Paul Finebaum: Auburn fans should be 'jumping for joy'

Last week was quite the week for the Auburn Tigers football program.

Auburn landed three players out of the transfer portal in linebacker Jalen McLeod, quarterback Payton Thorne and wide receiver Caleb Burton.

McLeod transferred in from App. State after recording six sacks last season.

Thorne was a two-year starter at Michigan State who passed for nearly 2,700 yards, with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2022. He led the Spartans to a win over Pitt in the Peach Bowl in 2021, as Michigan State finished the year 11-2 and ranked in the top 10.

Burton is coming over from Ohio State. He didn’t catch a pass last season but is a former highly-rated recruit out of Lake Travis High in Texas.

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum spoke about the week Auburn had on Monday while appearing on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning show.

“I think Auburn fans should be jumping for joy today. Last week was great,” Finebaum said. “The quarterback pick up – what was the downside? You can quibble about Michigan State’s production. You can quibble about anything. But at the worst, he’s an alternative. And at the best, he’s your starter and he has a lot of experience.”

Finebaum isn’t concerned that Burton didn’t have a reception last season, pointing out that Ohio State had a loaded wide receivers room, which made it tough for Burton to get on the field.

Ohio State has two potential first-round picks for next year at receiver in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka.

“As far as the wide receiver from Ohio State, I’m thinking, ‘Yea, no he doesn’t have many stats. But as you look at the projections for next year’s NFL draft, where would you possibly fit in there?’” Finebaum said.

Finebaum has been very impressed by what Hugh Freeze has done so far as he prepares to enter his first season at Auburn.

Freeze was hired at Auburn after going 34-15 in the previous four seasons at Liberty. He is familiar with the SEC, having coached at Ole Miss from 2012-16.

“Remember back in November, December… ‘Well, can Auburn take a chance on Hugh Freeze?’ None of that matters anymore,” Finebaum said.

It remains to be seen what type of season Auburn will have in Year 1 under Freeze, but Finebaum believes the program is heading in the right direction.

“I just think it’s a great time for Auburn,” he said. “I think they’re in a really good place. Whether they make a run this year up towards the middle of the pack, I don’t know. But I feel certain this is a bowl team and I think that’s all you can hope for in Hugh Freeze’s first season.”