Auburn football: 247 Sports says Robby Ashford will play against Mercer

The Auburn football quarterback battle has been quite the roller coaster ride for fans during the offseason. For a long time, it seemed as though the role of QB1 was anyone’s to take, but with just under two weeks until the Tigers’ season opener, a decision will have to be made soon.

While most people thought that the job was Zach Calzada’s to take, it seems that the former Texas A&M Aggie has dropped out of the race at this point. His inconsistency in fall camp has paved the way for both TJ Finley and Robby Ashford to pass him on the depth chart. Although he is admittedly still recovering from shoulder surgery in the offseason, we probably won’t see Calzada hitting the field on week one.

Instead, things are coming down to two very different quarterbacks. One, TJ Finley, has a healthy amount of SEC experience between playing at LSU and taking over last season following Bo Nix’s injury. Finley is familiar with the Auburn system, and has had a strong showing throughout fall camp.

TJ Finley is the most likely candidate for QB1 as of now, but according to Auburn Undercover, we shouldn’t count Robby Ashford out of the race. While he lacks the experience that Finley has, he has been consistently praised for his running ability and has improved so much that he is getting reps with the first team alongside Finley.

"Getting his feet wet in the spring, Ashford has continued to improve and it has come quickly during the camp session. He has improved so much that the coaches want to continue to get him work with the first team, which is why we’ll see him in the game and maybe early against Mercer."

Jason Caldwell goes on to note that giving Ashford some in-game experience will be key to his improvement, and once things click, he could have a real shot to take over as QB1. While it’s almost certain that Finley will earn the starting job for Auburn football on September 3, Ashford could ultimately take on the role.