Hugh Freeze explains decision to develop Payton Thorne, not 'spend a million dollars' on transfer QB

As Auburn goes into the 2024 season, all eyes will be on the quarterback room. Head coach Hugh Freeze opted not to pursue a transfer quarterback this offseason, leaving Payton Thorne in the driver’s seat at the position going forward.

The Tigers have a handful of other options they’d like to see develop — Holden Geriner, Hank Brown and Walker White — but Thorne figures to be the guy in 2024.

Freeze explained his reasoning for the offseason approach.

“The options that you’re presented with: develop Payton, develop Holden, develop Hank, develop Walker or go spend a million dollars on this guy, I just couldn’t bring myself to doing that, because I wanted to put all the pieces together,” Freeze said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

“Now I’m not saying I won’t do that in time. But just currently I think the guy’s proven.”

Payton Thorne threw for 1,755 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, while also throwing 10 interceptions. He ran for 515 yards and three scores.

The Tigers will need better production if they hope to make some real noise in the SEC in 2024. That said, Freeze is convinced it’s as much about what happens around Thorne as Thorne’s play itself.

“I’ve watched his Michigan State stuff 1,000 times, he had two NFL receivers and he was pretty danged good,” Freeze said. “There’s a lot of things that should be 50-50 balls and you’ve got to have a guy that can do that. I think Dre Lambert, he’s a 50-50 pass-catcher. And obviously we’re excited about the ones we signed.”

Payton Thorne did indeed put up much better numbers at Michigan State. In his last two years there before he transferred to Auburn he logged 5,919 passing yards, 46 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. He ran for five scores.

Getting him back to the point where he can be a weapon with his arm will be key. Freeze felt better about those chances than taking a gamble on a transfer, even a more experienced one.

“I believe in our quarterback room. I believe in Kent Austin,” he said. “I believe if you have the right pieces around Payton that we can have success. I think you saw some glimpses of that, and I don’t think we had a total package around him really.”