Auburn football: The current state of the wide receivers room

With the offseason officially here, the transfer portal is overflowing with college football players from all over the country looking for a new program. Auburn football saw its fair share of departures from OL Tashawn Manning to RB Shaun Shivers to QB Bo Nix, key players from all over the roster called it quits in orange and blue.

The Tigers were already going to lose one of their most productive receivers in grad transfer Demetris Robertson, who had just one year of eligibility left and finished as the Tigers’ third-leading receiver. The next blow came when Kobe Hudson–Auburn’s leading receiver with 44 catches on the season— announced that he would be entering the transfer portal after allegedly being kicked off the team.

Fortunately, Auburn football wide receiver Shedrick Jackson confirmed today that he will return for a fifth season with the Tigers. The second-best receiver on the team in 2021, Jackson finished the season with 40 catches for 527 yards and one touchdown.

Returning one of the top three receivers is a win for Auburn football, but it’s now likely that Bryan Harsin and Eric Kiesau will be looking to the transfer portal to add to the ranks of Ja’Varrius Johnson, Malcolm Johnson Jr., and Ze’Vian Capers. Though the trio of receivers was somewhat productive last season, the running backs and tight ends usually caught more passes.

Though the Tigers have signed talented wide receivers to the recruiting class of 2022 in Omari Kelly and Jay Fair, there’s no doubt that Kiesau’s group will need more experience and Shedrick Jackson will be an invaluable leader for the coaching staff.

As things stand right now, we should expect Auburn football to be recruiting wide receivers out of the transfer portal for 2022.