Hugh Freeze excited about Auburn wideout group after offseason talent infusion

Auburn brought in a bumper of crop of talented receivers this offseason, either via the transfer portal or in high school recruiting. And as such, head coach Hugh Freeze has high hopes, especially for the talented freshmen.

That group of freshmen wideouts was arguably the best collection in the 2024 signing class, with the likes of Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, Bryce Cain and Malcolm Simmons joining the fold. But Freeze doesn’t want to overload the young talent, either, even if they might be critical to Auburn’s success.

“They look the right part and they’re going to be critical into our success,” Freeze said. “We’ve gotta stay balanced, you’ve gotta run the football in this league. But you have to be able to have guys that can give the quarterback confidence that they can win in a one on one situation and I think we’re much closer to that with those guys coming to our roster.”

The Auburn wide receiver room wasn’t just overhauled with freshmen, too.

Freeze and Co. sought out a number of top transfer wideouts, headlined by KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who is joined by Robert Lewis and Sam Jackson. He as excited about what they can bring as he is about the freshman, and especially both the groups blending their talents and experience together.

“Excited about the upgrades to that room, whether it’s in the transfer world with Dre [Keandre Lambert-Smith] and Robert Lewis and Sam Jackson and obviously, we felt like maybe we had the top wide receiver class in the country with Cam and Perry and Bryce and Malcolm,” Freeze said. “Cam was able to be there and go through spring so, you know, obviously we’ve had more time with him. Payton’s had more time with him. And we were very excited and thrilled with what we saw and he’s going to have to play and I think the others have the capacity to do the same.”

Freeze wants to make life easier for his quarterback

As Auburn heads into its second season under Freeze, the head man is promising that his offense will look significantly different as he opens things up more for quarterback Payton Thorne.

Thorne was fairly limited in scope last year, and it was somewhat apparent.

The goal this year is to have the offense firing on all cylinders as Thorne continues to grow more comfortable within the offensive scheme. Freeze broke down how he hopes to make life easier on Thorne.

“The RPO game, No. 1, we have to run the football,” Freeze said. “We were pretty decent, I think third or fourth in the conference last year in rushing. I love our backs. I like our tight ends, I think our O-line has some maturity to it. So obviously if you run the football you can stay out of third-and-longs. But it’s foolish for us to think that every first down is going to be an ideal box to run the ball against. So Payton has to make the correct decisions on how do you control that extra guy.”

Decision-making will be a big theme for Auburn this year. The quarterbacks the last few years have not been great in that regard.

Cutting down on turnover rate is a big focus, for sure. But there are also more simple calculations the quarterback will have to make that can make life easier on Thorne and company.

“Is it a me-me call and the back is off and he’s taking it and we are throwing the dadgummed RPO?” Freeze said. “Is it I like the run and I can handle it just by reading him? Or do I need to send the whole O-line to him? So it’s my job and we didn’t do all that last year, and that’s the world I’m from. It’s mine and Kent (Austin)‘s job to make sure he understands that that down and distance matters. If it’s third-and-1, don’t you me-me this danged thing. Let’s find another way to control it and get the first down and move the chains.”