Auburn football: QB TJ Finley back in action with the Tigers

The TJ Finley saga continues within the Auburn football program. After winning out as QB1 in August and then going MIA at the tail end of the 2022 season, Finley is back in action with the Tigers and participating in winter workouts.

Finley has had a tumultuous ride so far on the Plains. He didn’t beat out Bo Nix for the starting job in his first year after transferring to Auburn football from LSU, but saved the Georgia State game when Nix was ultimately benched. After becoming a hero in many Auburn fans’ eyes for winning that game, he returned to the backup position until Nix broke his ankle towards the end of 2021.

QB2 became QB1, and it didn’t go as well as many Auburn fans would have liked—two more regular season losses and a bowl game loss. Following the end of the season, former Texas A&M Aggie Zach Calzada transferred into the program while Bo Nix and Dee Davis transferred out.

Ultimately, Finley was named QB1 ahead of the 2022 season, with Robby Ashford right behind him on the depth chart and Holden Geriner waiting in the wings. However, Finley shared playing time with Ashford in every game until he sustained an injury during the Penn State game.

It was eventually revealed that Calzada would take a medical redshirt, Ashford cemented his role as the Tigers’ QB1, and TJ Finley faded into the background. He ended up skipping out on the last four games of the season, not traveling with the team and not dressing out at home.

Now, with a new head coach on the Plains, Zach Calzada in the transfer portal, and no transfer quarterbacks on their way (yet), Finley is back to participating in workouts with the team. Many assume after his cryptic Ohio State post that Finley intends to transfer after graduating in May, but is working out with the team to stay in shape.

Will the QB stick around and battle it out with Robby Ashford and whoever else may end up on the Plains? It’s too soon to tell, but as of now, TJ Finley is still an Auburn Tiger.