Paul Finebaum juxtaposed the Auburn football quarterback room with Alabama’s, and the comparison was most delightful for Tiger fans who now have the most experienced starting signal-caller in the state having named Payton Thorne as QB1.
“It’s remarkable that Hugh Freeze has come in – gone to the transfer portal – and now has a solid starting quarterback,” Finebaum told AL.com on August 17. “Meanwhile, over at Alabama, Nick Saban is playing musical chairs at the most important position. It makes it easy to understand why Auburn fans are so excited, while Alabama fans are looking over their shoulder at Georgia.”
Thorne is slotted to be AU’s primary passing option under center, but Freeze has revealed that Robby Ashford will be getting snaps as well considering his change-of-pace skillset as a run-heavy dual-threat. The former nearly led Michigan State to a Big Ten championship berth in 2021, while the latter improved leaps and bounds under Cadillac Williams’ interim head coaching stint in 2022. As for the Alabama QB situation, no one in the room is standing out as the clear option despite Nick Saban adding Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner, who has experience with first-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Dylan Lonergan, perhaps the least hyped-up recruit of the bunch, looked the most ready for game-action during Alabama’s A-Day. Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson, the Tide’s two QB1 leans heading into A-Day, were major disappointments in the passing game during the spring intrasquad exhibition.
Nick Saban’s Alabama QB talk is nothing like Hugh Freeze’s Auburn football QB talk
Saban doesn’t speak about his quarterbacks the way Freeze does about his. While the first-year Auburn football coach can find positives in nearly everything, Saban seems unable to see the same as his signal-callers have been struggling to stand out — and the Crimson Tide coach is sick of his guys expecting the coaches to make decisions for them.
“What I tell the quarterbacks is, ‘It’s not up to the coaches,'” Saban said on August 15. “‘You’re looking over your shoulder to see if the coach is gonna do this or that. How about you forcing me to play you? Forcing me to play you. Force us to play you. When you get your reps and you get a chance to play you play so good we don’t have any choice but to play you rather than worrying about all this other stuff.”
With the QB position perhaps superior on the Plains than anywhere else in the state, it’s great to be an Auburn Tiger. It doesn’t seem as great being an Alabama quarterback right about now.