Auburn 'in conversations' with more QBs on transfer board

[AUApostle 7,651]

35 minutes ago, cole256 said:

So now is it cool to criticize the QB?

You’re asking the 44 year old?

[metafour 4,969]

1 minute ago, tinman1 said:

They would have been saying the same about Malik Willis had he been forced to play when he was at AU.  And where is he now?????  I'm not saying Ashford is going to be an NFL QB, but some folks appear to have their minds made up he cannot improve, even with proper coaching.

This comparison makes zero sense and isn't grounded in any factual reality.

You are grasping at the tiniest of straws.

Malik Willis attempted 14 passes in an Auburn uniform, and he completed 11 of those (78%). He threw 0 interceptions.

He never got the opportunity to succeed OR fail because he was stuck behind a 5-star legacy QB and never got to actually play. 

Robby Ashford on the other hand has been stuck behind a bunch of bad QB's. Through sheer luck on his part and misfortune on our own, he got to start most of last season. At no point in time over Malik Willis' 4-year NCAA career did he EVER drop below 60% in completion percentage. Over his career, he threw nearly 3x as many touchdowns as he did interceptions. Robby Ashford completed 49% of his passes last season and threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns. So what is the comparison supposed to be here?

Some of you need to realize that Malik Willis was never "bad" on the actual field of play in any real game situation. You are free to Google his ACTUAL stats and see that for yourself. Robby Ashford was bad last season. 

And yet somehow there is this push to create a false narrative as if Willis started multiple games at Auburn and looked like crap doing it. Uhhh, no. He completed 11 of 14 passes. That's the extent of his AU career (well, he also was successful when running the football)

Why not compare Ashford to Kodi Burns, John Franklin III, or Kiehl Frazier instead? He is much closer to those former AU QB's than he is to Willis. Do you know why he is closer to them? Because those guys got the chance to start and were bad; which is closer to what Ashford is now than this nonsense comparison to Malik Willis.

Of course, I know why people like to make s*** up and try to push this comparison to Willis: it allows them to believe that we may have a great dynamic QB who for some reason just hasn't succeeded yet lol. I hate to be the breaker of bad news, but just because you like a player, doesn't mean that he will meet your lofty expectations. Robby Ashford? Oh he's Jason Campbell or Malik Willis! Forget the 3-4 other former AU QB's who were major failures who he's actually more comparable to 😆.

 

[tinman1 485]

2 minutes ago, metafour said:

This comparison makes zero sense and isn't grounded in any factual reality.

You are grasping at the tiniest of straws.

Malik Willis attempted 14 passes in an Auburn uniform, and he completed 11 of those (78%). He threw 0 interceptions.

He never got the opportunity to succeed OR fail because he was stuck behind a 5-star legacy QB and never got to actually play. 

Robby Ashford on the other hand has been stuck behind a bunch of bad QB's. Through sheer luck on his part and misfortune on our own, he got to start most of last season. At no point in time over Malik Willis' 4-year NCAA career did he EVER drop below 60% in completion percentage. Over his career, he threw nearly 3x as many touchdowns as he did interceptions. Robby Ashford completed 49% of his passes last season and threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns. So what is the comparison supposed to be here?

Some of you need to realize that Malik Willis was never "bad" on the actual field of play in any real game situation. You are free to Google his ACTUAL stats and see that for yourself. Robby Ashford was bad last season. 

And yet somehow there is this push to create a false narrative as if Willis started multiple games at Auburn and looked like crap doing it. Uhhh, no. He completed 11 of 14 passes. That's the extent of his AU career (well, he also was successful when running the football)

Why not compare Ashford to Kodi Burns, John Franklin III, or Kiehl Frazier instead? He is much closer to those former AU QB's than he is to Willis. Do you know why he is closer to them? Because those guys got the chance to start and were bad; which is closer to what Ashford is now than this nonsense comparison to Malik Willis.

Of course, I know why people like to make s*** up and try to push this comparison to Willis: it allows them to believe that we may have a great dynamic QB who for some reason just hasn't succeeded yet lol. I hate to be the breaker of bad news, but just because you like a player, doesn't mean that he will meet your lofty expectations. Robby Ashford? Oh he's Jason Campbell or Malik Willis! Forget the 3-4 other former AU QB's who were major failures who he's actually more comparable to 😆.

 

I don't know Robbie.  I didn't particularly like his QB play from last year but am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that, with BETTER coaching he can and will improve.  Some folks just say "he sucked last year so he will suck again next year".  With more experience the game will slow down tremendously for him and he will make better decisions.  He will have (if he is the starter) a better cast of support players around him in the OL and hopefully, the receiving corps.  He has the physical tools to be a good SEC QB is all I'm saying and I'm willing to just sit back and hopefully see some good results.

