Everything Hugh Freeze said on the Auburn QB room, possibility of a transfer portal addition

AUBURN — The Auburn quarterback position has been a hot topic all season and into the offseason. The discussion centers around the potential of Payton Thorne and whether or not Hugh Freeze should go after a transfer portal quarterback to compete with Thorne and the Tigers’ other less experienced signal callers.

Freeze and co. have looked into bringing in a portal quarterback, that much is certain. When asked about the possibility of bringing in a transfer portal quarterback on Saturday, Freeze wanted to clear some things up regarding the immediate future of the position and what his thought process is at the moment.

Here’s Freeze in his entirety talking about what’s running through his mind when weighing all the options as it relates to Auburn’s quarterback situation.

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“I’m going to be really blunt. The cool thing it seems in most people’s eyes is as soon as a quarterback hits the portal, man I’m getting hit, ‘this is your guy! Throw the bag at him!’ Have y’all watched the film? How many games has he won. Ultimately, that’s what a quarterback is judged on is how many games did he win? That seems to be the cool thing to do, and maybe they are right, I don’t know.

“We evaluate and watch every single quarterback, lineman, receiver in the portal. We try to evaluate if this is the best thing for our football team. Truthfully, we have one of the top returning quarterbacks in Power Five in wins in Payton Thorne. I believe if we get the right pieces around him and Holden (Geriner) and Walker (White) and Hank (Brown), I think our quarterback room will be fine next year. That is my belief, it’s what drives me to get the right pieces around them.

“I thought (Thorne) showed once he settled in offensively what he could do and again, when he had two NFL receivers and the two kids at Michigan State, the guy threw for 6,700 yards. I think he can do just fine. I haven’t found a guy yet…and if you go take one, you are probably going to lose Payton, Holden, you better be right. I believe in Payton, I believe in Holden, I believe in Hank, and I believe in the kid we have coming. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but that’s my belief.

“I’m looking forward to getting better pieces in our offense and improving. I’d also say I don’t know in Year One in the transfer quarterback world. Who set the world on fire? Go look at that and find out. Now, in Year Two, there’s a few and that’s my expectation for Payton or Holden, whoever wins it.”

That certainly clears much of the speculation up. Freeze admits that Auburn has evaluated portal quarterbacks, and Auburn Live has talked about the Tigers’ interest in some on our message board. But, Freeze also has confidence and belief in the potential of the room as it stands now.

As for Thorne, while the surface numbers don’t always show it, Freeze saw solid improvement as the season went on. Freeze clearly remains very optimistic about what Thorne can be in 2024.

“After the second half of the season as we got better at receiver and got more comfortable doing the things we’re going to do moving forward, I saw him continue to get better. His IQ in the game, his competitiveness, toughness that showed in the Alabama game, I think he’s got the ability to be a dual-thread guy that has great understanding of what we’re trying to do,” Freeze said.

“If you get the right pieces all around him, he’s going to be pretty dang efficient. I’m concentrating on using our resources and time to build all the other pieces first, then let’s go see how these other quarterbacks perform in spring practice. I think year two for him after going through a season and a spring practice and another fall camp, there’s going to be a drastic difference. And obviously getting a few other pieces around him.”

Auburn begins bowl practice on Saturday and will practice all week before taking a break for Christmas. The team will report to Nashville on December 26 and start practice at the bowl site on December 27.