Tag: Holden Geriner

Auburn picks up crystal ball prediction for four-star cornerback

Could Auburn be in play for four-star cornerback Avieon Terrell?

The Auburn Tigers are needing to make a push over the next several months on the recruiting trail leading up to the start of the 2022 season. It will begin with the “Tiger Takeover“.

While winning recruiting battles in the state of Alabama is important, Bryan Harsin and the staff know they can make a living in the state of Georgia as well. Plenty of talented players have come from the Peach State. This includes current running back [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag] and freshman quarterback [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag].

Another Georgia target recently picked up a crystal ball prediction to join the Auburn football program. Avieon Terrell of Westlake in Atlanta, Georgia.

Terrell picks up prediction to Auburn

Terrell is the younger brother of former Clemson Tiger and current Atlanta Falcon cornerback A.J. Terrell. That could lead him to choose his brother’s alma mater, but I wouldn’t place too much stock into where his brother went. Choosing Auburn could be a quicker path to starting early on in his collegiate career.

Terrell is currently ranked as a four-star cornerback according to 247Sports composite rankings. His offer list includes Clemson, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Michigan State Spartans, Tennessee Vols, USC Trojans, and the Wisconsin Badgers.

The Auburn Tigers don’t appear to be on the list of teams that have offered Terrell according to 247Sports. Although he did spend time on the Plains in March for an unofficial visit.

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Ranking Auburn’s A-Day quarterbacks

T.J. Finley, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner are all looking to make an impact in Auburn’s QB room.

Auburn’s quarterback battle has been one of the prevailing storylines in the offseason, and Auburn’s spring game gave us a good look at three of those quarterbacks in a game simulation setting.

Quarterback [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag] played the first half and sat out the second. Transfer freshman [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] received the most playing time across both halves. Freshman [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag] played in only the waning moments of A-Day’s final quarter.

Here are the three quarterbacks that participated in the spring game ranked from least impressive to most impressive:

T.J. Finley, Robby Ashford, and Holden Geriner set to take center stage on ‘A-Day’

Is this T.J. Finley’s job to lose? Can the former LSU transfer separate himself from the pack?

The spring game for the Auburn Tigers is a major starting point for the quarterbacks. Despite the questions surrounding the wide receivers after a mass exodus in the room, the passers are still the biggest talking point as spring ball comes to an end on Saturday.

[autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag] has been viewed as QB1 through the process as [autotag]Zach Calzada[/autotag] recovers from shoulder surgery. The Tigers also have former Oregon Ducks dual-threat [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] and 2022 signee [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag] all in the mix. While no starter has been named up until this point, the former LSU quarterback can take a stranglehold on the starting role.

According to ESPN, they previewed this weekend’s game from a quarterback perspective.

T.J. Finley has a major opportunity

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

What ESPN Says…

No one is going to win the starting quarterback job on Saturday. It doesn’t matter what TJ Finley, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner do. Until former Texas A&M starter Zach Calzada has fully recovered from shoulder surgery and enters the race to replace departed three-year starter Bo Nix, we won’t know what direction Bryan Harsin and the coaching staff want to go. But because Calzada has been limited, A-Day represents an opportunity for Finley, Ashford and Geriner to separate from one another. Finley has gotten a bunch of first-team reps this spring and it feels as if he’s in the driver’s seat, but he has something to prove after coming on for an injured Nix late last season and not exactly blowing the doors off the place. He was 0-3 as the starter with only four passing touchdowns and one interception. — Alex Scarborough

Finley finished the 2021 season throwing for 827 yards with a 6-1 touchdown-interception ratio. The Louisiana native completed 54.7% of his passes in nine games. The final three games were as the starter in relief of injured starter Bo Nix, who is now in Eugene, Oregon.

On Saturday, he needs to separate himself from the group with a strong showing.

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Auburn Tigers Snapshot Profile: No. 9 Robby Ashford

Robby Ashford has an uphill climb to win Auburn’s starting QB job.

Going into the 2022 football season, Auburn Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Tigers roster.

Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Bryan Harsin this season.

Our next player to profile is quarterback Robby Ashford. Ashford transferred to The Plains from the Oregon Ducks, but he never saw any game action during his two years in Eugene, Oregon. He’ll hope to impress coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] in the spring to win the starting job.

Preseason Player Profile

Hometown: Hoover, Alabama

Ht: 6’3

Wt: 212 pounds

247Sports Composite Ranking

Four-Star | 12 | 12

Class in 2021: Freshman

Career Stats

Year G Att Yards YPA Rec Yards Total TDs
2020 – – – – – – –
2021 – – – – – – –

PFF Rankings (Team Rankings)

Year Offense Blocking Runs Yards After Contact
2020 – – – –
2021 – – – –

Depth Chart Overview

Ashford’s main goal this season will be to play football for the first time in his college career, and there’s a simple way to do that — beat out his competition for Auburn’s starting QB job.

To do that, there are three people standing in his way: [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag], [autotag]Zach Calzada[/autotag] and [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag]. Aside from Geriner, who is a freshman, both Finley and Calzada will be tough opponents to defeat with their experience in conjunction with his.

None of us here at Auburn Wire had Ashford winning this job, and with Finley’s game experience and Geriner’s potential, Ashford could face disappointment once again when the order shakes itself out.

Bryan Harsin updated Auburn quarterback Zach Calzada’s injury status

It appears that we won’t see Zach Calzada until fall camp.

The Auburn Tigers just finished up week two of spring practice and the staff is trying to get a feel for the quarterback situation. Many have speculated that it will ultimately be [autotag]Zach Calzada[/autotag]’s job when it is all said and done. However, he hasn’t been able to really get on the field to practice with the team.

On Saturday, head coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] provided an update on the former Texas A&M quarterback. Calzada transferred from the Aggies to Auburn following the 2021 college football season. He has been sidelined thus far and Harsin stated that we wouldn’t see him on the practice field until after spring ball comes to a close on Apr. 9 with the “A-Day” spring game.

“Yeah, it’s going to be after spring,” said Harsin. “They’re going to keep him in the brace. He wants to, and he can spin it – so he’s been out there and that ball jumps out of his hand. He stands back there and he’s getting every mental rep he can possibly get. And I know it’s killing him, you can see in his eyes. He wants to compete, he wants to play and you know he feels like he can.”

Thus far it has been the [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag], [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag], and [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag] show in practice. Recently redshirt freshman quarterback Dematrius Davis put his name in the transfer portal. As far as how the progression of Calzada’s recovery is going, Harsin stated they won’t rush him along.

“We’re not going to put him in a situation where that’s going to slow down the progress of his healing'” Harsin said. “He’s doing everything he can to get every mental rep, in the meetings paying attention. So come summertime when we get into those player-run practices, he’ll be ready for that. And then come fall camp, he’ll get his reps, he’ll be full-go and we’ll see where he’s at.”

At this point in time, Calzada has done everything that he can do right now according to Harsin. He will be behind some of the other quarterbacks as far as on the field is concerned, but Calzada is getting all the mental reps that will hopefully help him out in the fall when he can give it a go again.

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On3 provided Harsin’s press conference on their YouTube channel:

Contact/Follow us @AuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions.

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Could a freshman be the key at quarterback for Auburn?

Maybe the key is the young gun.

When we broke down the quarterback situation for the Auburn Tigers, we had a three-horse race at the top. Zach Calzada (Texas A&M) and Robby Ashford (Oregon) transfered in and are expected to battle former LSU transfer TJ Finley for the starting job. They should have an intriguing battle, to say the least.

All three have something to prove under center. Let’s take an objective view of each. None of the three really gives you a lot of confidence with a relatively young wide receiver corps.

Calzada has the most experience among the trio at the top. He won six for the Aggies in 2021, including the upset win over the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.

In his four losses, he passed for 4.2, 6.8, 5.8 and 6.9 yards per attempt. He didn’t really challenge defenders down the field. Calzada’s season average was 6.7 yards per attempt. He also is prone to turnovers.

