fall camp position breakdown: Quarterbacks

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Auburn Football

Auburn 2021 fall camp position breakdown: Quarterbacks

Updated Jul 31, 2021; Posted Jul 31, 2021

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

This is the first in a nine-part series examining each position group ahead of the start of Auburn’s fall camp on Aug. 5. The first installment looks at Auburn’s quarterbacks.

Bo Nix enters Year 3 as Auburn’s presumptive starter at quarterback. He’ll head into it with a new coach in Bryan Harsin, a new offensive coordinator in Mike Bobo and a new-look offense that will try to tap into his full potential as a quarterback.

Oh, and he’ll head into his junior season with some new competition.

For the first time since he earned the starting job ahead of his freshman year in 2019, when he beat out Malik Willis in the spring and Joey Gatewood that fall, Nix will face some actual competition at quarterback thanks to the summer arrival of LSU transfer T.J. Finley, who started five games as a true freshman a year ago. Finley will have his work cut out to unseat Nix, whose spot atop the depth chart seems pretty stable following spring practices and the rest of the offseason, especially if his appearance at SEC Media Days is any indication.

Departed: Cord Sandberg (transfer); Chayil Garnett (transfer)

Returning starter: Bo Nix, junior.

Other returning players: Grant Loy, redshirt senior; Dematrius Davis, four-star freshman early enrollee; Trey Lindsey, sophomore walk-on.

Summer arrivals: T.J. Finley, sophomore transfer from LSU.

Outlook: It has been an up-and-down couple of years for Nix on the Plains, where he has started every game since he arrived on campus. He was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019 and delivered some memorable moments but also had his share of struggles. He similarly oscillated in his performances last year, and he has yet to complete at least 60 percent of his passes in a season and has just 28 career touchdown passes against 13 interceptions.

Enter Harsin and Bobo. Auburn’s new head coach is known for his work with quarterbacks and his meticulous attention to detail, especially with everything that goes into playing the position before the snap. Bobo, meanwhile, has a track record of helping develop quality quarterbacks during his time at Georgia. The two will be tasked with helping Nix finally put it all together and take that long-anticipated step forward.

While Nix’s development under the new staff will be crucial, Auburn fans should at least take solace in the Tigers’ improved quarterback situation heading into the fall. Whereas depth behind Nix has been a concern each of his first two years, the arrival of LSU transfer T.J. Finley provides Auburn will a backup plan who already has experience starting in the SEC. Finley made five starts as a true freshman at LSU last season, completing 57.1 percent of his passes for 941 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. Though he’ll get a chance to push Nix in fall camp, he at least provides Auburn with a quality contingency option at the position.

Grant Loy, who served as Nix’s backup last season, also returns for a super-senior season, while the Tigers also have four-star freshman early enrollee Dematrius Davis to develop for the future.

Battle to watch: Finley chose Auburn as a transfer destination, in part, because the new coaching staff told him he would be able to come in and compete for the starting job right away. It’s an uphill battle, for sure, but Finley — who started five games as a true freshman at LSU last season — will try to unseat Nix for the starting job this fall.

Keep an eye on: Nix’s development as he enters his junior season under a new coaching staff, a third different offensive coordinator and third different offensive system. Harsin is known for his work with quarterbacks, and Nix’s growth this year could be an interesting case study.

Projected two-deep:

Bo Nix (6-foot-3, 214 pounds)

T.J. Finley (6-foot-7, 246 pounds)

[aubiefifty 18,231]

very little new here but it was from yesterday so maybe someone will enjoy the article.

[W.E.D 11,071]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:24 AM, aubiefifty said:

T.J. Finley (6-foot-7, 246 pounds)

Nice to see him have a nice little growth spurt at 19.  Grew an inch!!

[aubiefifty 18,231]

12 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Nice to see him have a nice little growth spurt at 19.  Great an inch!!

i did not know that!

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

I'm wondering if Harsin is going to use the Akron and Alabama State games to get the top three QB's (in my estimation at the moment, that would be Nix, Finley and Davis) some game speed reps and see who looks up to the task. I hope Bo Nix becomes the QB we all hoped he would be when he signed. Harsin has a pretty good resume on QB development so it could happen. But truthfully right now I don't have much confidence that Bo holds the starting position even if it's his at the start of the season...

[clwn 336]

11 minutes ago, CleCoTiger said:

I'm wondering if Harsin is going to use the Akron and Alabama State games to get the top three QB's (in my estimation at the moment, that would be Nix, Finley and Davis) some game speed reps and see who looks up to the task. I hope Bo Nix becomes the QB we all hoped he would be when he signed. Harsin has a pretty good resume on QB development so it could happen. But truthfully right now I don't have much confidence that Bo holds the starting position even if it's his at the start of the season...

Agreed. If Bobo can't get Nix to learn the pocket and get the feet set right... really gonna just be a repeat of last two seasons of losing the close ones. With Tank and Shivers, hopefully Bobo will treat them like his UGA offenses with Ealey and King. Taking pressure off Joe Cox and Aaron Murray at the time. Basically having Nix be a game manager, good thing is Nix can run also when needed. Like Murray did when no one was opened on 3rd down, always seemed to kill us by getting just enough to get first down. Damn I want to beat UGA so bad. Please Harsin, win that one this year lol.

[cole256 17,085]

There's no doubt in my mind they'll do everything they can for Bo to start. I said in another thread Bo is cocky and I hope he doesn't lose that. 3 things most important for Bo, throwing accurately on all levels and not lobbing everything in but actually pushing a ball through a gap and zipping it 

Second pocket awareness, step up in a pocket sometimes instead of taking off and leaving the o line hanging out to dry

Third is well actually it's the same thing I said first but the deep ball accuracy. That probably was the ugliest part of his game. If corners believe they have to guard the deep ball as well it will open things up for him with the underneath stuff. Last year corners were able to sit on the underneath stuff. And when we played good corners and you only have one step of separation as opposed to 5 steps we literally didn't stand a chance.

[clwn 336]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

There's no doubt in my mind they'll do everything they can for Bo to start. I said in another thread Bo is cocky and I hope he doesn't lose that. 3 things most important for Bo, throwing accurately on all levels and not lobbing everything in but actually pushing a ball through a gap and zipping it 

Second pocket awareness, step up in a pocket sometimes instead of taking off and leaving the o line hanging out to dry

Third is well actually it's the same thing I said first but the deep ball accuracy. That probably was the ugliest part of his game. If corners believe they have to guard the deep ball as well it will open things up for him with the underneath stuff. Last year corners were able to sit on the underneath stuff. And when we played good corners and you only have one step of separation as opposed to 5 steps we literally didn't stand a chance.

I still want to throw things and kick stuff thinking back at all the overthrows deep to wide open receivers. So many lost opportunities and points.

[cole256 17,085]

I saw Malik Willis was rated 4 or 5 as far as top returning QB.....hilarious that we had him on our roster. That's just wild.