Most recent Auburn football QB NFL draft pick may not even be backup for current team next season

The most recent Auburn football draft pick in the NFL, Jarrett Stidham, didn't earn the Denver Broncos' QB1 job for the 2024 season, and Denver Sports' Cecil Lammey doesn't even believe he locked down the backup job in the Mile High City.

"Stidham did not play consistently enough for this team to lock him in as a potential Week 1 starter in 2024," Lammey prefaced before saying, "In fact, Stidham may not win the backup job next season. I think the Broncos will move up in the draft to select a quarterback, and that player is most likely their starter. That player, let’s say for example Washington QB Michael Penix Jr, may not be ready to start in Week 1. I thought perhaps Stidham would be a “bridge” quarterback who could start early in the season only to relinquish the job when the rookie was ready mid-season.

"Now, I think Stidham needs to compete for the backup job in 2024 – and I don’t want him anywhere near the starting job. Denver needs to be better – and fast – which does not happen if Stidham is out there."

Auburn football QB alum struggling in the NFL since Cam Newton's prime

AU has not seen great QB efforts from their alums under center in the NFL since Cam Newton's prime years.

Stidham's burnout for the Broncos down the stretch in 2024 was the fading away of the program's lineage's last hope in the pros right now outside of Newton; who appears ready to move into a front-office role and put his playing career behind him.

Bo Nix is about to get drafted, but with the way his Auburn career ended -- and with how many Tiger fans still treat him years after his exit -- he can't really be claimed. Especially when it was his Oregon stint that got him drafted.

Walker White or Hank Brown, there's a post-Plains NFL void under center in the hearts of the Auburn family waiting for you to fill it.