Auburn Football: Remembering the existence of Woody Barrett

Here we discuss Auburn football quarterback Woody Barrett who, despite being a 4-star recruit, has been forgotten amidst the quarterback scene.

I’m not a big fan of questioning how the quarterback position will be handled this spring for Auburn football, but attention has slowly drawn away from Woody Barrett.

The No. 6 dual-threat quarterback from the class of 2015 redshirted the 2016-17 season to watch Sean White take the field. He also had the best view on the field to watch a highly questionable situation occur with White, Jeremy Johnson and John Franklin III. Yet, despite former offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee’s recruitment of Barrett, it was questioned whether Lashlee would ever take away his redshirt to, maybe, fix the quarterback situation.

Evidently Lashlee and co. never found any reasoning to put Barrett on the field, even as his three-quarterback rotation saw the early season demise of the Tigers.

Now there’s even more debate — not really, I’m just curious — about what to do about Barrett with the 2017 season looming nearer. I mean, with Jarrett Stidham coming along, White presumably progressing and Franklin’s existence, Barrett seems to be the odd man out with seven quarterbacks on the roster.

I am curious to see how he falls into Chip Lindsey’s plans for 2017, and I hope for questions to be answered at A-Day. However, with Stidham and White simply presenting the same weaponry that Barrett has to offer, there’s enough to suggest that he won’t be getting any playing time this season.

This doesn’t imply that he won’t be playing in the spring, and there’s plenty of room for him to suggest that he deserves some credit and influence on the offense. Barrett has the size at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds with speed to boot. With his size, he appears to have the arm strength to get things done through the air, and evasiveness that can extend the play or get ahead for the first down.

If all we’re going to do on the Plains is wonder and worry about the 2017 season, we might as well ask some more questions. Barrett’s presence at Auburn is not only valuable, but it appears to be key to Gus Malzahn’s talent with mobile quarterbacks. He is the last fixture of what Auburn quarterbacks used to be, and he seems to have little to no say in how things are being run.

And that’s just wrong.

Barrett has all the talent in the world to either transfer or wait until his senior season to play, assuming both White and Stidham stay until their senior years. Depending on how Lindsey will choose to run his offense — Stidham may fall behind White in all honesty — Barrett’s skill set will be just as expendable as Franklin’s.

At least Barrett has the arm to throw the ball.

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I will look for Barrett to steal the show in the spring. If he has put in the work and excused his fellow competitors, there’s room for him to take the quarterback position for himself.