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Coach Pink: Z Calzada Will Win Starting QB


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Next man up: Zach Calzada will emerge as the main QB during fall camp 

Cole Pinkstonabout 4 

On this Friday in May we are starting the “Next man up” series. This will be a prediction for who I believe is the next guy to take over or emerge as a key player at every position for Auburn in 2022. This is somewhat of a bold take, but it is based off of the buzz and depth outlook of the team. In other words, this is an educated guess. 

Today we start with the QB position. The main contenders are returning starter TJ Finley, Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada, and Oregon transfer Robby Ashford. 

Experience could be key

The QB position relies a lot on experience. That is the reason why freshman Holden Geriner isn’t mentioned as a main contender. As far as experience goes, Finley and Calzada are the only two with college game experience. They will both have a step on Ashford when fall camp arrives. 

 

Calzada led his team to big wins over Alabama, Auburn, Missouri, and South Carolina. He threw for 2,185 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He will have to clean up some decision making issues, but his accuracy and ability to get the ball to play makers is something Auburn has needed in recent years. Calzada fits the mold of what Bryan Harsin and Eric Kiesau have always liked in a QB. 

[ FILM ROOM: Looking at the deep throws from Zach Calzada ]

Why it will be Calzada

The Auburn staff wasted little time in going to grab Calzada from the portal. Calzada, himself, felt as though the offensive style was the best fit for what he brings to the table. His blue-collar and tough nature stood out to Harsin when he returned to the game against Auburn after a big blow to the shoulder. That same hit would later require surgery and kept him out of full contact in the spring at Auburn. 

The bottom line is that he is the best scheme fit and a great personality fit as well. He has the experience in the SEC and had excellent moments. He had better success with accuracy than Finley as well. Calzada is my pick to eventually be the starter even if he doesn’t win the job outright in fall camp.

Edited by toddc
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  • toddc changed the title to Coach Pink: Z Calzada Will Win Starting QB




Maybe not the boldest prediction, but I'll say this for Coach Pink, he's been firmly on the Calzada train since day one so he'll either look really smart or not depending on what happens. Main question imo is can Hars/Keys make their offense more QB friendly for him than Jimbo did last year.

That's one criticism I've seen about Jimbo from their fans last year. That his routes take forever to develop and thus receivers long time to get open. That it works beautifully if he has an ELITE OL that can give the QB all day, but if not looks really bad. Think they had this in 2020 but not last year. We'll see 

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Calzada is an obvious choice to win the starting nod. I hope he can do it and I hope he tears it up. I believe he will get better mainly due to experience and confidence. Good luck to the young man! 

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I hope he is right. I think we’ve seen TJs ceiling. If Calzada…. or Ashford can take it a bit higher than the qb play that we’ve seen then I think we will sneak out an added win or two. 

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I am on record critizing Harsin for bringing in Calzada. However, the idea is starting to grow on me. I'm not sure if that's because of Calzadas skill set or the lack there of the other QB candidates 

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Calzada is the obvious pick. Word has it that Finley has the support of the team, but my information is that Geriner is the one pushing Calzada for his spot atop the depth chart. My guess is that means unless Finley makes a pretty big leap this summer and preseason camp, Geriner will be the one to take over if Calzada goes down for any length of time.

Ashford will have a package of plays regardless of who starts. He's apparently pretty athletic. 

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2 minutes ago, Rednilla said:

Calzada is the obvious pick. Word has it that Finley has the support of the team, but my information is that Geriner is the one pushing Calzada for his spot atop the depth chart. My guess is that means unless Finley makes a pretty big leap this summer and preseason camp, Geriner will be the one to take over if Calzada goes down for any length of time.

Ashford will have a package of plays regardless of who starts. He's apparently pretty athletic. 

This is good news! I like TJ but I just haven't seen enough from him and I don't believe he can help this team get to where it needs to be. I was impressed with Ashford. However, there are some posters on this board that don't like the idea of Ashford being used in certain spots/situations. If he can continue to grow and learn why not use his athletic ability in certain situations? 

