Auburn continued to revamp their passing game with another transfer gate wide receiver.
Former North Texas wide receiver Jyaire Shorter announced his commitment to Auburn on Tuesday afternoon. Shorter, entering his sixth college season, is expected to have one year of eligibility remaining with Hugh Freeze’s program.
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Shorter, rated four stars by 247Sports transfer rankings, is the second wide receiver to join the Tigers since spring training ended. Auburn recently added a commitment from former Ohio State wide receiver Caleb Burton, a unique four-star rookie from Texas powerhouse Lake Travis High who made a redshirt last season in a stacked wide reception room for the Buckeyes.
Shorter brings more experience to Auburn’s wide receivers room ahead of Freeze’s first season as head coach. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound player was the second-best receiver in North Texas last season, catching 23 passes for 628 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 27.3 yards per reception. Shorter’s 11 receiving touchdowns were tied for seventh among FBS receivers last season, while his 27.3 yards per catch were among the most in college football during the 2022 season.
A former three-star recruit to the Class of 2018 from Killeen, Texas, Shorter has made 24 starts in 31 appearances for the Mean Green. He wore a red shirt in 2018 despite playing just one game that season before landing a catcher job in 2019. That year, Shorter caught 24 passes for 473 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 19.3 yards per reception. He has appeared in just five games in total between 2020 and 2021, missing swathes of time due to two separate injuries. Shorter made a comeback last season, when he had the best individual season of his career and earned All-Conference USA honorable mention from the league’s coaches.
Shorter is now the third transfer addition to Auburn’s wide receiver room since Freeze, offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery and wide receiver coach Marcus Davis took over in the offseason. Along with the recent addition of Burton, Auburn signed Cincinnati transfer Nick Mardner in the first transfer window.
After Freeze expressed disappointment with the progress of Auburn’s passing game in spring training, the Tigers have been working to improve some aspects of it this offseason through the Portal. Not only have the Tigers added a pair of talented wide receivers, but the program has also added former Michigan State starting quarterback Payton Thorne, who will compete with Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner for the starting job at the fall camp.
Tom Green is an Auburn Beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
