Auburn football legend Cam Newton’s appearance at AU’s pro day on March 21 didn’t take the shine away from the Tigers’ 2023 NFL prospects, but did quite the opposite — this according to The War Rapport’s Mike Gittens. In fact, Gittens feels that the narrative is a lazy knock on the 33-year-old, who is aiming to make a comeback after taking a year off in 2022 due to not being offered a contract by any of the NFL’s 32 franchises.
No one got evaluated less because Cam Newton showed up to Pro Day. Quite the opposite for the guys who were out there running routes and catching passes from him. This narrative that he took “shine” away from guys is intellectually lazy. #proday @thewarrapport
— Mike G. (@mikegittens) March 22, 2023
Many more eyeballs got to see Newton throwing to his young brother Caylin and Shedrick Jackson, as well as Holden Geriner, who threw to Tank Bigsby and John Samuel Shenker, the latter of whom chose Geriner to be the QB throwing to him.
Tank Bigsby gives Auburn football QB Holden Geriner major compliment
Bigsby, who is likely to end up being selected on the first day of the NFL draft, heaped major praise on the redshirt freshman Geriner (h/t 247Sports). “He’s one of the most accurate quarterbacks I’ve ever met, and he’s a good guy,” Bigsby said of Geriner. “And I’m sure that’s why they had him throwing today. He’s a mature guy.”
Bigsby then shared a moment he had with Geriner, who doesn’t see himself as the new kid on the block any longer.
“He looked at me today before we started throwing, he said ‘Hey, I ain’t a freshman no more,'” Bigsby said. “I said, ‘Hey, you don’t look like it.'”
Geriner may be seen as the forgotten man in the QB room, but he was certainly not forgotten as he was throwing alongside a certified Auburn football legend in Newton. Everyone participating in Auburn’s pro day had a bigger spotlight than they would’ve had without the greatest orange and blue No. 2 to ever represent the Plains.