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1 hour ago, maryland tiger said:

This is good news! I like TJ but I just haven't seen enough from him and I don't believe he can help this team get to where it needs to be. I was impressed with Ashford. However, there are some posters on this board that don't like the idea of Ashford being used in certain spots/situations. If he can continue to grow and learn why not use his athletic ability in certain situations? 

Because it will almost always signal a run. And if he does come out throwing, why not just make him start. Only exception being a goal line guy, which just run a wildcat. 

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1 hour ago, GunsmithAU said:

Because it will almost always signal a run. And if he does come out throwing, why not just make him start. Only exception being a goal line guy, which just run a wildcat. 

You are having Gus flashbacks. We have competent offensive coaching now. 

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6 hours ago, maryland tiger said:

You are having Gus flashbacks. We have competent offensive coaching now. 

I have no problem with the wildcat and you'll be hard pressed to find a special package backup who ever comes in to throw the ball. Which again leads so if that package is effective and moves the ball, why isn't that QB you're starter. 

I see no positive of a special package for Ashford that couldn't be gained from a wildcat

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10 hours ago, maryland tiger said:

You are having Gus flashbacks. We have competent offensive coaching now. 

Some of you guys need to see a shrink about getting Gus out of your heads.

What, exactly, have you seen that makes you think we have competent offensive coaching? Do you have access to closed practices? It must be something like that because there certainly wasn't a display of competent coaching in any of the 13 games played last season and the spring game, if anything, was worse.

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6 hours ago, Mikey said:

if anything, was worse

I thought Micky was gonna have a point until he jumped on his stead and protected Gus

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20 hours ago, Rednilla said:

Calzada is the obvious pick. Word has it that Finley has the support of the team, but my information is that Geriner is the one pushing Calzada for his spot atop the depth chart. My guess is that means unless Finley makes a pretty big leap this summer and preseason camp, Geriner will be the one to take over if Calzada goes down for any length of time.

None of this is surprising, if true. 

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2 hours ago, W.E.D said:

I thought Micky was gonna have a point until he jumped on his stead and protected Gus

How does saying the spring game was worse than last season  have anything to do with Gus? Again, some of you should charge Gus rent for the space he occupies in your heads.

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18 minutes ago, Mikey said:

How does saying the spring game was worse than last season  have anything to do with Gus? Again, some of you should charge Gus rent for the space he occupies in your heads.

We're going to actually take meaningful things from the spring game?

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6 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

We're going to actually take meaningful things from the spring game?

When someone says we have good offensive coaching and the offense last season and in the spring game sucks, yes.

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5 hours ago, Mikey said:

How does saying the spring game was worse than last season  have anything to do with Gus? Again, some of you should charge Gus rent for the space he occupies in your heads.

Well, let's see. Here's what you said:

13 hours ago, Mikey said:

Some of you guys need to see a shrink about getting Gus out of your heads.

What, exactly, have you seen that makes you think we have competent offensive coaching? Do you have access to closed practices? It must be something like that because there certainly wasn't a display of competent coaching in any of the 13 games played last season and the spring game, if anything, was worse.

Gosh, I can't imagine why anyone would see that and think you were defending Gus. Except, you know, that whole sentence telling everyone to move on from Gus...🙄

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9 hours ago, Rednilla said:

Well, let's see. Here's what you said:

Gosh, I can't imagine why anyone would see that and think you were defending Gus. Except, you know, that whole sentence telling everyone to move on from Gus...🙄

So, move on is somehow defending? That's weak as water. I don't know if you are so desperately, earnestly, trying to establish a false narrative that you've lost reason or what. May I suggest that you have either one more or one fewer drink before returning to this thread?

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6 hours ago, Mikey said:

So, move on is somehow defending? 

Yes, it is, because the reason you're telling people to move on is that they're talking bad about Gus, and you don't want that because it pokes holes in your theory that there was an abundance of talent on the roster and Hars should have been able to pick up from nothing, install a new offense and defense with coordinators he'd never worked with before, and had a year to rival Gus's first year. Don't you think that's stretching things just a teensy bit?

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4 hours ago, Rednilla said:

Yes, it is, because the reason you're telling people to move on is that they're talking bad about Gus, and you don't want that because it pokes holes in your theory that there was an abundance of talent on the roster and Hars should have been able to pick up from nothing, install a new offense and defense with coordinators he'd never worked with before, and had a year to rival Gus's first year. Don't you think that's stretching things just a teensy bit?

You've gone 'round the bend to entirely silly.

Harsin shouldn't have lost more games than the prior year's team lost. As I reported, he and Barfield have the dubious honor of being the only new AU coaches in the past 71 years to do that. I also explained why 10 wins was entirely likely. Go back and re-read if necessary.

So, you think all those Harsin defenders (and there were many) who repeatedly said Harsin's AU would have finished 9-3 had Bo Nix not gotten injured were just blowing smoke? Because 9-3 is mighty close to my prediction of 10-2. Erasing one bad call in the Penn State game, no injured Nix and AU is at 10-2. With the roster Gus left.

Harsin inherited a team that hadn't had a losing season in eight years. He was dealt a much better hand than the other 1st year SEC coaches. Yet, he won fewer games than they did.

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The guys Harsin adopted basically have to learn how to play the game at a college level, as Gus never taught them anything new...he relied solely on talent and schemes.

I believe Harsin's recruits are coming in with a knowledge and thirst that Gus players didn't have.  Harsin knows the game and how to teach it at this level.  Gus relied on talent.  Is what it is.  Time will tell.

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2 hours ago, Mikey said:

You've gone 'round the bend to entirely silly.

Harsin shouldn't have lost more games than the prior year's team lost. As I reported, he and Barfield have the dubious honor of being the only new AU coaches in the past 71 years to do that. I also explained why 10 wins was entirely likely. Go back and re-read if necessary.

So, you think all those Harsin defenders (and there were many) who repeatedly said Harsin's AU would have finished 9-3 had Bo Nix not gotten injured were just blowing smoke? Because 9-3 is mighty close to my prediction of 10-2. Erasing one bad call in the Penn State game, no injured Nix and AU is at 10-2. With the roster Gus left.

Harsin inherited a team that hadn't had a losing season in eight years. He was dealt a much better hand than the other 1st year SEC coaches. Yet, he won fewer games than they did.

We were predicted to finish 6-6 last year I believe. Regardless, finishing on a 5 game losing streak is never acceptable, but I don't see how you say 10-2 after 2020. We also lost the entire WR room. Our passing game in '19/20 was literally Nix throwing jump balls and Seth Williams pulling them down. The team was on a downward trajectory. Did Gus have a losing season? No, but he was heading for one last year. Hence why he was fired.

Anyways, this whole first year stuff is getting old. Dye, Tubs, Sunny Galloway, Butch Thompson, and Pearl are all coaches that had bad first years at Auburn. Butch and Pearl even "coached down" the teams they inherited record wise. Good thing we didn't call for those two to be fired. We understood they were walking into bad situations. 

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5 hours ago, Mikey said:

You've gone 'round the bend to entirely silly.

Harsin shouldn't have lost more games than the prior year's team lost. As I reported, he and Barfield have the dubious honor of being the only new AU coaches in the past 71 years to do that. I also explained why 10 wins was entirely likely. Go back and re-read if necessary.

So, you think all those Harsin defenders (and there were many) who repeatedly said Harsin's AU would have finished 9-3 had Bo Nix not gotten injured were just blowing smoke? Because 9-3 is mighty close to my prediction of 10-2. Erasing one bad call in the Penn State game, no injured Nix and AU is at 10-2. With the roster Gus left.

Harsin inherited a team that hadn't had a losing season in eight years. He was dealt a much better hand than the other 1st year SEC coaches. Yet, he won fewer games than they did.

Dude, you've been silly since the start. You're talking about best case scenarios all the way around just to get to 9-3 last season, but setting the expectations at 10-2 in the first year of a coach changing the culture at a place is flat out laughable.

You're reminding me why I had your posts hidden from my view for so long. The stupid seeps out of you.

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