AU FOOTBALL: Trooper Taylor, WRs focused on future

Through the wisecracks and unique phrases, Trooper Taylor has repeatedly tried to send a message about this year’s group of wide receivers.

He’s read the news clippings, scoped out the message boards and has heard all about how the Tigers lack playmakers, specifically at the position he supervises.

All that information has been classified as “B.T.T.,” Taylor said.

“Before Troop Time.”

“They’ve been beat up. They’ve been beat up by the media, and deservedly so I guess,” Taylor said. “From here on out, we’re not going that route. We’re going to finish, we’re going to finish on top and you can put that in the book that we’ll finish out on top. I can guarantee
that.”

Taylor has wiped away last year’s depth chart and started fresh with this year’s group. And in the early goings on it’s been apparent, as names such as Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery have emerged as realistic noisemakers in the coming season.

There really is nowhere to go but up for the group. Years don’t get as down as 2008 was for Auburn’s sparsely used wideouts.

The Tigers’ lone source of consistency from last season, Rod Smith, is gone and graduated — and even his performance (30 catches, 332 yards) was near his worst for his career. Montez Billings (24, 277) and Tim Hawthorne (8, 203) are the lone returning receivers who
notched more than 100 receiving yards.

Chris Slaughter, who showed flashes of potential in an eight-catch, 131-yard performance at Ole Miss, but still finished with just 179 yards in 2008, left the team shortly after Tommy Tuberville’s resignation.

So, in response, Taylor has thrown all past convictions out the window and focused on the basics.

“You have to get what you emphasize,” Taylor said. “What they do with the ball after the catch, that’s why you sign them. That’s called NLI — National Letter of Intent. But teaching the fundamentals, how to take care of the football, how to practice, how to win, and try to practice like a game. That’s what I am trying to emphasize out there.”

Before practice even began, though, the focus was confidence — something Taylor said the unit severely lacked heading into camp.

After Saturday’s scrimmage, Taylor wasn’t focused on the big catches made by Zachery and Ralph Spry Jr. He was more enamored with the chatter in between plays.

“If you take the fun out of the game, the kids shouldn’t play,” Taylor said. “We’re pushing them, we’re pushing them, but they were still encouraging each other, and that is big. When we first started, it wasn’t that way.”

Of Auburn’s new assistants, Taylor has been more candid than most when it comes to discussing his group.

Hawthorne, a 6-foot-3, 214-pound junior, appears to have emerged as a top contender for one of two spots at the X receiver spot — known as the “nine” in Gus Malzahn’s offense.

“He’s trying to be more physical,” Taylor said. “His body demeanor has changed some where you can see there’s a little more confidence. I really like the way that he’s working with the group, going out there and making some plays.”

Hawthorne’s cohort at the X, at the moment, is Quindarius Carr. Carr is more of a work in progress than Hawthorne, as he caught just six passes for 63 yards in his true freshman season.

Taylor said Carr looks the part of an SEC-caliber receiver, but …

“Right now, he’s like a limo without gas,” Taylor said. “He looks good and I can’t ride him. So I need him to go ahead and get some gas in his tank and go. But it’s not because he doesn’t want to. He wants to do everything 100 miles per hour, but doesn’t have all his body
going in the same direction.”

Billings has yet to practice this spring, out with an unknown injury. He stood by Taylor’s side during Sunday’s open portion of practice in a jersey and sweatpants.

“I’d like him to go full speed,” Taylor said. “Until he can go full speed, it’s hard to evaluate him. Again guys, it’s not personal, but I can only evaluate those guys who step between the white lines.”

The same goes for Philip Pierre-Louis, who is still nursing the torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered to open the 2008 season. In practice Sunday, Pierre-Louis was noticeably gimpy and still wearing an orange, non-contact jersey.

Pierre-Louis will likely not face contact the rest of spring and it’s unknown if he will be 100 percent for fall drills.

“I haven’t been able to see him make a cut or make a play yet,” Taylor said. “He better get healthy because, it’s not personal, but you can’t make the club in the tub.”

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