Auburn’s 2023 Position Battles: Slot Wide Receivers

Who will Auburn football start at slot wide receiver in 2023?

With the festivities of Big Cat Weekend and the beginning of Fall practice quickly approaching us, we will delve one more final time into the important position battles soon to commence on the plains. Keeping our focus still locked on the Tigers wide receiver room, we will look this time at who will possibly compete for those coveted starting reps at slot receiver for Auburn football this upcoming 2023 season?

As mentioned in the previous installment of this article series, Coach Hugh Freeze & Co. have paid careful attention to addressing significant areas of need along the roster. The wide receiver room being one on the list has seen a lot of changes since November of last year, with the addition of a new position coach in Marcus Davis and several new faces being added via the transfer portal.

The Auburn offensive coaching staff have expressed frequently the plan to move the ball through the air more consistently this upcoming season, and a competent and skillful receiver unit will be necessary to accomplish this lofty task. With this being said, we will line out 6 possible contenders to earn starting slot receiver reps for Auburn football this upcoming 2023 season and conclude our 2023 position battles series. 

The Case for Ja’Varrius Johnson:

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Heading off our cadre of highlighted talent is returning senior Ja’Varrius Johnson. The 5-foot-10, 167-pound Trussville, Alabama native has suited up at wide receiver in four seasons as an Auburn Tiger, playing in a total of 25 games producing 767 yards from 45 receptions amounting to 5 career touchdowns during his time so far on the plains. Looking to add to his stat lines this upcoming 2023 season, you can guarantee Johnson is ready and willing to put in the work necessary to earn starting reps this Fall.

Johnson is a lightning-fast wide receiver with NFL level speed. This coupled with a solid first step off the snap allows Johnson to be a deep ball threat from the slot receiver position. Ja’Varrius is a physical player and has proven to be difficult to tackle in the open field due to his size and agility. 

He is a sure handed receiver and will look to prove that this upcoming season especially with an improved passing attack. Look for Johnson’s name to mentioned quite a bit in the upcoming weeks as a prime candidate to start at slot receiver for the Auburn Tigers in 2023. 

The Case for Koy Moore:

© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Next on the list of potential slot receiver starters is returning junior plainsman, Koy Moore. Moore committed to the Auburn Tigers by way of the transfer portal in June of 2022 after leaving Coach Bryan Kelly and the LSU Tigers for greener pastures. The 6-foot-1, 198-pound wide receiver hails from Kenner, Louisiana and has appeared in 28 collegiate games so far. Moore has recorded some respectable stats during his three seasons of play posting roughly 562 total yards out of 47 receptions amounting to a singular touchdown.

Looking to also increase his stat lines this season, Moore will also most assuredly be laced up ready to play come Fall practice beginning in August. Koy is a quick footed receiver with a strong first step off the snap. He is a physical player; however, he could look to be more so off the ball utilizing his size to lay down solid blocks down field when necessary.

Moore has decent top-end speed and can put separation between himself and defenders. Provided Moore is able to remain healthy the Auburn fanbase should expect to hear his name frequently called this upcoming 2023 season as he makes his case as a solid producer for Auburn football. 

The Case for Jay Fair:

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Third upon our listing of potential starting slot receiver talent is returning sophomore Jay Fair. The 5-foot-10, 186-pound Rockwall, Texas native joined the Auburn roster with the high school recruiting class of 2022 as a consensus 3-star wide receiver. During his inaugural season on the plains Fair appeared in 9 total games producing 34 yards from 2 receptions.

Fair describes himself as a shifty receiver possessing the agility needed to lose defenders after the catch. Jay has solid hands when targeted and decent top end speed to gain separation from pursuing defenders. He is a young receiver with several years of eligibility left to play on the college grid iron.

The Auburn fanbase should keep their ears tuned in for news of this young man’s development as the season progresses on into the winter months. I expect his name to be called more than a few times this upcoming season putting in quality rotational reps with the receiving core.  

The Case for Omari Kelly:

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

The next contender vying for meaningful starting reps this upcoming 2023 season is returning sophomore Omari Kelly. The 6-foot, 178-pound Trussville, Alabama native also committed to Auburn with the high school recruiting class of 2022 as a highly heralded consensus 4-star. Kelly appeared in 12 games during his inaugural season with the Tigers putting up 56 receiving yards off of three catches.

Omari is a decent sized young man with several years of eligibility remaining to further develop his craft. Kelly is a fast sure handed receiver who is a competent route runner. I believe that with the right coaching this young man could soon step into a solid leadership role within the wide receiver room as a newly minted veteran. Look for Omari Kelly to present his case this Fall camp for meaningful rotational reps this upcoming 2023 season.

The Case for anyone else on the roster:

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Considering the depth of the roster at the wide receiver position especially after such an extensive roster adjustment, it is nearly impossible to highlight everyone with meaningful commentary. However, there are two additional players worth mentioning in regard to the slot receiver position battle, Caleb Burton III and Will Upton.

Caleb Burton III comes to the plains by way of the 2023 transfer portal from Ohio State University. The 5-foot-11, 171-pound redshirt freshman did not appear in any games for the Buckeyes due to an injury, however he still remained high on their recruiting list. Provided this young man’s injury has mended properly the Auburn coaching staff could greatly benefit from playing him this upcoming season.

Burton is an extremely fast wide receiver with the ability to make hard cutbacks during pursuit making him exceedingly difficult to tackle in the open field. He is explosive off the snap and has great field vision and hands to secure the catch in traffic. Barring reaggravation of his injury Burton should prove to be an exciting player to watch this upcoming 2023 season.

Will Upton is a newly minted plainsman having arrived with the 2023 high school recruiting class. This young man has slid under the media radar despite having an extremely successful senior season under former Ole Miss staffer Coach Doug Goodwin at Jackson Prep in Jackson, Mississippi. The 5-foot-9, 177-pound wideout is built perfectly for the jet sweep play options likely to be up the sleeves of both Coach Hugh Freeze and Coach Phillip Montgomery.

I believe this young man’s size gives him the ability to be lost by the defense to pop out of the backfield like a rocket to earn some decent yardage. I am looking forward to seeing how this young man fits within the offensive scheme as his collegiate career progresses on the plains. 

The Auburn fanbase has numerous reasons to be excited for football to begin on the plains this 2023 season with the wide receiver room only being one of them. It will be exciting to see how far this coaching staff can take these young men, and I am anxiously awaiting the journey.

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