Auburn transfer starting ‘doesn’t seem like the case anymore’

Auburn football transfer quarterback Payton Thorne starting for the Tigers under center during the 2023 season “doesn’t seem like the case anymore” according to Auburn Daily’s Lance Dawe — who saw things trending in the direction of Michigan State’s QB1 the past two and a half seasons before a recent surge from Holden Geriner.

“Things were trending towards Payton Thorne coming in and winning the job outright during the summer, but as camp has progressed, that doesn’t seem like the case anymore,” Dawe wrote. Hugh Freeze kept the door open for all three players ahead of fall camp per his SEC Media Days comments.

“It’s probably is going to be, you know, those other three (quarterbacks) for the first 10 days trying to get enough reps where we get it down to at least two guys and then move from there,” Freeze said back on July 18 in Nashville.

Auburn football QB battle likely to spill into Week 1

With a new head coach, two quarterbacks vying for the job with no snaps on the Plains and a third who never led a Philip Montgomery-coached offense, Auburn football likely isn’t to fully decide on the QB1 for the Cal game until seeing everyone gets live-game action Week 1 against UMass.

Given that score is expected to be lopsided, all three should get a go-round with the offense during the deb-Hugh.

Obviously, Thorne joining the team late in the offseason has kept him behind during fall camp, so it doesn’t seem as though he’ll be the first Tiger signal-caller to be handed the ball against the Minutemen.

The QB room’s “forgotten man” Geriner would be a major upset in the grand scheme but is seemingly the current favorite according to The War Rapport’s Mike Gittens.

Robby Ashford looms as the best fit for Montgomery’s RPO-powered point-scoring unit, so don’t let him be the forgotten man in the room either.