AUBURN — Cam Coleman shined in his first appearance in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, collecting four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown to help the Auburn football offense beat the defense at A-Day.

Coleman, an early enrollee who graduated ahead of schedule so that he could go through spring practice with the Tigers, will end the day dancing at Central-Phenix City's prom.

He's 17 years old and looked like one of the best players on Pat Dye Field during coach Hugh Freeze's second spring scrimmage on the Plains — maybe even the best.

"I think he changes us," Freeze said of Coleman. "... He just tracks the ball and thinks every ball is catchable. ... He's so teachable, coachable. ... When he knows what to do, he's really, really talented."

The 6-foot-3, 188-pound Coleman is the second-highest-rated recruit to sign with the Tigers in the modern recruiting era. His 247Sports Composite rating of .9985 is behind only Byron Cowart in the Class of 2015 (.9987). The score ranks higher than the likes of Michael Dyer (.9961), Cadillac Williams (.9936), Bo Nix (.9856) and every other offensive recruit to ever wear an Auburn jersey.

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Coleman's talent was best put on display when he hauled in a touchdown in one-on-one coverage to make it a one possession game in the fourth quarter Saturday.

"I can't even describe it because it happened so fast," Coleman said. "I'm like, 'Oh, man.' But it's an abundance of joy. It was just fun. It was just a great, great feeling."

The touchdown was tossed by Payton Thorne, who's in line to be the starter after having an impressive spring practice while competing with redshirt freshman Hank Brown, redshirt sophomore Holden Geriner and true freshman Walker White.

Thorne's best statistical season came in 2021, when he completed 60.4% of his passes for 3,240 yards and 27 touchdowns at Michigan State. He had the luxury of throwing to future Green Bay Packers receiver Jayden Reed that season, and leaned on Keon Coleman in 2022. Coleman is an expected draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

"I can tell you from experience, it’s really nice," Thorne said of having an elite receiver. "Two receivers have told me that it’s 80/20 (on contested catches), not 50/50. You can quote J-Reed on that, and I know Keon thought the same thing. It’s nice. It’s really nice.

"You love playing with a confident receiver, and (Coleman is) confident and backs it up, too. He’s just going to keep getting better and better and I’m just excited to watch his journey. I’ll only be with him for one year, but he’s going to be a special player."

Coleman's debut in front of Auburn fans couldn't have gone much better. The only target he couldn't catch came with a defender all over him, and Freeze implied afterward that it might've been pass interference. The 39-yard touchdown grab was the highlight, but he started the day by snatching a 49-yard ball deep down the field while he fell to the ground.

But don't expect him to be talking about it all night.

"Nah, they'll see them eventually," Coleman said when asked if he's going to walk into prom flexing his feats. "I ain't gonna go around just bragging."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: Cam Coleman performance a preview for future?