The varying opinions from writers on Auburn quarterback Bo Nix spread far and wide.
On Wednesday, Connor O’Gara, Senior National Columnist for Saturday Down South and host of the Saturday Down South Podcast gave his five biggest gripes about the preseason all-SEC teams, and Nix being listed as the third-team all-SEC quarterback was his biggest complaint.
Here’s what he had to say.
Sorry. At best, Nix is a middle-of-the-pack SEC quarterback. It’s pretty simple — he’s been solid at home and horrendous on the road. In 2 seasons, he has yet to finish in the top 8 in the SEC in quarterback rating, yards per attempt and completion percentage. A guy who has yet to have a season-long average of 7.0 yards per attempt OR 60% accuracy would be excusable if he was prolific as a runner. But Nix has yet to hit 400 rushing yards in a season. Nix has mechanical flaws that haven’t been corrected, despite the fact that he’ll enter 2021 with more experience than any returning SEC quarterback.
If we’re being honest, experience is why Nix got this preseason honor. Yes, it was a brutal year for preseason All-SEC quarterbacks. That’s why only 3 SEC quarterbacks were in attendance, including the 2 others who got preseason All-SEC love (Matt Corral and JT Daniels). I’d rather give that to Connor Bazelak, who was better than Nix in 2020, and with less talent around him.
I’d even rather give it to Myles Brennan or Max Johnson, both of whom showed more potential in their limited starts than Nix has in 2 seasons. Of course, quarterbacks in a battle don’t get that type of preseason love. Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t a preseason All-SEC quarterback in 2018 despite the fact that he delivered one of the best moments in college football history a few months earlier.
If you’re wondering why Bryce Young didn’t get that recognition, it’s because hasn’t started yet, though his bank account surely doesn’t reflect that. The same probably goes for Emory Jones, though he at least has half a season’s worth of snaps as a decent SEC quarterback.
Nix is a familiar name, and in a year in which there aren’t many of those, he stood to benefit the most.
The ballot only allowed media members to choose from the seven SEC quarterbacks that have significant starting experience in the SEC (JT Daniels, Matt Corral, Emory Jones, Bo Nix, Connor Bazelak, Will Rogers, and Ken Seals).
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