Auburn football: Bryan Harsin leaves door open for Holden Geriner to start
Since the very beginning of his time with Auburn football, head coach Bryan Harsin has been a big fan of freshman quarterback Holden Geriner. The true freshman finished high school ball and stepped into an intense competition on the Plains for the QB1 role.
Because of his youth and inexperience, it was not seriously thought that Geriner would top the other three quarterbacks vying for the position this fall, but his potential has continued to shine throughout summer workouts and fall camp.
In fact, Geriner was so impressive in practice over the weekend that he stood out over all the older quarterbacks according to Coach Harsin, who referred to Geriner as “one of the best throwers” he has coached, per AL.com:
"“All of the sudden you’re sitting there (like), ‘Where has this guy been?’” Harsin said. “He’s young, but sometimes you have those moments where it’s like, ‘I’m ready.’ You don’t know when that’s going to be for a young player, but Holden is starting to come on now.”"
So what does that mean for the quarterback situation in 2022? While the most logical (and likely) scenario is that Geriner red shirts in 2022 behind one of the three transfer quarterbacks with more experience, it seems that Harsin is certainly leaving the door open to the true freshman seeing game action this fall.
"“He’s not going to get those same amount of reps, but here’s a guy that is building,” Harsin said. “That’s going to carry over into the season, and who knows what happens. If he keeps advancing and growing and developing, there’s a guy that can spin it and a guy we thought would be a player for us.”"
Geriner most likely won’t be QB1 in 2022, but he is on the trajectory to make a big impact for Auburn football later on in his career, after he has had time to mature and adjust to the transition from high school to college ball. As a true freshman, Geriner is right where he needs to be in the opinions of the coaching staff.