As the summer months draw near, there are still plenty of questions surround the Auburn Tigers football program. Bryan Harsin and the staff understand the task at hand.
With the questions surrounding the depth at certain positions, and the lack of experience at others, one question is head and shoulders above the rest. What we hoped to learn revolved around one of the five quarterbacks separating themselves from the pack.
Towards the end, it was down to four with Dematrius Davis transferring out of the program. True freshman Holden Geriner doesn’t seem to have much footing in the competition per some of the reports coming out of the spring, but I wouldn’t count him out just yet.
The three to watch in the fall are all former transfers. Zach Calzada (Texas A&M), T.J. Finley (LSU), and Robby Ashford (Oregon) seem to all have a shot at this point in time. In a review of the SEC, ESPN answered two questions regarding Auburn’s spring practices:
What we learned in the spring
Bryan Harsin is still the head coach after an attempted coup, and Auburn is still interested in getting its tight ends the football. Other than that, there weren’t a lot of questions answered. The offensive line, which had several key players out, struggled, and the receivers didn’t exactly inspire confidence with their drops during last month’s scrimmage. The defense, which lost a number of players through the draft and the transfer portal, appears to be a work in progress. But, again, the tight ends figure to have another big season after catching 12 of the team’s 31 total receptions on A-Day.
What we need to learn by week 1
Give TJ Finley and Robby Ashford credit for executing the offense during the spring game. Neither quarterback turned the ball over or seemed overwhelmed by the moment. But the fact is that neither won the job with their performance. How could they when Zach Calzada wasn’t around to throw his hat in the ring? The former Texas A&M starter was sidelined while he continues to recover from an injury. When he’s back to 100% during fall camp, the real competition will begin and we’ll see who steps up to replace three-year starter Bo Nix, who left for Oregon via the portal this offseason.
[mm-video type=video id=01g0jftyaw9e89hqe9qr playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g0jftyaw9e89hqe9qr/01g0jftyaw9e89hqe9qr-0b45443e8e85d1d986ea9c6abb064cee.jpg]
[listicle id=46978]