Analyst pumps the brakes on excitement for Auburn QB transfer
USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer pumped the brakes on excitement about Auburn football transfer portal quarterback Payton Thorne — calling out his turnover-prone offensive profile and making the suggestion that Michigan State signal-caller wasn’t among the best transfers under center during the 2023 cycle.
“Thorne’s arrival becomes a reminder that the best transfer talent is generally acquired in the winter,” Toppmeyer wrote. “Thorne totaled 21 interceptions the past two seasons, and Auburn remains strapped by one of the SEC’s bleaker quarterback situations.”
Thorne has totaled 6,493 passing yards, 49 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions during two seasons of starting and three seasons total in East Lansing. He comes to the Plains as a graduate transfer with two seasons of eligibility left.
Payton Thorne has chance to win Auburn football QB1 job
Thorne’s arrival brings the Tigers a starting-caliber quarterback and despite the criticisms from Toppmeyer about how big of a deal the Michigan State transfer is in the grand scheme, the USA Today writer believes Thorne has a good chance to be the Auburn football QB1 in 2023 due to Robby Ashford’s inconsistency throwing the football.
“The speedy and elusive Ashford makes for a fun Wildcat-style gadget, but he’s an unproven passer,” Toppmeyer prefaced before saying, “That gives Thorne the chance to win the job.”
Thorne is a much different QB than Ashford. The Michigan State transfer is a pure pro-style passer, one that Bryan Harsin’s staff was always in pursuit of before they settled on Zach Calzada, who never took a snap at AU. Ashford’s playmaking is typically born out of chaos: scrambling to the opposite end of the field during a broken play is often the Hoover native’s means of moving the chains, though it should be noted Ashford has a keen sense of finding a hole formed by the offensive line’s blocking.
Hugh Freeze didn’t seem willing to roll the dice on Ashford’s wildcard skillset, so he went safer with Thorne. As it turns out, though, Thorne isn’t a slam dunk in everyone’s eyes.