Last year, tight end John Samuel Shenker set Auburn receiving records during Bryan Harsin's first season with the Tigers.
The biggest reason? The offense actually utilized the position.
During the Gus Malzahn era a portion of the Auburn fanbase became increasingly frustrated over the lack of production out of the tight end position. It took one season of Bryan Harsin's offense to completely change that.
In fact, having more than one tight end on the field became relatively common.
The best part for Shenker and the rest of the tight end room is the fact that nothing is going to change offensively this season. It is the first time in four years that the playbook has not changed after one season. Underneath the same offense, Shenker will look to attempt to reproduce and improve his numbers from a season ago.
"It's huge," Shenker told Zac Blackerby on the Locked On Auburn Podcast. "It's huge for the guys on the offensive side, because now you can really hone in on the details, when it used to be you were just trying to survive and know the plays and know where to line up and things like that because there's so much in a playbook."
With Auburn's wide receiver room being relatively inexperienced, the offense may need the tight ends to step up, not just Shenker.
"In the tight end room, we're very detail oriented now," Shenker said. "We know our assignments, now it's really about the details and making sure we win every play... That's part of being a tight end in this offense, is you have to know everything. I think it's a pretty cool opportunity, because then you can be another quarterback on the field for guys that may not know where to line up on certain plays... we like to think of ourselves as another quarterback on the field."
Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!
Follow Auburn Daily on Twitter
More must-reads: