A leader has emerged among Auburn's wide receivers.

Junior Ryan Davis, who had the most receptions (25) of any returning receiver, has taken command of an inexperienced and unproven room of wide outs that could be poised for a major jump in production this fall.

"I think Ryan Davis has taken that next step and is really becoming a leader for us; I really do believe that," wide receivers coach Kodi Burns said. "He's got the least amount of drops of all the receivers; he's caught everything we've thrown to him and he's really starting to take the next step in becoming a leader. ...

"I think just watching the way he works, the way he approaches just every single day. Ryan works really hard and he's a tough guy. He's one of those guys who has been in that offense a little bit and he understands how we do things here, and he's one of the guys they can follow and look up to."

While John Franklin III is the lone senior at receiver, he only recently changed positions and transferred to Auburn a year ago. By comparison, Davis and redshirt-sophomore Darius Slayton are the only wide outs entering their third years with the program and have taken a bigger role.

"I wouldn't consider myself the old man," said Davis, who had 25 receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown last season. "I don't want to give myself that title yet, but I'm one of the older guys now and I have some experience."

It's not only offensive players who've cited Davis as having improved.

Linebacker Darrell Williams said Davis is the offensive player who raised his level most this offseason.

"He sticks out to me because he's been a good player, but his drive to be even better and even help the team even more than what he's done has shown," Williams said. "You can see that, the coaches can see that. ... (He's) the toughest receiver that I had to guard, when I had to go out the box.

"He's just taken it to another level every time so I applaud him for that."

Davis is still playing primarily at flanker and one of the slot receiver positions, where his size and agility can create a challenging matchup in space. His 7.8 yards per catch underlines Auburn's tendency to go to him on screens and slants.

Davis was on the receiving end of a deep pass during Monday's scrimmage and he and the rest of the receivers want to generate more explosive plays this fall.

"We have to make plays down the field," Davis said. "We have have to make those 50-50 catches. It's the SEC, nothing is going to be easy. Everything is going to be contested. We just have to make the plays going down the stretch and that's what's going to take this offense over the top."