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Eperience gives T.J. Finley an advantage


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auburnwire.usatoday.com
 

Previous experience gives T.J. Finley an advantage in Auburn's QB race

Taylor Jones
3 minutes

Each player competing for the starting quarterback position brings unique factors with them to the offense, but it appears that one candidate may have a slight advantage over his fellow competitors.

When discussing quarterbacks following Auburn’s scrimmage last Friday, head coach Bryan Harsin took the time to share with the media what makes a quarterback an ideal fit in his style.

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“You can tell who your quarterback is when you walk into a room, I think,” Harsin said. “That guy is sitting there and has his notebook out and he’s dialed in. He sits in the meeting room and knows the answers. He’s flowing with the coach. He’s one of the first guys out there on the field getting warmed up. He’s got command of what’s going on. It’s every single thing.”

Is there a contender that matches that description step-by-step? Look no further than incumbent T.J. Finley.

Finley, who has the most experience in Harsin’s system, has a “coach’s mentality,” Harsin says.

“(Finley) sees things out there. Not everybody conceptually picks things up very quickly. It takes a little bit of time. He’s got that mentality,” Harsin said. “Some guys have it. It takes some time for others and you’ll figure it out. But we’re all good at something, and some guys are really good at football and just seeing it.”

Harsin shared an example of Finley showcasing that mentality during Friday’s scrimmage, which was a testament to his extra experience with Harsin’s system.

“We get the play in late, the clock’s running down, it’s going to be a timeout situation. Well, he’s getting everybody lined up and getting the snap count to what it needs to be so we can get the snap up and get the play what we need to be,” Harsin said. “There’s no panic, he’s just doing it with urgency. He gets everybody lined up then bang, we convert a third down and nine. So those are things, to me, I think he does a really good job of.”

Finley’s first notable appearance came on Sept. 25 against Georgia State. Auburn was struggling against a lower-tier program and needed a shot in the arm. Finley relieved Bo Nix, and would ultimately throw the go-ahead touchdown pass to Shedrick Jackson with 0:45 remaining to give Auburn the 27-24 lead, which erased a 12-point halftime deficit.

He then took over the offense for good late in the season following an ankle injury to Nix in the Mississippi State game. He would go on to start in Auburn’s final three games, which all ended in defeat as part of Auburn’s five-straight losses to close the season.

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This is great news tbh. That mental capacity is as equally  important as the physical 

Edited by DAG
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1 minute ago, DAG said:

This is great news tbh. That mental capacity is as equal  important as the physical 

no ones learning curve is the same and i am betting he had doubts leaving LSU but here he is giving it his all. and i bet a lot of folks did not give him a lot of a chance. ashford seems to making stride as well. they say we cannot tackle him when he runs. he is taking all the second team reps and splitting more with tj. i think it would be wonderful to not have to worry about QB's much like we have over past years. hell we never knew what to expect much. well let me say i did not. i cannot get that quote from the natural when redford broke his beloved bat and he tells him "go pick me out a winner Bobby". dag i also think this shows me he might be coaching material as well according to the things he sees no one else does.

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10 hours ago, DAG said:

This is great news tbh. That mental capacity is as equally  important as the physical 

If not more so. Bigbird made a comparison between TJ and Jason Campbell that I've referred back to several times now, and it sounds like he very well might be cut from the same mold of things taking some time to come together, but coming around after a while. If that's the case, and TJ has gained the kind of calm demeanor Campbell displayed his last year, then we're in for a fun season.

Wonder if anyone has asked Carnell to compare the two?

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Uh oh 😕 

 

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7 minutes ago, toddc said:

Uh oh 😕 

 

Hopefully that means we've got the full and talented QB room we thought we would, and not that it's reporters grasping at straws.

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1 hour ago, toddc said:

Uh oh 😕 

 

I love it. Bout time he put some heat on these guys. The more playing well the merrier 

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10 minutes ago, AUFightingSoldiers said:

People really flying around out there?

No, that was Aurea and Spirit. :tease:

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2 hours ago, bigbird said:

Solid day of practice...

I like where we’re at!

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2 minutes ago, AUFightingSoldiers said:

Except that one time he flew in to the windows... who would have ever thought that would encapsulate that season so well in one moment 😬

Must have been 2012 huh?

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2 hours ago, Rednilla said:

If not more so. Bigbird made a comparison between TJ and Jason Campbell that I've referred back to several times now, and it sounds like he very well might be cut from the same mold of things taking some time to come together, but coming around after a while. If that's the case, and TJ has gained the kind of calm demeanor Campbell displayed his last year, then we're in for a fun season.

Wonder if anyone has asked Carnell to compare the two?

If TJ had anywhere near the final year JC did, then we will be in very good shape. However, I honestly think ZC will overtake him a few games in and I would not bet against true freshman Holden taking over ZC at some point, all depending on how the season is unfolding. Harsin needs strong play from these QB’s to keep his job. 

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