Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said Friday when Williams was allowed to return to active status on the roster that the senior wide receiver was “in the process of every day earning his teammates’ and his coaches’ respect”. But that doesn’t mean everything is back to normal on the Plains.
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Does Duke Williams need Auburn more than Auburn needs Duke Williams?
Auburn begins with a September 5 matchup against Louisville in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, followed by Jacksonville State, a trip to LSU and Mississippi State.
Williams, who arrived at Auburn last year as a JUCO transfer, led the Tigers in receiving in 2014 with 45 receptions for 730 yards and five touchdowns, despite missing a pair of games with a sprained knee.
On Saturday, Malzahn updated the situation by saying “nobody is bigger than the team around here” when asked why Williams wasn’t practicing, but didn’t give any further explanation for his absence from the team.
There are the obvious knowns: Ricardo Louis, Melvin Ray, and Marcus Davis. Tony Stevens, who backed up Coates last season, has played a number of roles during the offseason.
While Williams represents a major chunk of Auburn’s passing attack, he can’t do it alone.
This is not Williams’ first bout with discipline issues.
More first-team reps for players such as Ray, Stevens, Burton and Slayton should be extremely valuable for the offense throughout the rest of fall camp.
You don’t always get to hear much from Auburn’s assistant football coaches, but on Friday, they got a chance to speak at the assistant’s round table. “He just is. To pretend otherwise is folly”. “If he’s doing things the way we want them to do it, he will (play)”.
Malzahn did note that Williams would start at the bottom of the depth chart. Along with a new starting quarterback, the Tigers would have been tasked with replacing their top three receivers and their top three rushers had Williams been kicked off the team.
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Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report.
