Four-star quarterback Travis Burgess appears to have narrowed his decision down to North Carolina and Auburn, and ahead of the 2026 passers’ official visit at the end of the month, Auburn’s staff took a trip to see him in Georgia.
Hugh Freeze has done an excellent job attracting talent to Auburn over the first two seasons of his tenure, but he just hasn’t gotten the quarterback position right. After two years with Payton Thorne leading his offense, Freeze has his most talented QB room since taking over with Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold and 2025 four-star Deuce Knight. Still, he’s been aggressively targeting QB depth heading into a hot seat season.
The 6-foot-5 Burgess is a top priority for Auburn in the 2026 class, so over the weekend, offensive coordinator Derrick Nix and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin went out to Loganville, Georgia.
Auburn coaches visited QB Travis Burgess🦅https://t.co/pmWHiwoO0g pic.twitter.com/mDHqs0h07Z
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) May 3, 2025
Travis Burgess weighing Auburn and North Carolina ahead of summer official visits
As a first-year starter in his junior season, Burgess led Grayson High School to a Georgia state championship with 23 touchdowns to four interceptions. That performance earned him three-star status according to 247Sports Composite as the 28th best quarterback in the 2026 class.
Freeze has yet to land a QB in the 2026 class, and he’ll need to keep building depth in that room behind Arnold and Knight. Auburn has just three quarterbacks on the roster heading into the summer and just missed out on Troy transfer Matthew Caldwell, who signed with Texas on Monday.
Auburn has attracted top 10 recruiting classes in each of the past two cycles under Freeze, but the 2026 class has just seven commits so far and ranks 24th in the country. After back-to-back underwhelming seasons, Freeze could be on the hot seat, and that uncertainty can affect recruiting. Landing Burgess and prying him away from Bill Belichick and North Carolina would be a good sign that Auburn has some long-term stability, especially at the most important position.
Burgess has prototypical size and dual-threat ability, so while he’s just a three-star heading into his senior season, he has the potential to shoot up the recruiting rankings.