Auburn wants rotation at the wide receiver position. And its gotten that. But there comes a point where rotation may mean ineffectiveness.

Through two games, Auburn may be getting that, too.

Auburn has five wide receivers listed as starters, but only four total wide receivers have a catch. Auburn quarterbacks have completed 24 passes over two games and seven players have catches. But two players — Jay Fair and Ja’Varrius Johnson — make up more than half the receptions.

Two of the wide receivers Auburn lists as starters — Jyaire Shorter and Omari Kelly — don’t have catches at all.

Here’s the thing: This isn’t necessarily a new problem for Auburn. It’s been well documented that Auburn only has two 1,000-yard receivers in the school’s history. For a program so nationally known for running the ball, it’s hard to find many truly go-to receivers in this program’s past.

But this is a different offense. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is prioritizing the running game because Auburn has such a deep running back room. But Freeze is known for developing quarterbacks and the passing offenses his teams have had. Not being able to throw the ball is an anomaly.

Freeze has talked this week about re-evaluating Auburn’s changes at quarterback. All three of Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner have seen playing time this year — albeit Geriner’s largely in mop-up duty with Auburn out to a comfortable lead over UMass in Week 1.

None have gotten help from wide receivers.

“We haven’t proven we can do it yet,” Freeze said of his wide receivers. “Until you do, we’ve got to prove we can win some one-on-ones, and get the right balls to them. We’ve got to improve that room; I’ve said that since I got here. That’s still the case.”

While Freeze and players have spoken about the potential of Auburn’s wide receivers, there have been clear issues for the position group throughout the preseason. Freeze called out his wide receivers for lining up wrong in the team’s first two scrimmages, for “loafing” on the field and not giving the type of consistent effort he hoped for. He specifically mentioned starting receiver Shane Hooks.

Freeze held out hope because he envisioned between eight-to-nine receivers providing contributions. In reality, it’s only been two so far.

The problems continued into the season with receivers struggling to get open. The only two receivers who have been productive have been Jay Fair and Ja’Varrius Johnson.

Johnson was Auburn’s leading receiver last year, but had fewer than 500 yards for the season. Fair was among the biggest risers on Auburn’s roster during fall camp, and so far he has delivered. He leads Auburn in both catches (7) and yards (81). Fair has scored in each of Auburn’s first two games.

But neither Fair or Johnson are able to play on the outside. Auburn hasn’t necessarily used them on the field at the same time because they have similar skill sets, but Freeze said that may have to change.

“I said they needed to get more touches,” Freeze said. “Does that look like them playing more at the same time? Maybe. We’ve got to figure that out this week for sure — or today.”

That doesn’t preclude Auburn’s desire to find a receiver who can win on the outside. That was supposed to be Shane Hooks, a transfer from Jackson State. That hasn’t happened yet.

Hooks has two total catches this year. He changed his number from 11 to 3 before Auburn played, Cal, that didn’t change his struggles from playing UMass.

Auburn tried to take shots downfield in the abysmal offensive display against Cal. But the receiver play was a key reason why that didn’t work.

“But there were times that we, I thought, early in the game I know we had one real shot and we read a different side of the field,” Freeze said. “And then our receivers didn’t win a few of the others that were called. They were in man coverage quite a bit and they won some of those battles on us.

It’s all why through two games Auburn, the three quarterbacks combined don’t have 300 total passing yards yet.

Are any of these receivers going to break the 1,000-yard receiver drought? Unlikely. But if Payton Thorne is going to cement himself as the only quarterback to consistently throw the ball, he’ll need some help.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]