Hugh Freeze expects Auburn QB battle to be narrowed quickly after camp starts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze recently tasked offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery and offensive assistant Kent Austin with developing a plan for the quarterback position entering August.

“I told Phil and Kent they need to present a plan,” Freeze said on Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “Hank Brown can make every throw, but realistically, you can’t get four kids reps in camp. Probably it’ll be those other three for the first 10 days trying to get enough reps so we can get it down to two guys, and then move from there.”

The plan for Brown falls in line with Auburn Live’s depth chart projections for the quarterback position. The battle will be between Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner.

Thorne received praise from Freeze on Tuesday as a player showing “intrinsic” leadership qualities since arriving at Auburn.

As for Ashford, Hugh Freeze and Co. challenged the returning quarterback in the spring and Freeze reiterated the challenge to Ashford again at media days.

“We’ve challenged Robby since I’ve been here to grow into what comes with being the quarterback at Auburn,” Freeze said. “He’s responded mostly positive with that. We haven’t been in the fires yet, in the competition, not just Robby, with everybody. It’s going to be everyone, how do they handle it? This is life. You’re never going to be the only guy that should be competing. Hopefully he handles it well because I do believe Robby Ashford helps us win football games.”

And regarding Geriner, the redshirt freshman made strides in the spring, with Freeze saying the youngster “really stood out” towards the end of spring camp.

Auburn Live recently posed five questions for the quarterback room entering August camp:

Is Thorne the presumed starter?

Yes is the answer to this question. During the spring, Freeze said, “I think we can win games with (Ashford and Geriner), but should a guy that comes available that’s a dynamic guy that we think is a proven guy at doing that, I think we would have to at least look at that.” That’s what Freeze did in landing Thorne, and really the answer to this question goes beyond Thorne. Freeze and Co. looked at Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, former N.C. State quarterback Devin Leary, former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders, former Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson and others, before Thorne entered the portal. That speaks to what we all know, and that’s while Ashford is athletic and developing, and Geriner has potential, Auburn needed a proven, high-level Power Five quarterback in order to reach its potential this fall and Freeze knew it.

Program sources have told Auburn Live that Thorne has lived in the film room since his arrival in May, and if anyone other than Thorne is the starter against UMass, it would be a very surprising development.

What role will Ashford play in the Auburn offense?

Ashford showed last season his ability to run the football is an elite skill set. He racked up 108 rushing yards at Mississippi State, 121 yards at Alabama, finishing with the same amount of rushing touchdowns, 34 more rushing yards and three more yards per game than running back Jarquez Hunter. Montgomery said this spring of Ashford, “It’s frustrating for a guy like Robby who has a lot of athletic ability to him. When he breaks out of that pocket, good things can happen for us. You have to make sure you’re looking at that in a proper way when you’re moving forward.” That’s the big question when it comes to Ashford: How does it ability to run fit into Freeze and Montgomery’s offense, and how often can Ashford be utilized without disrupting the flow of presumed starter Thorne and the Tigers’ offense?

What is expected from the QB in the RPO offense?

One of the things heard from Freeze and other offensive assistant coaches in the spring was the installation of the RPO elements of this new offense was slowing the evolution of the quarterbacks and receivers. The RPO offense can take time to grasp and put into motion. It essentially looks like a run play. The line blocks run, the running back anticipates the handoff, and the quarterback can give it. That’s a post-snap RPO. Then there’s pre-snap RPO, when the quarterback is making reads before the ball is snapped. Most of that centers around reading coverages and fronts, and then deciding the best play to run.  Installing the RPO offense requires confidence in the quarterback as he will have to make split-second decisions to either hand the ball off to his running back or pull the ball back to fire a quick pass.

As Freeze said, “…it’s multiple and tempo-driven with NFL passing concepts.” Quick decisions, accurate passing, and patience will be key in making this offense go.

What is Geriner’s future?

Last year, sources around the program would often say no quarterback on the roster spun the football as good as Geriner. Maybe that speaks to Geriner’s potential, or maybe that speaks to Geriner’s competition at the time. It’s probably a little bit of both. Three of the four recruiting services considered Geriner a four-star prospect, with ESPN considering him a top-10 quarterback prospect nationally. Following Finley’s injury last season, Geriner earned the start against Missouri, but wasn’t given a real chance to operate freely, only throwing three passes in the game and later being replaced by Ashford. Now, Geriner enters his redshirt freshman season behind Thorne and Ashford, with a true freshman in Brown coming in, and another stellar freshman in Walker White coming into the program after this season.

Needless to say, August camp will be important for Geriner to continue to develop. The quarterback room will get crowded next spring if everyone currently on the roster returns. It will be interesting to see how Geriner’s season goes and how that plays into his immediate future with the Tigers.

Where does Auburn’s quarterback room rank in the SEC?

Despite the arrival of an experienced and talented signal caller in Thorne, the Tigers’ quarterback room still falls well down the list of the best rooms in the SEC by most neutral observers. Athlon Sports ranks Auburn’s quarterback room the 14th-best room in the league (dead last, really?). Sporting News considers it the 11th-best room.

Six schools should feel really good about where they’re at. LSU tops most lists among SEC teams with senior starter Jayden Daniels and redshirt sophomore backup Garrett Nussmeier. Arkansas returns redshirt senior KJ Jefferson. Mississippi State returns senior Will Rogers. South Carolina returns senior Spencer Rattler. Kentucky brings in the senior transfer Leary (On3 Sports’ No. 2 transfer portal QB). Tennessee brings back senior starter Joe Milton, and welcomes the insanely talented five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava.

Five more schools have talent, but fall below the first six. Ole Miss returns junior Jaxson Dart, and welcomes redshirt freshman transfer Walker Howard (LSU) and senior transfer Sanders (Oklahoma State). Georgia faces some uncertainty with redshirt junior Carson Beck slated to start, along with redshirt sophomore Brock Vandagriff and redshirt freshman Gunner Stockton backing him up. Texas A&M returns sophomore starter Conner Weigman and still has senior Max Johnson backing him up. Alabama, for the first time in years, faces real uncertainty with sophomore Jalen Milroe, sophomore transfer Tyler Buchner and freshman Ty Simpson battling it out.

Then there’s three schools that are hoping for the best. Florida brings in senior transfer Graham Mertz (Wisconsin), Missouri welcomes back junior starter Brady Cook, and Vanderbilt returns sophomore starter A.J. Swann.

Where does Auburn fit into the mix?

There’s some really good starting quarterbacks in the SEC this season. Until Thorne proves his worth in the toughest league in college football, there will be some doubt. And while Ashford is fantastic in the ground, he completed under 50 percent of his passes in seven games last fall, including four straight to end the season. Entering the season, it’s fair to say the Tigers’ quarterback room has work to do to be considered one of the better units in the league.