Auburn football: 2024 signees who will make the biggest impact as freshmen

1. Walker White, QB, 4-star, Little Rock, AR

Payton Thorne was good last season. He averaged 7.0 yards per attempt while completing 62.6% of his passes and didn’t get much help from a mediocre receiver corps. Thorne was good as a runner too with 520 rushing yards and three touchdowns, but it was far from a perfect season. 

Thorne is a good downfield thrower, but for Auburn’s offense to take the next step, he’ll need to be much more accurate on short throws. Having improved talent at receiver will certainly help, but Thorne has attempted 1,105 passes in his college career and hasn’t developed into a player that moves the needle for his team. 

Hugh Freeze could be ready to move into the next era and that era will clearly be built around the 6-foot-3 four-star dual threat QB from Arkansas and his two five-star freshman receivers. 

Playing a freshman quarterback is always a gamble, but White has a big enough arm to get the best out of Coleman as a downfield target and can develop his touch and accuracy on underneath throws this year. He has similar strengths and weaknesses to Thorne, so why not go with the untapped potential of White?