Auburn football: Bryan Harsin bullish on WR room ahead of Week 1

Auburn football has a game this week, I repeat, Auburn football has a game this week! This Saturday, the Tigers will face off against the Akron Zips and Bryan Harsin will make his debut appearance on the sidelines.

Ahead of the first game, Harsin announced the official depth chart for week #1 with Bo Nix leading the troops as QB1. The chart mostly consists of upperclassmen, and only one true freshman made the cut, wide receiver Tar’Varish Dawson Jr.

With Anthony Schwartz, Eli Stove, and Seth Williams heading to the NFL, there were several gaps to fill in the wide receivers room when Harsin took over the program, as he was left with receivers who had lots of potential but little experience.

Enter Demetris Robertson, who played at Cal and then Georgia and now Auburn. The SEC veteran had a breakout freshman year on the west coast but wasn’t properly utilized during his two years at UGA. Now, he’s earned a starting position on the Auburn football roster and has a bright future according to Bryan Harsin:

"“Demetris, I think I’ve said this before, but he’s done a heck of a job at just catching on to what we’re doing. He’s very bright. His study habits, not just here in the building but away from here in his dorm room or whatever he’s got to do to get himself ready to go each and every day. I think he grasps things pretty well and has done a good job of putting himself in a position where he can move around. We can use him in different positions. That was one of the concerns always with a new player — is he going to just have to learn one position and really lock into that or is he going to understand the system a little bit better so we can do more things with him? I think he’s done that."

Robertson is one of the Tigers’ three starting wide receivers, listed at the WR/Z position. The other two starters are senior Shedrick Jackson (WR/X) and sophomore Ja’Varrius Johnson (WR/H). Harsin told reporters on Monday that Johnson has been the most consistent in the WR room:

"“Yeah, Ja’Varrius, you know, he’s — you know, when we talk about consistency, I think that’s been the most consistent player in the wide receiver room — has been Ja’Varrius. You know, he comes out every day, works hard. He knows what to do. I’ve seen him make some really good catches in practice. You know, he’s working on special teams and doing some things in those areas, but I like the consistency. I like his attitude. I like, you know, when he makes a mistake, it matters. And he’s working on it to correct it, and he usually does. He doesn’t usually make the same mistake twice, so he’s making new mistakes."

The second and third-string receivers, as well as the rest of the Tigers’ starting lineup, can be found below in a tweet from The JBoy Show:

Though many Auburn football fans were worried about the wide receivers heading into the 2021 season, it seems that summer practices, conditioning, and fall camp have straightened out the kinks and the receivers are ready to hit the field.