Auburn football: Team needs and transfer portal wishlist

Wide receiver

Hugh Freeze got his quarterback from the portal last season, and now it’s time to get him some weapons. Auburn brought in Shane Hooks, Jyaire Shorter, Caleb Burton, and Nick Mardner from the transfer portal last offseason, but none of those receivers elevated themselves to a prominent role in Freeze’s offense.

Now, Hooks and Mardner are out of eligibility, Shorter is in the portal again, and so is Malcolm Johnson Jr. That leaves Ja’Varrius Johnson, Jay Fair, and Caleb Burton, who combined for 60 catches last year. That’s simply not enough production on the outside for Payton Thorne to succeed against SEC defenses, even with tight end Rivaldo Fairweather leading the team in receiving yards.

Freeze is bringing in two five-star wide receivers, Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson as part of the 2024 recruiting class, but the Tigers desperately need a veteran presence for next season.

Ohio State receiver Julian Fleming is the perfect veteran presence for the Tigers to add. In 2022, Fleming had 34 catches for 533 yards and six touchdowns, but that was with CJ Stroud at quarterback. Under Kyle McCord’s watch, he regressed to 270 yards on 26 grabs.

The talent as a playmaker and pass catcher is certainly there, but in his limited role, he developed into a very strong run blocker. That’s not just a very valuable skill on its own, it will make Fleming a great role model for Auburn’s two five-star freshmen.

Oh, and the last underachieving Ohio State wide receiver to transfer to a school in Alabama went for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns on 79 catches in a single season. That was Jameson Williams in 2021 at Alabama.

There aren’t a lot of bright spots in Nashville, but Will Sheppard is probably the brightest among them. His teammate, fellow wide receiver London Humphreys already left for Georgia in the portal, but Sheppard was the one who led the team in catches and receiving yards with 47 for 684 and eight touchdowns.

He’s a true outside receiver with good size at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. For the 2023 season, with questionable quarterback play, he averaged 1.90 yards per route run and brought in 14 contest catches.

There are a few mid-major players who were highly productive at lower levels that Auburn could target, but those players, like Coleman and Thompson, will have a learning curve, and Thorne desperately needs a talented player who will hit the ground running. That could be Notre Dame’s leading receiver Chris Tyree, as a graduate transfer.

Tyree averaged 18.6 yards per reception with 484 yards on 26 catches. He averaged 2.93 yards per route run, and an impressive 8.9 yards after the catch per reception. The only issue is that Tyree plays exclusively from the slot, which is where Jay Fair led Auburn in receptions from in 2023.