Everyone wants to know who Auburn football’s starting quarterback is going to be in 2021. Though first-year head coach Bryan Harsin said Wednesday that Bo Nix, returning two-year starter, would be the #1 guy if the season were to start right now, that hardly means anything until September 4.
Since TJ Finley transferred from LSU to Auburn, everyone has been wondering who will earn the starting job for the Tigers in 2021. The pressure has been placed squarely on Bo Nix’s shoulders after a sophomore season that didn’t live up to expectations.
From the beginning, Finley claimed that the Auburn football coaching staff told him if he earned the role, he would be named QB1. The former LSU Tiger never intended to be a backup on the Plains, and ESPN reports that Harsin said Finley is still working towards that starting job:
"While Harsin hasn’t named a starting quarterback, he said that if the decision had to be made today, Bo Nix would remain the starter.Harsin said that Finley is “coming on” and pushing Nix for the starting job."
With the Tigers’ season opener looming ahead in just over a week, it’s not likely that Harsin will change his mind and declare Finley the starter over Nix, who has two years of experience on the Plains under his belt. However, it does seem to indicate that if Nix does not prove himself right away, Finley could get a shot at the job.
Jordan Hill reports on Twitter that Harsin was asked if he would play two quarterbacks throughout the season, and gave a pretty ambiguous answer:
Harsin on whether or not Auburn could play two quarterbacks: "Remains to be seen. Let me say this: it's always one guy until it's not"
— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) August 25, 2021
Bo Nix’s QB1 role is far from safe as long as TJ Finley is around, but that’s probably a good thing for the junior quarterback. As long as Nix continues to push for improvement the Auburn offense can only get better.