Former Auburn QB transfer portal target out for 2023 season with injury
FAU’s Casey Thompson, a former Auburn football transfer portal quarterback target, tore his ACL during Week 3’s Clemson-Florida Atlantic matchup on September 16 — and according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Thompson will miss the rest of the 2023 season with the injury.
“FAU quarterback Casey Thompson tore his ACL in the loss to Clemson on Saturday and will miss the rest of the season,” Thamel reported. “Thompson is a transfer from Nebraska and Texas and is in his sixth season of college football. FAU plays at Illinois this week.”
Coincidentally enough, Owls head coach Tom Herman raved about the prospect of what a “healthy” Thompson can do in Boca Raton, Florida.
“I think a healthy Casey Thompson is better than anything that FAU has had here for quite some time,” Herman said (h/t 247Sports). “And I don’t think there’s any debate there for a guy that started pretty much an entire season at the University of Texas, an entire season at the University of Nebraska… I think it says a lot for the kind of relationships that we build and we pride ourselves on that a young man that we started recruiting eight years ago would feel comfortable enough to come join our program for the last year of college football.”
Auburn football was down to Payton Thorne and Casey Thompson
The quarterback decision for Hugh Freeze following an uninspiring A-Day showing for Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley, and Holden Geriner was one the first-year Auburn football head coach didn’t take lightly. Freeze made sure to let everyone know he wasn’t just ready to hand the job to anybody.
“We might could have had one or two in the last portal had I told them certain words they wanted to hear,” Freeze said (h/t The AP). “Like they’re the guy and all that. But I’m just not made that way. “We absolutely are going to look at every scenario that becomes an option. We’ll go down and look at, is that best for this program. And that’s ultimately what we have to do, is what’s best for the program.”
Thompson was very much an option for Freeze and first-year offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, though it was clear by the time he reached campus that Payton Thorne was the preferred option. But it did come down to those two in the portal.
In fact, Auburn Daily’s Zac Blackerby even profiled Thompson as a potential glove fit for the Plains.
“Auburn has been in the market for a quarterback,” Blackerby prefaced before saying, “Thompson’s experience, athleticism, and poise he could bring to an offense are all things Hugh Freeze has mentioned that he is looking for in a quarterback.”
Fly War Eagle wishes Thompson the best of luck in his recovery.