It feels like there isn't enough buzz around Malcolm Simmons...

...and that's a shame, considering the rising sophomore was one of the most efficient wide receivers in the entire SEC last season. Here's how.

(Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — For the first time in a long time — or maybe ever — the best position group on an Auburn football team heading into a season looks like it’s wide receiver.

Every Auburn fan knows the history, or lack thereof, by now.

The Tigers have only had two 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the history of the program.

The player who holds commanding leads for the career receiving yardage and touchdowns records last played in 1971.

The only Auburn receiver to make a Pro Bowl in the NFL last did so in 1962, when the position was still called an “end.”

Hugh Freeze wanted to change this soon after he arrived on the Plains. After all, he turned Ole Miss into a factory of future standout pro talent at wide receiver. The production at the position was a huge reason why he succeeded with the Rebels — and was a huge reason why he got a second chance in the SEC years later.

Freeze’s first full signing class at Auburn was headlined by a blue-chip quartet of in-state wide receivers. Cam Coleman, the highest-rated offensive signee in program history, was the standout star there. But Freeze wanted to reinforce the room with even more talent, so the staff landed a top wide receiver transfer in the form of Penn State’s KeAndre Lambert-Smith.

Coleman looked like a future superstar, particularly in the final three weeks of the regular season, when he led the nation in receiving touchdowns. Lambert-Smith nearly became the third member of that elusive 1,000-yard club at Auburn, putting together one of the most efficient seasons out wide in the program’s modern era.

This, of course, happened with inconsistent-at-best play from a Tigers’ offense that struggled to score in a disappointing 5-7 season.

Heading into the fall, Coleman is being talked about as a potential household name. He’s joined by Auburn’s second big-name push at wide receiver in the transfer portal: Georgia Tech’s Eric Singleton Jr., one of the nation’s top returning pieces when it comes to career receiving yards.

Together, the preseason hype is quite high. Pro Football Focus declared Auburn as having the second-best receiving room in the country earlier this offseason, trailing only defending national champion Ohio State — which had the only wideout rated higher than Coleman in the 2024 class, Jeremiah Smith.

The past production and pro potential of both Coleman and Singleton justify this hype. They’re the duo that has people projecting a turnaround season for Auburn in 2025, specifically when it comes to the overall offensive success that has held the program back during this streak of losing seasons.

But it feels like the hype train is forgetting one crucial passenger: Malcolm Simmons.

“Malcolm looks like a different guy,” Freeze said this spring.

And he’s not just talking about his new jersey number.