Auburn football transfer quarterback T.J. Finley has found a new home with the Sun Belt’s Texas State, but there is apparently a chance the two-time transfer who started under Coach O at LSU may not start at his new school. Arkansas transfer Malik Hornsby is the presumed starter in G.J. Klinne’s offense.
— TJ Finley 1️⃣ (@tj_finley1) May 12, 2023
According to CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah, Finley may not even be worthy of the backup role down in San Marcos, Texas.
…uh, Finley is not only not going to start at Texas State, but might not even win the backup job? What? https://t.co/ONfO1gu0SG
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) May 12, 2023
Jeyarajah explained that the two other options in the Bobcats’ quarterback room, former NC State QB Ty Evans and former Baylor preferred walk-on CJ Rogers, could well push Finley to the third-string on Texas State’s depth chart.
Ty Evans was a four star at NC State and then CJ Rodgers was PWO at Baylor who earned offers after playing well in the spring
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) May 12, 2023
Bryan Harsin’s Auburn football legacy quarterback could end career in obscurity
To think that the quarterback that had Bryan Harsin’s 2021 Auburn football team up double-digits on eventual College Football Playoff Championship runner-up Alabama in the fourth quarter may be relegated to clipboard-holding duties behind two quarterbacks at the Group of Five level is unfathomable in many ways.
Even at his lows, Finley had the Tigers competitive with the likes of the Crimson Tide, Houston, and South Carolina. To see him possibly fall behind several QBs on Texas State’s depth chart would be experiencing the brutality of Division I college football in live time.
Many felt that the 2022 season was over before it started when Finley was announced the starter in fall camp, but truthfully, only Harsin’s firing was going to get the most out of Auburn’s roster last season. After vying for the Tigers’ QB1 role under Hugh Freeze, another QB competition could be brewing for the six-foot-seven Ponchatoula native.
And if he loses — and furthermore, can’t even win a backup role –, he may be facing an obscure ending to a career that began under the brightest of SEC lights.