[AUINSY 2,228]

15 minutes ago, metafour said:

This comparison makes zero sense and isn't grounded in any factual reality.

You are grasping at the tiniest of straws.

Malik Willis attempted 14 passes in an Auburn uniform, and he completed 11 of those (78%). He threw 0 interceptions.

He never got the opportunity to succeed OR fail because he was stuck behind a 5-star legacy QB and never got to actually play. 

Robby Ashford on the other hand has been stuck behind a bunch of bad QB's. Through sheer luck on his part and misfortune on our own, he got to start most of last season. At no point in time over Malik Willis' 4-year NCAA career did he EVER drop below 60% in completion percentage. Over his career, he threw nearly 3x as many touchdowns as he did interceptions. Robby Ashford completed 49% of his passes last season and threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns. So what is the comparison supposed to be here?

Some of you need to realize that Malik Willis was never "bad" on the actual field of play in any real game situation. You are free to Google his ACTUAL stats and see that for yourself. Robby Ashford was bad last season. 

And yet somehow there is this push to create a false narrative as if Willis started multiple games at Auburn and looked like crap doing it. Uhhh, no. He completed 11 of 14 passes. That's the extent of his AU career (well, he also was successful when running the football)

Why not compare Ashford to Kodi Burns, John Franklin III, or Kiehl Frazier instead? He is much closer to those former AU QB's than he is to Willis. Do you know why he is closer to them? Because those guys got the chance to start and were bad; which is closer to what Ashford is now than this nonsense comparison to Malik Willis.

Of course, I know why people like to make s*** up and try to push this comparison to Willis: it allows them to believe that we may have a great dynamic QB who for some reason just hasn't succeeded yet lol. I hate to be the breaker of bad news, but just because you like a player, doesn't mean that he will meet your lofty expectations. Robby Ashford? Oh he's Jason Campbell or Malik Willis! Forget the 3-4 other former AU QB's who were major failures who he's actually more comparable to 😆.

 

Gus, the destroyer of QBs and ignorer of offensive lines, is no longer here. 

[metafour 4,969]

3 minutes ago, AUINSY said:

Gus, the destroyer of QBs and ignorer of offensive lines, is no longer here. 

What does Gus have to do with Ashford who over 3 seasons had not been able to make any dent on the depth chart at Oregon and transferred to Auburn, and then only got on the field at Auburn because everything collapsed and the guy they actually brought in to start (Calzada) opted to have surgery instead of playing? For the millionth time, Ashford didn't even beat out TJ Finley for the starting job. TJ Finley himself came to Auburn because he was 3rd string at LSU. 

These are some of the weakest arguments I have ever seen.

Are we now implying that Hugh Freeze can just turn ANYONE into a good QB? That isn't how this works at all. Just because Freeze is a good QB coach,it does NOT mean that Robby Ashford is magically fixed.

[AUwent 3,748]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

@AUwent Sounds like you still think we are getting beat for QBs. So far the only 2 we would have for sure taken were McCall & Leary, maybe 3 with the Armstrong kid. McCall can't transfers due to grades. UK beat us for Leary because they over paid the moon for him. Armstrong went to NC St. to be with his old OC. As for Sanders he has academic concerns. That's why no school has taken him yet.

You can count Howard too, unless we just weren't pursuing him. 

If we could just get a decent QB, a 9-4 season would be entirely within reach. On one hand, that's a testament to how good BHF has done with the OL in the TP, but it would undeniably feel like a waste if we have to go with any of the QBs currently on our roster.

Edited January 17, 2023 by AUwent

[bigbird 60,521]

14 minutes ago, AUwent said:

You can count Howard too, unless we just weren't pursuing him. 

If we could just get a decent QB, a 9-4 season would be entirely within reach. On one hand, that's a testament to how good BHF has done with the OL in the TP, but it would undeniably feel like a waste if we have to go with any of the QBs currently on our roster.

The Howard situation had nothing to do with football.

[ellitor 33,092]

22 minutes ago, AUwent said:

If we could just get a decent QB, a 9-4 season would be entirely within reach.

@AUwent It's in reach right now as the roster is sunce our SEC sched will be a bit easier than normal by picking up Vandy, 4 fairly easy noncon games, both Mississippi schools at Home, and A&M & Arkt losing a lot of bodies in the portal.

[AUINSY 2,228]

48 minutes ago, metafour said:

For the millionth time, Ashford didn't even beat out TJ Finley for the starting job. TJ Finley himself came to Auburn because he was 3rd string at LSU. 

