re: Official Spring Practice (We Talkin' Bout Practice?) Thread:

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D'haquille Williams came back to Auburn for several reasons, but his main goal is simple -- he wants to win a championship.

The Auburn receiver solidified himself quickly as the Tigers' top receiver in 2014. His first-half performance in the season opener was a solid start and he kept impressing from there with one-handed catches, athletic grabs in traffic and game-sealing snags down the field. His draft stock soared and the possibility of him jumping to the NFL after one season seemed to be a near certainty.

"He would not have come back if he didn't have his mind on being great and one of the things he talked about in private is we have unfinished business and what he meant by that is he wanted to come back to Auburn and win a championship and he wants to graduate," receivers coach Dameyune Craig said in January.

A disciplinary issue surfaced in December as he weighed whether to jump to the pros. He was punished by Gus Malzahn and missed the Tigers' loss in the Outback Bowl. With Williams on the field, maybe Auburn would have knocked off Wisconsin in a game that was ultimately lost on a missed field goal in overtime.

The 6-foot-2, 216-pound receiver figures to be a preseason All-SEC selection in August. He's already considered one of the top prospects in the 2016 NFL Draft, and ESPN analyst Mel Kiper has the prospect at the top of his list of draft-eligible receivers.

That's good news in the fall for Auburn, which must replace Sammie Coates while also asking other receivers to step up in an offensive system that likely will feature more passes with quarterback Jeremy Johnson at the controls.

"I know if I was a quarterback I'd like to have somebody like that to throw to," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. "He's a guy that, when he's covered, he's open. It doesn't matter who you are, that's a good safety bucket. It's always a plus."

Williams finished his first season with 730 yards and five touchdowns with the Tigers, but missed missed three games, including two due to injury. "He came in from Day 1 and just dominated the league," Craig said. A 1,000-yard season as a senior is the expectation in the fall.

Williams worked through a dark past to land at Auburn in 2014 as those close to him guided him away from trouble in his home state. It's in Louisiana where former coaches and allies realized he could be an NFL star, so they cleared a path to Auburn.

At Auburn, Williams' next step is winning a championship.

Williams has not yet been made available to reporters this spring. Teammates say he has continued to dominate practices.

"He's always been really physical," receiver Marcus Davis said. "I think he's taking more of a leadership role right now and letting his talents develop and letting other people be great around him."

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