JD PicKell points out one major area Robby Ashford needs to grow to take leap

On3’s JD PicKell has been examining quarterback rooms across the country lately. And recently, he tackled some tough questions that the Auburn Tigers now face at quarterback with Payton Thorne transferring in from Michigan State.

The Tigers are now looking at two possible options at starting quarterback for 2023 — Thorne and last year’s starter Robby Ashford. But if Ashford is to take over the reins of the offense for another season, PicKell says there are some things he needs to do first.

“I’ve never met Robby Ashford, never had a conversation with him. I just know from the outside looking in what I have seen,” said PicKell. “And what I need to see from my quarterback is some even keel. Give me an even-keel Robby Ashford.

“This is a two-sided coin because all the greats they got some fire to them. They hate when things go wrong; they do not accept mediocrity; they do not accept mistakes. It’s part of being great, right? We see Tom Brady do it. We’ve seen multiple clips of Peyton Manning mic’d up (and) yelling at his center. Like it just kind of comes with the territory of being great. But for Robby Ashford, too many times last year, I saw things go wrong, and I saw too much negative emotion from our starting quarterback.”

Last season Ashford played in 12 games for Auburn. He had moments of ups and downs as he finished the year completing just under 50 percent of his throws for 1,613 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions. On the ground as he racked up 710 yards and seven touchdowns.

PicKell says Ashford needs to learn to be ‘cool’

Still, if Ashford wants to be the man at Auburn to start 2023, he needs to work on his body language. According to PicKell, that were far too many times when Ashford let his emotions get the best of him.

“Listen, man, I saw a head coach talking to his starting quarterback when I was playing call, and he said; listen, there’s two coolest hands in the stadium. The first one is me; the second one is you. For Robbie Ashford, we got to be the cool hand in the stadium, brother. We can’t have this emotional response when we have a fumble when we throw an interception because everyone’s looking to you. Everyone’s looking at how you’re going to respond when things go awry. And so, I want to see a little bit more even keel, Robby Ashford.”