Auburn football: 2 offensive Tigers most essential for the rest of the 2021 season

Auburn football essential offensive player #2: John Samuel Shenker

Just like last season, Bo Nix has a trio of receivers that he is leaning on to catch the majority of the passes. Demetris Robertson is the leader in both touchdowns and receiving yards, Kobe Hudson is #2 in both touchdowns and receiving yards, and Shedrick Jackson is #3 in both touchdowns and receiving yards.

Though no one would rush to call them a ‘Big 3’, their performance has been a surprising development in 2021.

That said, it’s John Samuel Shenker that elevates this passing game to a whole new level due to the sheer novelty of a tight end having as much success as he is having this season.

During A-Day, the use of tight ends was celebrated, but few Tiger fans could have seen Shenker being so indispensable in this offense. His five catches (good for an Auburn game-high102 yards) against LSU were the most timely of his career. He also had five catches and 62 yards against Penn State. The highest amount of pass catches from tight ends (combined) in any single game in 2020 was four.

Shenker is doing things in this Tigers offense that were previously unthinkable under Gus Malzahn’s archaic offensive schemes. Credit to Bryan Harsin and TE coach Brad Bedell for leading this group–with Shenker as its undisputed leader–to new heights.