. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listers of this show get a $75 sponsored job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast, indeed.com slash podcast. Need to hire? That's a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Today's Show also brought to you by our friends at Alumni Hall. Alumni Hall is where I want to be 24-7. Whether it's admiring the hat wall or looking at all of the fun kind of knickknacks that are out throughout the store. Whether it's, you know, tailgating stuff or stuff for your walls or stuff to put on your desk. Oh, they have everything. They have everything at Alumni Hall. You can imagine. Yeah. Stuff for your pets, too. Pets. Children. It doesn't matter what age. They've got you covered. Head over to any of their physical locations. They've got one in Auburn off of South College Street. They also have one in Opelika that's in Tigertown. That's the one I frequent the most. And, of course, you can go to alumnihall.com if you are not local. So shout out to Alumni Hall for sponsoring Locked on Auburn. Final few minutes on today edition of Locked on Auburn I think this is a fun conversation as far as okay which non receiver can lead Auburn in receiving So you're going to have your top four or five guys. For the sake of conversation, at South Florida last year, you got Singleton, Coger, Reuben, Numer. So your top five receivers were receivers. And then you had Wyatt Sullivan, their tight end, who had 18 catches. A few spots back, you had Alvin Isaac, their running back with 14 catches. Jonathan Echols, now with Auburn, the tight end, had nine catches. So they don't throw to the back a ton. I've done this exercise before because for whatever reason, I felt like this would be a good throw to the back, out of the backfield offense. You know, like extension of the run, you know what I mean? Those kind of swing passes. But, like, you go look at South Florida. You go look at when he was at Tennessee. He just doesn't really throw to the running back that often. Yeah. So, you know. There were a few backs that had, like, four catches. Like, multiple backs had four catches. So, I assume that will happen. So, if you're hoping for a bunch of receiving yards, out of like Jeremiah Cobb or somebody like that is probably not going to happen maybe. And it could be that he just hasn't had that true, you know, big time receiving back yet. But yeah, he just doesn't really throw. It's pretty much wide receivers or tight ends. So I think the good discussion is like which one of those tight ends is going to break out and be like your big reception getter. Yeah. Instead of just another blocker. If any of these tight ends or running backs get to 200 yards receiving, that really seems to be the number. And my gut is Jeremiah Cobb, but for just looking at what South Florida did last year, I'll say Jake Johnson, the tight end transfer from North Carolina. Do you think that's going to be your top guy? You think that's going to be your, your tight end? I think, well, I think they'll use two. And I think it'll be Johnson and Echols. So I'm really – you're probably right, and I'm not going to argue that. I'm very intrigued, though, by this kid from Bowling Green. The ULM kid? No, the one from Bowling Green, Arliss Boardingham, because he was all SEC freshman at Florida. You know, and had four touchdowns his freshman year. I know he's battled some injuries, but something about him, man, he's got something. And if he's healthy, I just wonder how he factors in. Because, again, he's done it at this level. I mean, I looked at his game logs a couple from 2023 and 2024. I mean, you're talking about having essentially a 100-yard receiving game, seven catches against Vanderbilt. He's had good games against Tennessee. He's had good games against your traditional teams that Florida plays. I don't know. I kind of think this guy could maybe sneak in there and make some noise. Yeah, how much of an advantage does Eccles have? Because I think Jake Johnson is your tight end one. I'd be shocked if he wasn't. Eccles is athletic, moves well, physically gifted, and I think can do stuff athletically that other guys can't in the room. And Eccles was a big deal. At the time, he still might be the highest recruit that South Florida had. He was at the time they got him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Got him from Tennessee. And that's a goalish thing. Goalish was, you know, he's a tight ends guy. So I just wonder how much of an advantage he has as far as a relationship with the offensive coaching staff, familiarity with the scheme. He was a piece. Like he wasn't a star in the South Florida offense played a solid amount, but he wasn't the tight end last year. He was a tight end. Can he come in and be a tight end at Auburn? I think there's less questions about him than some of these other guys. Hunter Herring's fascinating to the ULM former quarterback. I just think it's so hard to transition to tight end at any point in your career, especially as a senior. it's so tough to play i mean you've got a you've got a run routes like a receiver you got a block like an offensive lineman that's just a lot to ask somebody to do late in their career but i um yeah i think eckles is number two if i had to guess right now uh i wonder what it's like and again i don't really have a good argument otherwise i'm just i'm intrigued by boardingham but i like both of those guys too and there's a dynamic here of having a head coach who's a tight end guy but for whatever reason the tight ends don't seem to get that much into the game as far as the passing game goes uh maybe that has plays a lot more into the you know run the you know what out of it mindset have some bigger bodies have a lot of athletic guys and that's more of his bread and butter but yeah it's a it's a cool dynamic and that's another room where i wouldn't be shocked if any of the names we listed carved some type of rollout and was able to contribute. This offense does feel wide receiver heavy, though. It's very reliant on wide receiver production. Yes. Yes, and that's okay. That's fine. And that'll be super, super fun to see. Run it with your quarterback, run it with your running backs, and then try to stretch the field with these wide receivers on the outside. Have no issue with that at all. Kyle, how can people check out everything you've got? Absolutely. Go to TheBarnAuburn.com. Subscribe today. Any one of our shows on The Barn YouTube page and anywhere you get a podcast, The Barn Podcast Network. Please like the video. Please subscribe. We'll see you next time. This has been Locked on Auburn. You can just move through life or you can find the things that move you. It's your choice. Choose joy. Choose the road. Choose your shot. Take it. Choose to get in there. Choose your calling. Choose your path. Just choose. We craft cars for those who choose to do more than simply move. You know who you are. Mazda. Move and be moved.
