Former Auburn QB in ‘top tier’ with Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr.

Former Auburn football quarterback Bo Nix is, according to former NFL head coach and The 33rd Team’s analyst Marc Trestman, in the top tier of college QBs alongside the likes of Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Michael Penix Jr.

“Nix is the fourth quarterback I’ve evaluated early in the expected 2024 NFL Draft class,” Trestman prefaced before saying, “With limited exposure and no personal time with any of these players, I have no reservations about placing Nix in the top tier with Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr. If Nix continues improving in 2023, he will be just as deserving as the others of a high-round ranking.”

Nix will be without former Auburn football offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham — who helped Nix achieve 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year honors on the Plains before leaving for Florida State and reuniting with the Pinson product at Oregon in 2022 before taking the ASU head coaching job — in 2023, but UTSA’s Will Stein could have the Ducks running an up-tempo offense tailored to Nix’s skillset.

Auburn football could have a sleeper under center

While the college football world is stuck fixating on the likes of likely Longhorns backup Arch Manning and the unsettled quarterback situations at Alabama and Georgia, Auburn could end up having one of the better signal-callers under center themselves. Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne comes into Hugh Freeze and Philip Montgomery’s system as someone deemed a perfect fit for a coaching staff who was unwilling to settle for just anyone in the portal.

While Thorne’s numbers took a step back in 2022, the Spartans had taken a step back as a whole, and the Naperville, Illinois native still surpassed 200 yards passing in nine of his 12 appearances. With an improved offensive line in front of him, Thorne could severely elevate his standing in the sport shining under the bright lights of the SEC.