Greg McElroy explains why Payton Thorne could be poised for a big year at Auburn

Auburn may have their new QB1 in the form of Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne. It was a very nice get for Hugh Freeze’s first season as even an analyst from the other side of the Iron Bowl rivalry had to admit that good things should be on the horizon for the former Spartan with the Tigers.

Greg McElroy thinks Thorne will end up as a very solid fit for Auburn from what he said on ‘Always College Football’. That’s because, with Todd Phillips calling plays, the Tigers should end up as a team that leans more toward the run. That will open things up for Thorne who, while in East Lansing, found success in play-action scenarios.

“With how Auburn’s likely moving offensively? You’ve got to anticipate (for) Phillip Montgomery, the new offensive coordinator. Everyone’s talking about Hugh Freeze and his offensive acumen. (But) Hugh Freeze has always scored points, whether it be at Liberty or Ole Miss,” McElroy explained. “He’s always scored points but, by all accounts, he’s delegating responsibilities to Phillip Montgomery. If you look at Phillip Montgomery’s tenure as the head coach at Tulsa? They were a team that wanted to pound the football.”

“They wanted to pound the football, they wanted to run the football. (And) they wanted to compliment the run game with the play-action pass,” said McElroy. “That’s what Payton Thorne has excelled with in the past. I expect him to have a really nice year.”

To break his point down, McElroy compared Thorne’s 2021 and 2022 statistics.

Thorne had the luxury of Kenneth Walker in the backfield when he was a redshirt sophomore. During that campaign, he threw for over 3,200 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. That led Michigan State to an 11-2 record and a win in the Peach Bowl. Then, without Walker in his junior year last fall, those numbers fell off to just 2,679 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as the Spartans went 5-7.

Thorne’s success will rely on a quality run game to open things up for him. With Montgomery calling plays, McElroy believes he’ll have exactly that on offense next season, assuming he wins the starting job down on The Plains.

On3 Roundtable: Evaluating Thorne’s fit at Auburn

Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne is heading to Auburn as a transfer. With the former Spartan eventually heading south, AuburnLive’s Justin Hokanson thinks his fit with the Tigers makes a lot of sense.

Thorne has proven his mettle against Power 5 competition, for one. And, as Hokanson noted in an On3 Roundtable with JD PicKell, he’s not destined to be a one-and-done at Auburn.

“I think the other aspect of him that’s intriguing and I wrote about at AuburnLive, in my opinion, was the fact that he has multiple years of eligibility,” Hokanson said during the interview. “Now, he could be draft eligible next year, he could be one-and-done, but I think based on what he’s done so far, unless he showed up at Auburn and balled out, I think he’d be there for two years,” Hokanson said.

“Seems like an efficient player. An efficient quarterback that’s got some good potential to distribute the football and make good decisions. And honestly, that’s what Auburn needs right now. He’s got some mobility. He’s not some super athlete. But if you watched him at Michigan State? He showed some signs of being able to escape pressure and take off and run. And so he’s at least enough of a threat that, in that RPO game, if you don’t respect him? He can pull and run around the other side. He’s not Robby Ashford out there, but he’s mobile enough that you have to respect that, I think. He can pull it a couple times and make some good runs. And then you’ll have to worry about it,” Hokanson said.

Overall, with the point in the calendar and considering the options Auburn has at quarterback, Thorne is a pretty decent upgrade to the room.

“So, I think he’s a good fit. Based on where things are, based on who’s available, I think he’s a really good fit,” Hokanson said.