With the month of August came the Malcolm Simmons Experience at Auburn.

Simmons, a four-star wide receiver out of Alexander City’s Benjamin Russell High School, missed spring camp after not electing to enroll early — but for good reason.

Before turning the page to college football, Simmons went on to add some hardware to his trophy case as he capped off his high school track and field career with an AHSAA title in both the high jump and long jump.

With those pair of wins, Simmons left high school having been a three-time long jump state champion and a two-time high jump state champion.

Ask those around Auburn’s football facility and they’ll tell you a track-influenced Simmons was worth the wait.

“Malcolm Simmons is super explosive with all the track stuff that he did,” Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis said. “You can kind of see it on film, and you can kind of see it when he’s out there playing as well.”

Coming in alongside the likes of guys like five-star Cam Coleman and five-star Perry Thompson, Simmons, in ways, flew under the radar.

Auburn tight end Rivaldo Fairweather said it himself.

“Malcolm, he’s actually good, too. He’s a sleeper,” Fairweather said.

While everyone was itching to learn how Thompson was faring during his first few practices and what kind of jump Coleman had made from the spring to the fall, it felt as though Simmons’ name was brought up just as often.

“He’s running past everybody. Anybody, he’s going to run past,” said Auburn wide receiver Sam Jackson V. “He’s extremely fast and has a lot of passion for the game.”

During his senior campaign at Benjamin Russell, Simmons was a do-it-all player on a team that went 10-3 in 2023.

Simmons led his team in receptions by a landslide with 60 catches for 1,279 yards and 14 touchdowns last fall — good for an average of more than 106 receiving yards per game.

Simmons also carried the football 29 times for 160 yards and eight touchdowns, while adding nearly 500 return yards on both kick return and punt return.

Given his high school experience fielding punt returns, Simmons could find himself in that role for Auburn in 2024, according to head coach Hugh Freeze.

That said, it’s possible Simmons works his way up to having a role in Auburn’s offense, too.

“We tossed Malcolm a little toss sweep in the first little red zone lockout competition from the 25-yard line and he looked like an absolute jet, and he was just untouched,” Freeze said in a recent press conference. “We didn’t have that type of weapon last year. He just loves the game and he’s coming on pretty fast.”

During Auburn’s first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, Simmons stole the show as he hauled in a pair of touchdown passes — one of which required a second-effort from the freshman after the ball was deflected off the defender.

And it’s that relentless effort that makes Simmons stand out.

“Malcolm goes 100 miles per hour every play. Some plays when you need the tempo stuff, he’s at top speed,” Davis said. “It’s great to have somebody like that — because even if he’s wrong on the play, he can make it right by his effort.”

Jackson, in a separate interview on an entirely different day, echoed the comments of Auburn’s wide receiver coach.

“If you go watch Malcolm and turn on the film, no matter what if it’s a (missed assignment) or he’s doing the right thing, he’s going 100 percent every single time,” Jackson said of Simmons. “It’s kinda crazy because older guys in the room, we used to be like that as freshman. There were sometimes, ‘I’m kinda tired this play,’ even as a freshman. But he never gets tired. Just 100 percent.”

Of course, rave reviews aside, Simmons likely still has a little ways to come before he’s a staple in the Tigers’ offense.

But plenty are confident he’ll get there.

“He’s a lightning bolt, really. He’s been moving really fast,” Auburn wide receiver Robert Lewis said of Simmons. “We just have to get him updated on, like, the technique of running a route and knowing the plays as well. The sky’s the limit for him, as well. I can’t wait to see his future.”