With former Auburn football quarterback Bo Nix packing his bags and heading to Oregon and Birmingham Bowl starter TJ Finley having a less-than-great game versus Houston, it’s very likely that head coach Bryan Harsin and newly-hired offensive coordinator Austin Davis will be turning to the NCAA transfer portal for another quarterback.
Harsin and the coaching staff find themselves in a similar quarterback situation to the one they were faced with last year prior to adding Finley from the portal. After the bowl game, naming Finley QB1 for 2022 does not seem like a best-case scenario, but freshman Dematrius Davis got no snaps during the 2021 season.
As things stand, it seems that adding an experienced quarterback from the NCAA transfer portal must be a high priority for Harsin, and with a plethora of talented QBs to choose from, here are four options that Auburn football should pursue:
Auburn football transfer portal QB option #1: Zach Calzada
Yes, we’ve been here before, but why not consider an experienced SEC quarterback that beat both Auburn and Alabama last year? Although Auburn football fans are split about the former Texas A&M Aggie becoming a Tiger, Fly War Eagle co-expert Andrew Hughes reminds everyone why the QB could benefit the Tigers in 2022:
"Calzada finished 2021 with a 56% completion rate, 2,185 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions after taking over as the starter for Haynes King after a fractured leg ended his season Week 2 against Colorado."
According to Jeffrey Lee from Auburn Live, Calzada will be visiting campus between January 5-11, the time when transfers eligible to enroll in the spring semester are allowed to take visits.
Although incoming freshman Holden Geriner is expected to put up a fight in the QB competition this spring, there’s no doubt that pursuing an experienced SEC quarterback that is not TJ Finley to the QB room would make us all feel a lot better.
Auburn football transfer portal QB option #2: Jarret Doege
Multi-year starter Jarret Doege entered the transfer portal after two years at West Virginia with a story that reads very similarly to former Auburn football QB Bo Nix. WV Metro News reports that the Mountaineer fanbase never fully embraced or supported Doege, and were consistently calling for backup quarterback Garrett Greene:
"All players have limitations, but the quarterback position highlights them with laser focus. Doege was not mobile. He was frequently off target on long passes. His interceptions seemed to come at the most inopportune times. He sometimes held the ball too long."
Despite tying with Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders for the most interceptions in the Big-12, Doege finished the 2021 season with the second-most passing yards and threw the fourth-most touchdown passes in the conference with 20.
Doege was the second-best quarterback in the league in 2020, but he failed to live up to expectations this season and did not have the on-field support he needed from his teammates to be successful.
Sound familiar?
Although there’s no question that Doege is a talented quarterback and could potentially be successful in a different program, Auburn football should pass on the former Mountaineer in order to avoid going down a long, familiar road once again.
Auburn football transfer portal QB option #3: Grant Wells
A two-year starter for the Marshall Thundering Herd, Grant Wells just announced that he would be entering the NCAA transfer portal. Wells was named the starting QB in 2020 as a true freshman and led the Thundering Herd to a 7-3 record and passing for 2,091 yards and 18 touchdowns, as well as an appearance in the Conference USA championship.
Though Wells began 2021 with a bang, the Herd hit a three-game skid mid-season and ended their season 7-6 with a loss to Louisiana in the New Orleans Bowl. The QB finished his season with 3,532 passing yards and16 touchdowns, but with former Marshall QB legend Chad Pennington’s son Cole signing with the Herd’s class of 2022, Wells chose the transfer portal over another year at Marshall.
— Grant Wells (@GrantWells__) January 3, 2022
As a redshirt freshman last year, Grant Wells made first-team All-Conference USA. In 2021, he passed for the 15th most yards in the league, more than Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, UNC’s Sam Howell, and Penn State’s Sean Clifford.
Grant Wells is niceeee https://t.co/b145ttTeRM
— Jake “JBOY” Crain (@JakeCrain_) January 3, 2022
With Auburn football’s recent struggle in the passing game, a quarterback that can really sling the ball downfield could be a game-changer, especially with Austin Davis on the way to take over coaching the QBs. Given Davis’ experience coaching the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, Wells could be the exact kind of quarterback the new OC would like to pursue on the Plains.
Auburn football transfer portal QB option #4: Caleb Williams
The rumors have finally turned out to be true, and former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams has announced his intentions to explore his options in the transfer portal. Though the QB noted that staying in Oklahoma is definitely one of those options, it’s time for the Auburn football staff to go after the former Sooner.
The #2 quarterback in the recruiting class of 2021, Williams passed for 1,912 yards, 21 touchdowns, and only four interceptions after replacing Spencer Rattler in the Red River Showdown, the second-biggest comeback in program history, in early October. He also rushed for 442 yards and six touchdowns.
With former Sooner QB Spencer Rattler committed to South Carolina and Caleb Williams exploring his options, the Sooners are feeling the fallout of Lincoln Riley’s decision to take over at USC with only one scholarship quarterback left on the roster who has never taken a snap for Oklahoma.
— Caleb Williams (@CALEBcsw) January 3, 2022
Although rumors suggest that Williams could be following his former coach to USC or that he’s eyeing the Georgia Bulldogs in the next state over, the breakout freshman quarterback should be a top priority for Bryan Harsin and Austin Davis to pursue once he arrives on the Plains.