Report: Hank Brown to start Saturday

[AUwent 3,841]

3 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

You need to build a QB room to sustain success. So you go after Deuce. You also get a really good one year guy in the portal. 

You may unfortunately be right, need to have depth. If we got Deuce, what would be a good comparison for the caliber of QB we could get from the portal? Definitely not Cam Ward level (the equivalent would be Lagway if he jumps assuming BN is fired), I’m thinking maybe a Salter? The scenario to hope for might be Hank being Chris Todd ‘09 level, then getting Deuce and KS.

With the recent talk around Walker I’m just completely given up on the idea of ever having a HS QB work out for us. I’d like to think that Deuce having risen in the rankings is a good sign but there’s talk that HE’LL be a project too. And I’ve heard that word enough times to know that project is a very nice way of saying he won’t work out—at least, I’ve never seen someone described that way work out.

[cbo 8,832]

2 hours ago, aujohnson said:

Which qb do you think he should have brought in?

A quick list of transfer QBs that look better than Thorne so far:

Cam Ward

Dillon Gabriel

KJ Jefferson

Diego Pavia

Kaidon Salter

Jayden Maivah

There are several others and maybe a few of these listed won't work out in the end.

The real answer is that Freeze should be able to figure this out better than us. And some still want to act like the only option was to pay Cam Ward a ton of money (a good idea, by the way), but that's simply not true. 

 

[sevenlee36 1,728]

To be fair, it certainly would take more than one game to gel with freshman WRs. However he was missing some reads and not trusting what he was seeing, not sure the cause and if live game reps will fix it or not. I believe the coaches could have put the team in a better position to win and PT in a better position to grow with the young WR core, by running the ball or calling plays that are easier/less reads.

[Viper 3,537]

49 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

Unless we throw the ball right to them. 

 

The CB has to actually cover the WR to obtain a pick…

 

[Auburn93 808]

7 hours ago, CR said:

 

Glowing comments about Hank. Said he is an NFL QB.

[Tiger Refuge 6,802]

Dang good info here.

[DAG 34,938]

25 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Dang good info here.

This dude is a fifth year senior and still can’t get it done. I would ride or die with Hank at this point. 

[WFE12 9,351]

I’m just glad to see someone else other than that [redacted]. Too bad playcalling is still stupid though.

[Tiger Refuge 6,802]

11 minutes ago, DAG said:

This dude is a fifth year senior and still can’t get it done. I would ride or die with Hank at this point. 

Sounds like that’s Freeze’s hope. That Hank seizes this opportunity and doesn’t let go.

[Bro Johnny Mac 1,474]

The weather will hamper what they can do with Hank.. I don’t think that we will see a lot of passing, but if he can move the sticks on third down and not turn the ball over that will be enough to get him the Arky start

[japantiger 4,140]

Glad to see it.  The logical, rational thing to do.

Best of luck Hank

[ShocksMyBrain 9,776]

1 hour ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Sounds like that’s Freeze’s hope. That Hank seizes this opportunity and doesn’t let go.

Be quite a Heisman story. Walk-on uslurps a 27 year old starter to go on and win the whole damn thing. The movie practically writes itself. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,091]

3 hours ago, JuscAUse! said:

Man, I love your takes most of the time, but we run an RPO offense. That puts the decision making in the hands of the QB. I have no idea if HF or whoever is telling the QB to throw long, but if it's a true RPO, Thorne made those decisions. On any given play , QB can hand off to the RB, keep it and run, or make multiple reads in the passing game. You can argue that the coach didn't coach him up enough,or the Offense sucks, but chances are no one from the bench called a hail Mary on 4th and 2. Or 3rd and 2. It IS complicated,and I would understand any argument that says the coach should know better. It's just my opinion, and we aren't enemies. Just frustrated fans. 

I know there's a heavy amount put on the QB in that style of offense, and there's even choice routes occasionally, but it does seem like his routes for the WRs are primarily schemed to go deep. And as far as I know, they can still have a preference in terms of what you read first, second, etc. I kinda feel like it's been more of a PRO offense rather than RPO too. Like the running back has to be VERY low in the reads to get the lack of runs we've gotten so far...but I know the OL hasn't been the greatest in run blocking either so what are you gonna do 

I also meant to express in my original post that looking at a different way of playing should also be something they can change up to. We know they practice non-RPO passing plays and have seen some this season. I don't think it's anything stopping them from just doing more traditional passes if the QB isn't seeing the reads. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,091]

I wouldn't be shocked if the run became more of an emphasis in the RPO with this guy at QB btw. Between the potential inclement weather and him being less of a number in the run game, I would want to get that in motion before you ask him to just air it out  

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,091]

2 hours ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Dang good info here.

