By the time his Auburn career comes to a close, Bo Nix could very well be number one on this list but, for now, he sits at third place. Still, considering he has only played one season, being this high on the list is pretty impressive.
The 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year came to Auburn as a five-star QB prospect and legacy recruit. With Jarrett Stidham declaring early for the NFL, Nix had the opportunity to come in and start right away. And that’s what he did.
Nix became the first true freshman to start at QB for Auburn to start the season since 1946 and while Nix certainly experienced some growing pains in 2019, the talent is clearly there.
Nix completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 2,542 yards, 16 TDs and six interceptions while also adding 313 yards and seven rushing touchdowns.
The son of former Auburn QB Patrick Nix, Bo showed that he is a true dual-threat and depending on if we even have a season this year, the former five-star recruit is a popular breakout candidate in the SEC.
A five-star recruit out of Stephenville, Texas, Auburn heavily recruited Jarrett Stidham in high school. Ultimately, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound QB chose to take his talents to Baylor.
However, following an incredible amount of controversy at Baylor, Stidham left the program and after taking a year playing scout team QB for a nearby high school, Stidham, the top JUCO prospect in the country, committed to Auburn.
Now, while Stidham wasn’t perfect at Auburn, he often gets a lot more hate than he deserves. Stidham put together a strong RS sophomore season in 2017 where he completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 3,158 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions while adding four additional scores on the ground and helping lead the Tigers to the SEC Championship game.
Going into 2018, Stidham was seen as a first-round NFL Draft prospect and was expected to be one of the best QBs in the country. However, Stidham didn’t improve and even took a slight step back.
The former five-star saw his completion percentage, yardage and total touchdowns dip in 2018. To his credit, Stidham was constantly under pressure behind a sub-par Auburn O-line and it was clear that he never really fit Malzahn’s offensive system.
Still, Stidham is one of the best quarterbacks Auburn has had since Cam, who he is now teammates with on the New England Patriots.