Finley is best remembered for the comeback victory over Georgia State. That gave the staff confidence he could get the job when called upon. Finley was the starter over the final three games after the Nix injury. He went 0-3 as a starter with the four overtime loss to Alabama, a loss to South Carolina and then to Houston in the bowl game.

While the team was close in all three games, the offense struggled to score in each. Perhaps a full offseason and fall camp would help Finley’s development. It is just hard to have a lot of confidence in the offense with Finley or Calzada at the helm.

You can file Robby Ashford and Dematrius Davis in the same category. Neither have any playing experience though Ashford has tremendous upside. The negative aspect: Everything is a projection. The former four-star quarterback couldn’t sniff the field in Eugene, but perhaps returning to his home state will help.

The newcomer here is Holden Geriner. The four-star signee led his high school team to a state championship as a junior. In two seasons, Geriner threw for more than 7,100 passing yards and 71 touchdowns in his high school career in Georgia.

As a senior, Geriner threw for 3,377 yards and 36 touchdowns. He isn’t just a passer. He can run when he needs to in RPO or zone-read concepts. Geriner is physical enough to withstand the punishment or fight off would-be tacklers. In the pocket, he can navigate to avoid the rush while keeping his eyes down the field.

When it comes to the quarterback position battle, Geriner should be the dark horse.

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Spring Preview: A look at the Auburn quarterback battle

This is going to be an intense position battle.

For the second straight season, Auburn will have a spring quarterback competition.

Auburn has five scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and to varying degrees, each can make an argument as to why they should win the job. Adding even more credence to this being a wide-open battle, Auburn has added three quarterbacks this offseason in Zach Calzada, Robby Ashford, and Holden Geriner.

This will be an interesting battle to watch and without an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach, this race could change depending on who is hired.

The sooner that the Bryan Harsin situation is finally put to rest the team can move forward towards the spring. They also have to address plenty of coaching positions such as who is calling the plays and what offense they will run.

Before any of that is addressed, we preview the quarterbacks.

Predicting each SEC starting quarterback for 2022

Who will be Auburn’s starting quarterback in 2022? Here is a projection:

The SEC is going to be loaded at quarterback in 2022.

While only half of the conference’s starters from 2021 will be returning for next season, there will be several names that have also transferred in that will be interesting to watch (Spencer Rattler to South Carolina, Zach Calzada to Auburn, Jack Miller to Florida, and whoever eventually transfers to Ole Miss).

I’m looking forward to the progression from the signal-callers that started this past season, however. 2021 was a year starved of elite quarterback play across the college football landscape. Watching some of the conference’s experienced QB’s continue to improve will be fun to see.

With all of that being said, here is every SEC team’s projected starting quarterback for the 2022 season.

Ranking Auburn football’s 2022 recruiting class by immediate impact

Here is Auburn’s 2022 recruiting class ranked by immediate impact.

Auburn had an absolutely incredible early signing day.

The Tigers jumped from near the bottom of the SEC’s recruiting rankings to fifth, and then from the mid-thirties nationally to No. 15. There were questions about whether or not Bryan Harsin and his staff could recruit. Obviously, the recruiting class isn’t finished, but the answer seems to be yes.

Auburn is bringing in several high-profile guys, most of whom should honestly see the field in some capacity in 2022, especially on the defensive side of the ball where Auburn needs to fill some holes.

Here is Auburn’s 2022 recruiting class ranked by immediate impact, from least to most.

Four-star quarterback Holden Geriner signs with Auburn

The QB and landed.

Holden Geriner has had a week for the ages. 

On Friday he won the state championship and nearly threw for 400 yards, on Wednesday he signed with Auburn. 

Geriner has been committed to Auburn since February and is a four-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Geriner joins a quarterback room that has Bo Nix, T.J. Finley and Dematrius Davis.

As a senior, he completed 233-of-343 (67.9%) passes for 3,377 yards, 36 touchdowns and only three interceptions, here are his highlights.