There are plenty of questions on the offensive side of the ball. Who will be the offensive coordinator? Who will be the quarterback’s coach? The biggest being who will be the starting quarterback when the Auburn Tigers take the field this fall.
The contenders are Zach Calzada, TJ Finely, and Robby Ashford at the top. Is there another transfer out there that could come in and make this team better?
Connor O’Gara of Saturday Down South kicked around the idea of pursuing former USC and Georgia quarterback J.T. Daniels. Daniels is rated among the top passers available.
What’s the biggest thing Harsin needs to figure out? The offense. Lost in the shuffle of his week in limbo was the fact that he lost offensive coordinator Austin Davis after 6 weeks on the job. But even beyond that, Harsin has something else to figure out — the quarterback situation.
JT Daniels would solve that problem.
If Harsin wants to pin his future on Ashford, Finley or Calzada, that’s on him. But if he dips back into the transfer portal and signs 1 more quarterback who lost his job as an SEC starter, it could be the thing that saves his job.
The premise of the conversation would make sense. The trio of quarterbacks on the roster has started just 13 games combined with a 6-7 record in those contests. Most of that came from Aggies signal-caller Zach Calzada. Finley played in relief duty up until Bo Nix broke his leg.
- Zach Calzada- 10 starts (6-4)
- TJ Finley- 3 starts (0-3)
- Robby Ashford- 0 starts
Could JT Daniels be the next Joe Burrow? Not in the sense that the former Bulldog will put together the best statistical season in one year. Daniels could change the trajectory of the football team on the offensive side of the ball. That would make more sense. Under Harsin in 2021, the offense averaged 28.3 points per game which is No. 68 in the country.
That number is skewed with two games in which Auburn scored 60 and 62 against Akron and Alabama A&M. Against power five teams. that number dropped to 22.1 points per game. They also struggled against Georgia State, TJ Finley came into the game late to save the offense on that day.
Daniels doesn’t have a ton of experience in terms of snaps he took at Georgia. He played in just nine games over two seasons with the Bulldogs but ultimately an injury and the rise of Stetson Bennett kept him off the field. What he does have is being an experienced player that has four years under his belt. Not to mention having been around a championship team.
Daniels clearly has a tremendous upside as a former five-quarterback. Over the life of his career, he has completed 63.8% of his pass attempts with 4,840 yards and 32 touchdowns. Daniels would be a clear upgrade to the room that is full of transfers.
The real question for Daniels is if he wants to stay in the SEC.
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