Super Bowl QB’s strong message on Auburn freshman: ‘He’ll get drafted’

Incoming Auburn football freshman Hank Brown could be NFL material by the time his career on the Plains is all said and done — this was, at least, what his high school coach and current UAB head coach Trent Dilfer, the winning starting quarterback during Super Bowl XXXV, said to the former Lipscomb Academy star.

“He has all the skills it takes to become an NFL quarterback,” Dilfer told 247Sports’ Nathan King. “I told him right before his senior year that if he continued to progress on the track we’re progressing him on, he’ll get drafted.”

Brown is likely to take a redshirt during his freshman season according to Auburn Daily’s Taylor Jones. With Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne expected to start and Robby Ashford looking ready to compete for as many available backups snaps as possible, there’s not a direct route to playing time for Brown. It wouldn’t be shocking to watch him hold a clipboard all season.

Auburn football redshirt freshman may be odd man out

It’s been said before that Auburn football redshirt freshman (soon to be sophomore) quarterback Holden Geriner is the forgotten man in the QB room, and it’s certainly hard to disagree with that assessment with Thorne now in tow.

With at least two more years of Thorne under center, and three to four more eligible years for Ashford, Geriner could find himself relegated to a backup role for the rest of his time in East Central Alabama. Given the hype he’s had sent his way from those who’ve witnessed him throw in practice, it’s an educated guess to presume he has the ability to start somewhere. Whether that’s an SEC school or not isn’t yet clear, but Geriner could use his AU experience to be QB1 somewhere.

It’s unclear what the future holds, but that he wasn’t brought on by Hugh Freeze certainly hurts Geriner’s chances — and in the inverse, is a major positive for Brown.