Auburn football: CFB podcast says ‘AU needs Zach Calzada to take over’
Auburn football has seen its quarterback battle take a full 180 from where the world thought it was going this August with T.J. Finley overcoming Zach Calzada as the likely starter for the September 3rd opener against Mercer.
Calzada has even slid behind Robby Ashford on the depth chart as the new de facto third-string QB, showing the importance of fall camp. Ashford has been splitting first-team reps as Bryan Harsin mulls multiple-signal-caller sets in 2022.
At this point, Calzada, once deemed the heavy favorite to win the Tigers’ starting QB job, is far behind Finley and Ashford. His shoulder injury to his non-throwing shoulder suffered against Auburn football last November is one culprit, but he just hasn’t been throwing accurately in camp.
That didn’t stop College Football Nerds, a collegiate pigskin podcast, from saying that ‘AU needs Calzada to take over’ for Finley this fall — at the expense of :
With TJ Finley emerging as QB1 in fall camp for Auburn, some fans are saying "he was 60 seconds away from beating Bama" but AU had 10 pts and Finley was 13/22 for 114 yards in regulation
— College Football Nerds (@CFBNerds) August 21, 2022
If AU loses that game 32-10 nobody is talking up Finley now. AU needs Calzada to take over
The reason Auburn nearly beat Alabama is that they had a good pass defense (many of whom are gone), Alabama's OL was an injury riddled disaster, and Jameson Williams was ejected early on. Bama couldn't score.
— College Football Nerds (@CFBNerds) August 21, 2022
The reason Auburn lost is because Finley was completely ineffective.
CFB Nerds says Auburn football is ‘in trouble’ if T.J. Finley is the starter
This podcast is completely out on T.J. Finley as the Tigers’ starting quarterback this fall, going as far as to say Auburn football is ‘in trouble’ if No. 1 is the one taking snaps under center instead of No. 9 or No. 10.
When one Alabama fan mentioned Finley being unlikely to make any leaps with a potential multiple-QB system, ‘College Football Nerds’ took their Finley doubt a step further:
It's always hard for a new QB to take on a new offense in fall camp, so I suspect Calzada has more opportunity to move, but if Finley is the starter this year, given how brutal that schedule is, Auburn is in trouble.
— College Football Nerds (@CFBNerds) August 21, 2022
Evidently, this podcast isn’t high on T.J. Finley. Fly War Eagle recommends you give the second-year Tiger some rope and allow him to prove himself either way.