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AUBURN, Alabama -- Under Gus Malzahn and Rhett Lashlee, Auburn's wide receivers will likely be broken into two groups common to spread passing games, the outside receiver and inside, or slot receiver. The hurry-up, no-huddle's passing game is predicated on stretching a defense vertically with the deep ball and horizontally by forcing teams to account for quick throws to the edge, pulling defenders out of the box.
For that reason, Auburn's receivers will likely come in two different physical molds, a shift from Scot Loeffler's offense in 2012. Under Loeffler, the Tigers still used a slot receiver in multiple-receiver sets, but players were cross-trained to play on the outside as well. In the hurry-up, no-huddle, the two positions are separate, a common designation for spread passing attacks.
"We got the guy who attacks you deep, we got the guy that stretches you horizontally and we got the guy who makes you miss and stretches the field vertically," wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig said. "Everything we wanted, we hit on all of it." On the outside, Auburn has looked to add size to the receiving corps, a must for a team that had just one player, Jaylon Denson, listed as taller than 6-foot-3. On the outside, the Tigers need game-breakers, players who can get open deep.
Auburn plans to take eight shots down the field per game.
"We're looking for guys who are better playmakers," Craig said. "Guys who are game-changers, can flip the numbers and put some numbers on the board." Inside receivers play a different role, the traditional role for most slot receivers, tasked with working underneath routes and making people miss in the open field after the catch. Malzahn and Lashlee can use the right inside receiver as a go-to player. At Arkansas State, freshman J.D. McKissick caught 103 passes out of the slot last season. "Inside for us, a guy you want the ball in their hands a lot," Lashlee said.
In terms of technique, Malzahn and Lashlee, who helped coach the receivers in 2009 and 2010, teaches their pass-catchers to run every route in the offense the same way every time, simplifying the task for the receivers. Under Loeffler, some routes offered options based on coverages. The hurry-up, no-huddle takes that out of the receiver's hands. In addition, Malzahn and Lashlee put an emphasis on blocking on the outside, saying Auburn wants to have the most physical receivers in the country. Craig's job is to take Auburn's receivers and teach them to be as detailed as the offense requires. Everything about the position, from where a receiver lines up to his routes to his blocking assignments, has to be exact.
A quarterbacks coach at Florida State, Craig had to shift to players who maybe need a little more teaching on the details than the meticulous personalities who tend to gravitate to the quarterback position. "With the receivers, you have to be more detailed with what you ask them to do," Craig said. "You have to let them know what you expect from them. You have to constantly make sure they're doing the right things."
Auburn will add a class of four newcomers -- Earnest Robinson, Tony Stevens, Dominic Walker and Marcus Davis -- to the six scholarship receivers already on roster, a group that has combined for just 71 career catches. Out of those six, Sammie Coates, Ricardo Louis and Jaylon Denson project as outside receivers, and Trovon Reed, Quan Bray and C.J. Uzomah have already played as inside receivers in Malzahn's scheme, although Uzomah could see some time at tight end, too. With winter workouts under way and Auburn marching toward the start of spring practice on March 27, Craig has been pleased with what he's seen so far.
"They've shown me that they'll accept a challenge," Craig said. "If you can keep the guys focused, responsible and accountable, the results will show on the field. So far, so good."
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