AUBURN — Transfer tight end Rivaldo Fairweather had an all-time season for Auburn football in 2023.

Don't believe it? Check the stats.

Fairweather, a three-star recruit in the Class of 2020 who began his collegiate career with three years at Florida International before hitting the portal last offseason, hauled in 38 catches for 394 yards and six touchdowns in his first year on the Plains. Those single-season numbers rank No. 1, No. 2 and No. 2 for a TE in Tigers history, respectively.

John Samuel Shenker in 2021 was the only more productive TE with 413 yards, and Philip Lutzenkirchen's seven scores in 2011 is the only mark better than what Fairweather did.

Those stats came amidst a season in which Auburn struggled mightily on the offensive side, finishing with the SEC's worst passing attack at 162.2 yards per game. Fairweather also left some meat on the bone due to some drop issues — his drop percentage of 13.6% ranked third worst nationally amongst the 33 TEs who were targeted at least 50 times last year, per Pro Football Focus — and he's fully aware of that.

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"I just felt like I left a lot of food on the table," Fairweather said in December when asked why he chose to return to the Tigers for a second season. "It's unfinished business here."

Fairweather got better as the 2023 campaign wore on, totaling 241 yards over the final seven games after notching 153 yards through the first six contests. His mistakes dwindled, too, posting just one drop amidst the season's last four games while being targeted 17 times and catching 11 passes.

There's no doubting who the best TE in the SEC was last season. That title belonged to Georgia's Brock Bowers, who was one of the country's scariest weapons for opposing defensive coordinators. He went on to get selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

With the top spot vacated and the proverbial belt up for grades, Fairweather has his eyes set on becoming the conference's best TE — and then some.

"I'm looking to really double every number I had last year," Fairweather said in February. "Like I want to set a standard and be the No. 1 tight end in the nation."

Five TEs finished with more than 300 receiving yards in the SEC last season: Bowers (714), Caden Prieskorn of Ole Miss (449), Fairweather (394), Mason Taylor of LSU (348) and Trey Knox of South Carolina (312). Prieskorn, Fairweather and Taylor are the only members of the group returning to college, as Bowers and Knox have joined the NFL.

Fairweather has shown the ability to be a versatile piece for the offense, with 56.5% of his snaps last season coming in the slot, 27.6% of them coming attached to the offensive line and 15.2% of those reps coming with him split out wide. He's proven to be excellent in contested-catch scenarios as well, snatching 64.7% of the passes thrown his way when a defender was in his vicinity. That success rate ranked No. 3 nationally amongst the 24 TEs with at least 10 opportunties for a contested catch.

The physical pieces are there for Fairweather to make another leap in his second SEC season, especially if he continues to clean up the drops. If the rest of the passing offense can catch up, the Tigers could have one of the country's most productive weapons.

"I feel like we're more faster now," Fairweather said of the offense in April. "I like the detail of the offense. The offense is more detailed. From last year, it was kind of like, 'Oh, you've got to get to this depth.' But now our coaches are emphasizing, 'You have to get to this depth and the quarterback is going to know you're going to be at that spot.'

"It builds a connection with the receivers, tight ends, running backs, quarterbacks. To just have the connection that they know where we're going to be at all times. Some of the plays they've got us, it's some new plays I haven't seen before. It should be fun."

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: What can 2024 look like for TE Rivaldo Fairweather?