What Dematrius Davis in transfer portal means for Auburn football QB battle

While perhaps it wasn’t the most shocking development given the sheer volume of QBs in the Auburn football QB room, it was nonetheless disappointing to see Dematrius Davis take to the transfer portal before the start of his sophomore season.

The Tigers lost one of their dual-threat signal-callers on Wednesday after the Texas QB announced his decision on Twitter.

Interestingly enough, his tweet may have given us a window into why he left the program in the first place.

Davis didn’t ask for any coach with availability to give him a recruiting call…just those that actually believe he can make an impact for:

It appears as though Davis has some feelings of hurt regarding his lack of reps in 2021 combined with what appears to be continued hesitance to hand him the reigns on the Plains despite a high school career that turned heads even for a guy like Lamar Jackson .

But digging deeper into why he left could speak volumes about Harsin’s plan at the position in 2022 and beyond.

The Auburn football QB role doesn’t seem likely for Robby Ashford

Despite being a high school legend up in Hoover, Robby Ashford’s chances of starting for the Tigers don’t seem great in 2022 with the news of Davis’ departure.

Take a look at what Tom Green had to say about why it didn’t work out for the Texas high school legend at Auburn:

"The 5-foot-10, 205-pounder out of Houston was one of the most decorated quarterbacks in Texas high school history, but as a smaller, dual-threat option, he did not fit the mold of the type of quarterback that Harsin has typically worked with during his coaching career."

At six-foot-four, Ashford doesn’t exactly have the same size issues, but his style of play still isn’t that of a pro-style QB.

T.J. Finley and Zach Calzada both represent more of what Bryan Harsin typically has featured under center. That Davis was QB2 this spring and still took to the transfer portal shows that it’s going to be a serious uphill battle for Ashford to find the field.

Should Finley drop the ball in taking reps with the first team and Calzada has a tough time in his recovery from shoulder surgery, Ashford would then (and only then) be in a position to steal snaps in the Tigers backfield.

But it’d take a lot of things breaking the right way for that chance to materialize. Davis’ transfer portal entry could be a foreboding fact for those hoping Ashford has a chance to be the starting Auburn football QB.