Thrughout the last month of the football season, that wonder has come up on a number of occasions of when and how the Auburn Tigers offense was going to begin moving the ball down the field.
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While the Tigers are currently ranked in the middle of the pack of the SEC in some areas, one spot sounding alarm bells is that they are ranked 14th in average passing yards per game. In essence, it means they are not finding receivers for chunk gains.
One player that could be helping Auburn get towards that goal, even in the future, is a young guy in Christian Neptune, who has made strides of improvement as of late.
Neptune, one of the handful of wide receivers who followed Alex Golesh to the Plains from USF, has not had a massive role in the offensive gameplan as a sophomore, arguably a smaller one than when he was a freshman in Tampa. However, as of the last few games, his role has increased, and he has taken advantage of it.
That was especially apparent in the Tigers’ game against Ole Miss to finish October, a game where Neptune’s performance was truly noticed by Golesh.
“I thought Nep played the most confident and most complete game that he has played, both in the blocking side of it and then obviously with the ball in his hands,” Golesh said in a Nov 2 press conference. “I thought he looked confident, thought he looked strong. And he's played a ton of football. This is a great time for him to feel that way and play that way.”
Through the first seven games of the 2026 season, Neptune had tallied seven receptions for 39 yards. In the last two games against Ole Miss and Arkansas, he has taken up 11 catches for 86 yards.
Some of that production has been largely due to the fact that Jeremiah Koger has been sidelined with injury. The other part of it though is that Neptune has earned his increased on the field.
Offensive Coordinator Joel Gordon touted his consistency and willingness to improve, pointing to those traits as a big reason for his bigger part in the scheming.
“He just keeps getting better,” Gordon said. “He’s practicing with great intent. Anytime you can do that and you really care about getting better every day, you’re going to get better. The ball will find you. That’s just the way that it goes. You work hard, you know what you’re supposed to do, you’re where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there, the ball will find you as a wide receiver.”
Gordon continued on by stating that Neptune’s consistency helps the quarterbacks when they are looking for receivers to throw the ball to in practice and in games.
The work Neptune has put in during practice has now allowed him to step up in critical moments.
“He’s been a guy that has been just steadily improving,” Gordon said. “For the quarterbacks, if you’ve got guys that are consistent, you’re going to look for them. That’s the way it goes. When you’ve got those guys out there on the field you can trust, you’re going to look for them in those critical moments. That has been really good the last couple of weeks just to see him keep taking steps. It all starts with practice.”
No matter what kind of performance he is putting on the field at this very moment, Gordon knows that Neptune is still a young player with room to grow.
However, him being a sophomore has been what has been impressive with the product he has displayed. As a result, he’ll continue earning time as long he maintains what he does.
“He’s still a young player,” Gordon said. “This is year two for him. He’s been growing every single week. We expect him to continue to do that. He puts in the time and the work. He cares a ton about it. He’s in the building all the time. He’s easy to communicate with. He’s exactly what we’re looking for just in terms of a teammate and a player that makes it easy to coach. He wants to be coached. That’s a huge deal.”
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