Think "War Report" got the same general breakdown too. Refraining from mentioning the negative parts of his transparency and honesty, Hughbert has had moments where he's given a level of insight that I don't think 99% of P4 coaches would give. 

I'm sure Peyton does have the ability to operate in a completely clean offense, in a practice setting, in the film room, etc. But when you are operating as an Auburn QB, I simply think you need to be ahead of the curve mentally, rather than just avg or even below avg. Maybe if you're at Alabama and you can throw to 4 NFL receivers with a NFL OL, you can be a dude who needs a clear pocket every other play or receives elite offensive coordinator coaching, but that isn't something we have often. 

[Mkvl04 67]

I came on here at this right moment to ask, who's starting Saturday 

And I got my answer

[cbo 8,832]

26 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I wouldn't be shocked if the run became more of an emphasis in the RPO with this guy at QB btw. Between the potential inclement weather and him being less of a number in the run game, I would want to get that in motion before you ask him to just air it out  

I'd bet good money we prioritize the run and gash their terrible defense on the ground. Which will open up the pass and Hank will look good. 

Then we will see what we have next week against Arkansas. 

[bishoptf 767]

2 hours ago, WFE12 said:

I’m just glad to see someone else other than that [redacted]. Too bad playcalling is still stupid though.

Agree I heard a lot of it's not the coaching but imho if your qb is struggling you call different plays to help him get in a groove. I'm not a PT fan but Freeze did him no favors with the play calling. Hope Hank is able to get into a rhythm and makes good decisions. 

[aujohnson 341]

3 hours ago, cbo said:

A quick list of transfer QBs that look better than Thorne so far:

Cam Ward

Dillon Gabriel

KJ Jefferson

Diego Pavia

Kaidon Salter

Jayden Maivah

There are several others and maybe a few of these listed won't work out in the end.

The real answer is that Freeze should be able to figure this out better than us. And some still want to act like the only option was to pay Cam Ward a ton of money (a good idea, by the way), but that's simply not true. 

 

Thanks to hindsight you don’t have to mention one of the more sought after qbs that we were actually in it for. Riley Leonard was very close to being our guy and everyone wanted him. 
He is a very good example of why it’s tough to throw that money at a new qb. 
Look at the FSU qb he was another one of the well known names that didn’t pan out. Grayson MCall struggling. 
Any time you do it it’s a gamble, especially for a one year guy. 

[cbo 8,832]

1 minute ago, aujohnson said:

Thanks to hindsight you don’t have to mention one of the more sought after qbs that we were actually in it for. Riley Leonard was very close to being our guy and everyone wanted him. 
He is a very good example of why it’s tough to throw that money at a new qb. 
Look at the FSU qb he was another one of the well known names that didn’t pan out. Grayson MCall struggling. 
Any time you do it it’s a gamble, especially for a one year guy. 

Agree, it's very difficult. But I'm tired of hearing about how difficult everything is.

There are coaches that figure it out and get it done. We need one of those. 

[aujohnson 341]

Just now, cbo said:

Agree, it's very difficult. But I'm tired of hearing about how difficult everything is.

There are coaches that figure it out and get it done. We need one of those. 

We agree on it being frustrating. I think it’s kinda like hearing about the guy winning the lottery and thinking, he won it why can’t I? 

I forget that he was one out of several million other that lost with me. 😄😭

[Tigger1985 883]

9 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

The challenge will be for the defense IMO. Must stop the QB run, so rush must stay in their lanes.

Well I hope that we learned to can that three rush play.

[TripleDegreeTiger 185]

6 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

The problem is that when one guy commands around $2 million in NIL, that means 2-3 other guys are going to be left out because no school has infinite NIL funds.  Having seen Thorne at Mich State when he had NFL and Big Ten caliber WRs perform well, it wasn't a crazy leap of logic to think that if we overhaul the WR room with some stud HS and a couple of good transfers, we could see that Thorne again.  Given those options, I can't fault his thought process on it.  It just didn't work out.  Now he's moving forward as he should.

 

[nthemix 121]

I like the move of giving HB a shot … with that said we probably need to pump the breaks a bit … still have to remember that our O line is probably in the bottom half of the league so keep that in mind 

[DAG 34,938]

You can tell who watches the games and who doesn’t watch other college football games. Let’s talk McCall, yes he struggled last game against Tennessee who overpowered NC state in every facet of the game , but look at his struggle numbers compared to the struggle numbers of Peyton Thorne. Yes Sanders struggled last year as well to a team that just overwhelmed his offensive line, but look at his struggling numbers against PT struggle numbers. It is vastly different. Context matters. I was never crazy about Riley Leonard and I do not understand why people wanted him so badly. The three guys I wanted was cam ward because he has an amazing arm, McCall because he is built for what freeze wants to do or the Liberty guy because he is also built on the RPO. PT is not built for this offense and is numbers are abysmal against inferior opponents at that.