TJ Finley was once the great in-state hope for LSU. Standing at six-foot-seven, "The Big Ponchatoula" was LSU's Joe Burrow long-term replacement plan. Finley quickly showed in 2020 that he and Ed Orgeron weren't going to work together. That led to a transfer to Auburn football.
Finley was always brought in to put pressure on Bo Nix to improve after his own statistical step back in 2020 from 2019. Bryan Harsin had faith in him, but any faith the fanbase had in him was gone by the end of the 2021 season. Truthfully, Finley and Nix had the fanbase divided in half -- and when you have two QBs, you have none.
Of course, the Tigers always had a future NFL QB1 on their roster and few appreciated it, so AU did have a clear-cut QB1. But many paved paradise and put up a parking lot after Nix left for Oregon.
This all to say: Saturday Down South had an interesting way of labeling Finley upon news of his fourth entry into the transfer portal in search of his fifth FBS team.
"Finley was once thought to be the potential next great LSU or Auburn quarterback toward the beginning of his career with some of the flashes he showed, but injury and other factors ultimately caused him to have to look in a different direction," SDS wrote.
After leaving LSU for Auburn, ditching the Plains for Texas State, and bolting from San Marcos for Western Kentucky, there's another chapter for Finley's collegiate career. Like a modern-day Alan Bowman or Cam Rising, Finley continues maintaining eligibility into his 20s.
NIL-era college football in a nutshell.