After a few relatively small dominos tumbled, change in Auburn’s wide receiver room slowly tipped closer to the big one falling. Players who hadn’t been particularly productive — wide receivers Omari Kelly, Jyaire Shorter and Malcolm Johnson Jr. — all entered the portal in losses that more than anything bit into Auburn’s depth, albeit not doing much for the overall picture.

Then, news broke that Ja’Varrius Johnson would put his name in the portal. That’s the big domino.

Johnson’s transfer is the final piece in what will now look to be a complete reset in Auburn’s wide receiver room.

And it’s a necessary one.

Johnson has been Auburn’s leading receiver by yards each of the last two seasons. But he only needed 347 yards to achieve that distinction this year and slightly better with 493 in 2022.

Often, Auburn’s maligned quarterback play could be traced to a root cause of an ineffective wide receiver room. Only three Auburn receivers had double-digit catches. Only three Auburn receivers caught a touchdown.

At no point in the 2023 season did any wide receiver become a go-to option for whichever quarterback — be it Thorne or the now-set-to-transfer Robby Ashford — was in the game at a given time. Against Georgia this year, Thorne only had nine incompletions, but six of them hit the hands of his receiver.

It all leads to a wide receiver room that only has four returning players. Those four are Koy Moore, Jay Fair, Camden Brown and Caleb Burton. Jay Fair was wildly more productive than the rest of that group. He had more catches, yards and touchdowns than the other three combined.

As Auburn’s incoming class stands currently, head coach Hugh Freeze is expecting to bring in five freshmen and transfers.

That group currently stands as Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis who had 877 yards on 70 catches last season, five-star recruits Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson as well as four-star recruits Malcolm Simmons and Bryce Cain.

Coleman and Thompson alone give Auburn the best recruiting class in school history. Auburn flipped both, Coleman from Texas A&M and Thompson from Alabama. Landing the two highly-rated receivers showcases Auburn not just as a powerful figure for in-state recruiting again, but also legitimizes Auburn’s significantly improved recruiting under Freeze. Auburn’s current 2024 class is ranked No. 11 in the country.

And Auburn continues to push for five-star Alabama commit Ryan Williams. It would complete a potential freshman group that has been referred to as the “Freeze 5.”

Freeze addressed a need to reshape his receiver group before the 2023 season even began. Freeze was not shy about stating his roster wasn’t as well equipped to compete in the SEC as others with stronger recruiting build-ups in recent seasons.

Auburn isn’t a place known for great passing games, but that’s what Freeze wants to eventually bring. The last time Auburn had a wide receiver hit the 1,000-yard mark was Ronney Daniels in 1999. Auburn has only had two wide receivers get that milestone program history.

“Yeah, we desperately have got to get to that point,” Freeze said in an Aug. 17 press conference. “I mean, I don’t know the last time Auburn had a 1,000-yard receiver. I don’t. It’s been over a decade, I think. That’s shocking to me. I’ve had very few years where I didn’t have one who was at least close to 1,000, if not over 1,000.”

Turns out no one even came close in 2023. Auburn’s leading receiver was tight end Rivaldo Fairweather with 349 yards.

Be it bad quarterback play or a group of wide receivers that weren’t doing their end of the deal, this was time for a reset. Johnson’s impending transfer is just the official pass of the baton. The answer for wide receiver improvement wasn’t on Auburn’s roster in 2023.

So it took bringing in new faces.

“And I hope every recruit that I’m recruiting for receiver is listening to me,” Freeze said later in the Aug. 17 press conference. “We’ve got to change that here, and you’ve gotta change that through recruiting. Those receivers are a priority for us, the ones that are coming into the ‘24 and ‘25 class.”

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