The 2024 football season is still over a month away, and Auburn fans are excited for the possibility of their favorite team taking a giant step forward to reaching College Football Playoff levels of success.
The USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and the Associated Press polls have yet to be released, but ESPN has revealed each FBS teams’ success in 2024 with its preseason Football Power Index rankings. ESPN has placed Auburn at No. 19 and has an 83% chance to win six games this season.
Following its No. 34 finish last season, is No. 19 just right for the rising Tigers? Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman is skeptical.
Martinez recently tagged each SEC team with an “overrated, underrated, or accurate” label based on their preseason FPI ranking. Unfortunately for Auburn, Martinez has given Auburn the “overrated” tag.
Sure, the Auburn offense has plenty of upside with new additions from the transfer portal. However, quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] will have to progress from last season’s performance for Martinez to change his mind about the Tigers.
Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne wasn’t great last season in his first year with Auburn. He’ll have more passing targets after the team added five-star freshman Cam Coleman, Georgia State’s Robert Lewis and Penn State’s KeAndre Lambert-Smith. The Tigers also retooled their defensive line by adding Indiana’s Phillip Blidi and USC’s Isaiah Raikes. Still, it’s hard to put Auburn at No. 10 with such a big question mark at quarterback.
Martinez is not the first person to share their doubts about Thorne’s ability to take the Tigers to another level. In Lindy’s Sports preseason magazine, an anonymous head coach said that Thorne was average, and won’t “lead you to the promised land.”
There is zero doubt that Thorne will have a huge target on his back this season. However, head coach Hugh Freeze has full confidence in his QB1, and will look to him to lead the Tigers to another bowl appearance in 2024.
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