‘Ironic’ formerly inconsistent ex-Auburn star has highest Senior Bowl floor at position
It’s “ironic” that former Auburn football star Bo Nix had such an inconsistent career on the Plains considering the Pinson product has the highest ceiling out of any quarterbacks set to participate in the 2024 Senior Bowl according to NFL.com’s Chad Reuter.
“Nix transferred from Auburn to Oregon before the 2022 season following an inconsistent career in The Plains,” Reuter prefaced before saying, “Ironically, he might end up as the passer with the highest floor on this list. He is in total command of the Ducks’ offense, making a lot of short throws to get the ball into his playmakers’ hands but also possessing a solid arm to fit passes into small windows in the red zone and launch high-arching deep balls downfield.
“Nix moves well within the pocket to gain time to throw, and he can take off for big gains, eluding or lowering his shoulder against defenders when needed. He still wants to make plays at times when under duress, forcing the ball between defenders and losing accuracy on short and intermediate throws. But that confidence in his abilities is what could lead Oregon to a Pac-12 title and eventually result in him winning a starting job in the NFL.”
Auburn football doing the opposite of making stars under center
The 2023 season has been a brutal reality check for Auburn football fans: the Plains hasn’t been the best place to be, and has been very far from it, for quarterbacks the last several seasons; perhaps since the days of Kenny Dillingham running the offense in 2019.
The reason? Nix and T.J. Finley are completely shifting the narrative from their days in East Central Alabama. Finley lit up Baylor and Coach Prime’s old program, Jackson State, to the tune of 300+ passing yards.
Going from Jarrett Stidham to one year of an efficient Nix, then to Chad Morris, then to Mike Bobo, then to a Bryan Harsin Boise State bros-run turnover machine, to the growing pains of Philip Montgomery’s go-round calling plays, shows how much negative change the QB position has seen in a short period of time.
Things could change under Montgomery, but the early returns are not exactly promising. Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford have the uphill climb that is the SEC West’s swan song season to change this narrative.