Gus Malzahn: Depth at receiver best in past five years

DOTHAN – The Tigers have more weapons to utilize in the passing game than at any time in at least the past five years.

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said his receiving corps, which added junior college transfer D'haquille Williams and returns all players from last season except Trovon Reed, who moved to cornerback, is the deepest it's been during any of his years on the Plains.

"I think we have more depth at the wide receiver position than any of the three years I was here before (as offensive coordinator from 2009-11)," Malzahn said during his Wiregrass Regional Tiger Trek stop at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds on Wednesday night. "That's a good thing. We've not made any decisions past that, but the good thing is we have a lot of options. We moved some people around we tried to figure out what their strengths were and we tried to develop some depth thinking specifically for next fall and we've got a lot of good options."

Sammie Coates led Auburn with 42 receptions for 902 yards and seven touchdowns last season, giving him the seventh most productive year ever by an Auburn wide receiver.

Ricardo Louis (28 receptions for 325 yards and two touchdowns), Marcus Davis (23 receptions for 217 yards and a touchdown) and Quan Bray (23 receptions for 195 yards and three touchdowns) all made their share of plays, but were not nearly as productive as Coates.

With the addition of Williams, the top junior college prospect in the country last year, and Nick Marshall returning for a second season, the hope is for Auburn to be a much more prolific passing attack than last season, when the Tigers ranked 106th in passing yards per game (173).

Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee called the increase in size, speed and depth at wide out "a good problem" compared to last spring when the Tigers had just six scholarship receivers.

Auburn last had multiple 500-yard receivers during the 2010 BCS National Championship season, with Darvin Adams (52 catches for 963 yards), Terrell Zachery (43 catches for 605 yards) and Emory Blake (33 catches for 54 yards). There have only been two 1,000-yard receiving seasons in program history, the last coming by Ronney Daniels (56 catches for 1,068 yards) 1999.

That could all change in the fall, as Marshall believes the Auburn offense can be "real scary" and is more confident in his receivers after spending off time working with them individually.

The coaching staff hopes Marshall can have a season similar to Ryan Aplin's 2012 year at Arkansas State, with an increase in completion percentage and touchdowns and lower interceptions.

The 6-foot-2 216 pound Williams had the most productive performance among the receivers on A-Day, with five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. He showed some good field awareness on his three-yard scoring grab on a nice back-shoulder toss from Marshall by keeping both his feet in bounds.

Malzahn is still open to playing Williams, who was not available for interviews this spring, at any of the receiver roles.

"I think he's got the ability to move around and play all the positions," Malzahn said. "We moved him around and he's picked things up quick. He's a guy that really wants the ball and can do something with it once he catches it."

The spring was the first step in the process to becoming a more potent aerial attack but there's still a lot of time before things start counting.

"We got better in the spring but we still have a long way to go," Coates said. "We still have to prove a point."