Not everyone is on board with Hugh Freeze’s Auburn football program nabbing Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers in the offseason after the Brandon, Mississippi native announced his intentions to hit the transfer portal on November 24.
Auburn Daily’s Andrew Stefaniak believes that Rogers’ lack of speed makes for a poor fit between the all-time SEC great under center and Freeze’s run-pass option-centric offense; and ipso facto, is against it.
“When it comes to Auburn reaching out to Rogers, it could happen, but is he fast enough to run the RPO system Coach Freeze runs? To me, the answer to that is no, so it doesn’t seem like he would be a good fit on the Plains,” Stefaniak wrote. “Hopefully, a quarterback becomes available in the portal that truly is a duel threat that will make the RPO offense work like a charm.”
Auburn football could use a splash like Will Rogers and should pursue him
“Any fanbase who would say they wouldn’t want this guy is WILD,” said a notable Auburn fan account on X in response to the Rogers in the transfer portal news.
Agreed.
Rogers is the kind of arm who can bring the best out of incoming 5-star(s) Perry Thompson (and hopefully Cameron Coleman) and can bring out more from an already sterling running back room of Damari Alston, Jeremiah Cobb, possibly Brian Battie, and whoever else Freeze may flip on the recruiting trail or bring on through the transfer portal.
Though he doesn’t fit the profile of the dual-threats Freeze has molded into future NFLers, Rogers is, to himself, an offensive system. He’d sound far less foolish saying that than James Harden did, at least.
If Auburn football had the chance to land him, it should avoid fretting just because Rogers doesn’t fit the existing system.
This would have to be a case of the system adjusting to the personnel.