The Auburn Family is entering the 2026 football season, the first under head coach Alex Golesh, with a lot of hope riding on the shoulders of quarterback Byrum Brown. The former USF quarterback followed Golesh to the Plains, and everyone is hopeful that he will finally answer the QB question that Auburn football has been unable to answer for the past four years.
However, there are reasonable question marks around Brown, starting with the fact that he will be moving up to the SEC from a smaller conference. But still, Brown boasts in impressive resume and is playing under the same head coach and offensive coordinator who he has played under for the past four seasons. There is a lot to be said about that continuity, even if he will have to play at a higher level than before.
Josh Pate doesn't have a whole lot of faith that Brown will continue to be as impressive as he was at USF at Auburn. Pate ranked Brown as the No. 9 quarterback in the SEC, notably behind the unnamed Alabama QB1 at spot No. 6.
🚨PRESEASON SEC QB RANKINGS🚨 pic.twitter.com/R4G9ebQqwQ
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) August 12, 2026
Of course, Pate has admittedly offered terrible preseason quarterback rankings before. Last year he ranked DJ Lagway at the No. 1 spot, and even had Jackson Arnold at No. 7. But ranking a quarterback who has amassed 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a single season below two mostly unproven quarterbacks just because they play for Alabama is ridiculous.
Pate said he trusts either Austin Mack, who appeared in five games over the last two seasons, or Keelon Russell, who appeared in two games last season, to play at a high level, and that Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer will "max out" his quarterback.
When it comes to Brown, Pate is mostly concerned about the jump to the SEC. As I mentioned before, Pate pointed out the continuity with the staff as being a major plus, and he didn't really have anything negative to say about the Tigers' new quarterback. Is having to transition to the SEC enough of a reason to rank him behind eight other guys?
Regardless of where he is ranked in the preseason, Brown has a lot to prove this fall. He will make his debut with the rest of Alex Golesh's first-year squad on September 5 in the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta versus the Baylor Bears in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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