As the 2009 campaign came to a close, it became apparent that Auburn would enter 2010 with a true “Go to†receiver in Darvin Adams and legitimate deep threat with Terrell Zachary. This held true this past season during Auburn’s improbable National Championship run as both stepped up their games aided by the emergence of Emory Blake and do everything tight end, Phillip Lutzenkirchen. While Adams and Zachary sit in waiting for the NFL lockout to end and hopefully get their opportunities to earn a spot on an NFL roster, Auburn used the Spring to see who will step up and fill the void.
Coming into the 2011 season, Emory Blake looks to be leader of a unit that is deep in numbers but short on experience. Blake was a dynamic performer throughout 2010 and made plays on some of the biggest stages in all of college football, hopefully giving Auburn fans a glimpse of things to come. Lutzenkirchen is one of the best all around athletes in the game and seemed to make big play after big play during Auburn’s stretch run to the title. His end zone dance could use some work so Coach Trooper Taylor had Lutz enroll in a Jazz Dance class as an elective this summer. After these two, the question marks begin.
Quindarious Carr has seemingly been at Auburn since the first addition to Jordan Hare. He has yet to put up significant numbers but the senior has openly said this is his time to step up and be a leader for this squad. He will need to as he has far more experience than any of the other receivers on the roster. The highly recruited Trovon Reed has wowed the coaches with his athleticism since he arrived last year. Early on in 2010, the staff attempted to take advantage of that aspect of his game but injuries quickly shut down his season. All indications are that he will be a solid part of the rotation this season and if he lives up to the hype, Auburn may have just filled that void and then some.
Deangelo Benton is another player who was highly touted coming out of high school and if memory serves, originally committed to the other SEC Tigers before winding up on the Planes. Benton is a big, physical receiver but just hasn’t given the coaches enough to have the confidence they need to insert him into the rotation. Last year, he sat out the early part with a finger injury, causing Coach Troop to openly question his toughness. Probably more to motivate Benton than anything else. If not, his slot could be filled by incoming freshman, Sammie Coates. Coates flew under the radar for the most part, hailing from a smaller high school program but everything that has come out about this player says get ready to hear his name a lot on Saturdays. Auburn could also get help from Jaylon Denson, the physical receiver from Hoover who is as good a blocker as he is pass catcher.
Technically, Lutzenkirchen is listed as a tight end and as we have all seen, used in a variety of ways in Gus Malzahn’s offense. Look for his role to be expanded this Fall. It appears though, that back up help at that position may come from one of the incoming class as there is little or no experience on the roster. Gifted athletes, CJ Uzomah or Brandon Fulse may fit the bill there, but we will have to wait and see how they, along with all the freshmen, stand up against SEC caliber competition. The current roster shows this group as:
Trovon Reed 6’0†188
Deangelo Benton 6’2†207
Quindarious Carr 6’1†180
Dimitri Reese 5’10†170
Anderson Mack 5’11†189
Phillip Lutzenkirchen 6’4†253
Jake Drum 6’5†215
Nathan Taylor 5’10†181
Emory Blake 6’1†197
Xavier Brown 6’2†213
Corey Frederick 6’4†199
Travante Stallworth 5’9†187
Cameron Groce 6’3†227 TE
Chris Otersen 6’3†198 TE
Jaylon Denson 6’3†190
Sammie Coates 6’3†180
Brandon Fulse 6’5†252
CJ Uzomah 6’5†235
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