Auburn football: Could Adrian Martinez replace Bo Nix at QB?

Auburn football’s three-year starting quarterback Bo Nix was forced to end his junior season early with an ankle injury, and now it seems his future on the Plains is up in the air. Though Nix has not yet made the decision to enter the transfer portal, the announcement could come at any time.

Meanwhile, quarterback Adrian Martinez–who started for most of his four years–officially announced he would be transferring out of Nebraska to find a new team to play for. In his four years as a Husker, Martinez threw for 8,495 yards and 45 touchdowns in addition to racking up 2,288 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns.

However, Martinez was benched for ineffectiveness in 2019, per CBS, and hasn’t seen the sort of improvement expected out of a quarterback over the course of four years. Sound a little familiar?

Despite the fact that Bryan Harsin will have at least three viable possibilities for QB1 on the Auburn football roster by next season, should the Tigers look to sign Adrian Martinez from the NCAA transfer portal?

Though TJ Finley’s time as QB1 didn’t pan out how anyone wanted it to, he’s still a young athlete with three years of eligibility remaining. With true freshman Dematrius Davis redshirting this season, he’ll have four years of eligibility even after this season, and 4-star QB Holden Geriner will join the 2022 roster.

With so much talent already on the roster, Bryan Harsin and the coaching staff should put the effort into developing the guys they have instead of looking to the portal for a quick fix. Adding Martinez to the roster for just one year could mean that Auburn football loses Dee Davis or Holden Geriner, and those guys are vital for the Tigers’ success in the coming years.

All in all, it makes way more sense to improve with the quarterbacks that are in it for the long haul than sign a super-senior for just one year.