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Friday, September 21, 2018

Catches Yards and Departures: A Closer Look

A lot is being made, rightly so, about the departures of players from the Auburn football team. Some concern is warranted, although a closer look is needed to get to the details.

Lets first take a look at the number of catches being made so far this season. A great big THANK YOU to @AURobUSA for the graphics.

As we see from this graphic, only 7 players have received multiple receptions. The interesting thing, at least to me, is Nate Craig-Meyers only having two receptions.

There are a couple of reasons as to why Meyers had been targeted five times, yet only had two receptions. One is a decided effort by Chip Lindsey to increase the use of the H-Back and the Running Backs in the passing game. 

Meyers, along with his brother Jayvaughn have both decided to leave the program.

Another valid reason is the use of true freshmen Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz in each of the first 3 games. 

The offensive line struggling to protect Jarrett Stidham, the Auburn quarterback, is likely a factor here as well.

Let's now take a look at the total reception yards for each of these players.

Clearly, Meyers totals being near the same as the RB's is an indication he either hasn't been open during his routes, or targeted enough. 

One other factor is this coaching staff has repeatedly stated most of the younger players would get a chance to "show what they got" early in the season. 

The new Redshirt rules allow each player to play in a minimum of four games and still be able to Redshirt. The new rules also allows for players to declare they will transfer.

My guess is that we have just seen the tip of the iceberg concerning this matter. Next season we will more than likely see a much larger number of teams dealing with this issue. 

This is life in the world of college football now. Get used to it.

War Eagle!

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