Though it has been expected for quite some time now, it has been made official this afternoon. Auburn football quarterback TJ Finley will graduate this summer and enter the NCAA transfer portal as a graduate transfer.
This is not Finley’s first rodeo when it comes to the transfer portal, of course. He spent his freshman year in Baton Rouge at LSU, beginning as the backup quarterback and moving up to the starter for five games after Myles Brennan suffered a season-ending injury.
Following his freshman season, Bryan Harsin offered Finley and brought him over from the purple and gold Tigers to the orange and blue Tigers. During his first season on the Plains, Finley failed to beat out Bo Nix to become the starter and then was technically named QB1 in year two ahead of Robby Ashford. However, he spent the first few games swapping out pretty evenly with Ashford until he was injured, and then missed the rest of the season.
It was somewhat surprising to a lot of fans when Hugh Freeze was hired and Finley appeared to be working out with the Auburn football team again, even competing in the A-Day game this spring. But today it became official that Finley will be looking for a new program as a graduate.
One potential graduate transfer destination for Finley is Ohio State. Back in January, the QB posted a location tag on his Snapchat story indicating that he was visiting the school, igniting the rumor mill only for Finley to remain on the Plains for spring.
However, could Finley be reconsidering a transfer to the Big Ten powerhouse? Land-Grant Holy Land’s Megan Husslein writes that she is concerned about the position at the moment, and worried that Kyle McCord and Devin Brown may not meet the usual standards for the Buckeyes.