Ashford didn't even beat out TJ Finley for the starting job under former coach Bryan Harsin. Anything done under the Harsin administration isn't even worth spending time to think about. His ability to evaluate, coach, and call plays is inextricably bad, at least in the SEC. It seems like you're still assuming people are saying Robby is/will be the next Malik Willis/Bryce Young. All people are saying is give the kid a chance with an entirely new coach, team, and scheme. That's all. It's likely he will get beat out, or will be improved, in that order. You're way overthinking this entire situation.

48 minutes ago, metafour said:

What does Gus have to do with Ashford

You brought up the comparison of Ashford to Kodi Burns, John Franklin III, or Kiehl Frazier, who all happened to be QBs destroyed by Gus. It's a new day on the plains, don't let the past hurt and haunt you.

Edited January 17, 2023 by AUINSY

[e808 3,025]

9 minutes ago, AUINSY said:

Ashford didn't even beat out TJ Finley for the starting job under former coach Bryan Harsin. Anything done under the Harsin administration isn't even worth spending time to think about. His ability to evaluate, coach, and call plays is inextricably bad. It seems like you're still assuming people are saying Robby is/will be the next Malik Willis/Bryce Young. All people are saying is give the kid a chance with an entirely new coach, team, and scheme. That's all. It's likely he will get beat out, or will be improved, in that order. You're way overthinking this entire situation.

That’s all I have been saying. I guess Holden must have transferred because it seems Robby is the only guy on the team. Also that QBR matrix has Bryce like 14. My eyes say there aren’t 13 QBs better than him

Edited January 17, 2023 by e808

[gr82b4au 5,568]

15 minutes ago, bigbird said:

The Howard situation had nothing to do with football.

It does stink that he is going to end up at Ole Miss by tomorrow and Sanders is probably going to be there as well. They will sign two quarterbacks and we will sign none, and yet they already have a quarterback that is better than anyone on our roster before they add them. 

And before anyone thinks, I am criticizing freeze, I am not. He basically had an impossible task of rebuilding the worst roster in Auburn history in six weeks. What he has done has been remarkable. He has not had time. 

That is why if you go back and read the McCall thread people (Including me) were so freaking upset. You hardly ever hear about a star qb entering the portal and then cannot transfer because of grades. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard of it before with a QB, and it happened to us at the worst possible moment. 

So we are stuck until at least May. By then, we will see what happened during the spring, and heaven help us if Finley is the leader in the clubhouse again. 

[e808 3,025]

18 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

It does stink that he is going to end up at Ole Miss by tomorrow and Sanders is probably going to be there as well. They will sign two quarterbacks and we will sign none, and yet they already have a quarterback that is better than anyone on our roster before they add them. 

And before anyone thinks, I am criticizing freeze, I am not. He basically had an impossible task of rebuilding the worst roster in Auburn history in six weeks. What he has done has been remarkable. He has not had time. 

That is why if you go back and read the McCall thread people (Including me) were so freaking upset. You hardly ever hear about a star qb entering the portal and then cannot transfer because of grades. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard of it before with a QB, and it happened to us at the worst possible moment. 

So we are stuck until at least May. By then, we will see what happened during the spring, and heaven help us if Finley is the leader in the clubhouse again. 

Think about this. With that qb and a top ten ranked team at the time still needed an onside kick to help them gain momentum against a dysfunctional and deficient Auburn team. 
 

Edited January 17, 2023 by e808

[Gowebb11 9,320]

6 hours ago, metafour said:

But this is a silly way to try to explain what the real issue is. It's not about a hard "number" that he needs to reach in terms of completion percentage. If he throws 3 more simple screen passes every game next season completes them and that gets him to "60%", that doesn't imply that he is now a good QB.

You seem to think any opinion not yours is silly or nonsense. My opinion is based on a balance of realism and optimism. The reality is Ashford struggled as an SEC QB this year. He has accuracy issues. He also had flashes of big plays in some games. He played for a broken  team with incompetent coaches and a bad O Line, against one of the nations toughest schedules.  I covet a QB at AU with fabulous touch and accuracy but it’s been a minute since that has happened.
My optimism is that I believe athletes can improve year over year. You apparently don’t. But this is fact: right now we have RA, HG, and HB. They will compete this spring under the watchful eye of Freeze and Monty and one of them will win the job. RA might improve enough to win it. He might not. A transfer may come after spring and win the job. I don’t see why we can’t just let that play out, instead of quitting on Robby before he gets to compete for the job. 

I don’t understand why you keep bringing up why he couldn’t win the Oregon job. As a true freshman he played behind Anthony Brown, an established senior starter. Tyler Shough was next in line and will likely be in the NFL soon. Then there were 2 other QBs who were highly rated 4 stars. It’s not like he was competing with Grant Loy and Sawyer Pate.  

[TeamZero77 1,784]

On 1/16/2023 at 2:43 PM, NWALA Tiger said:

So, is it cool to blame you, if we don't get QB out of the portal? You good with that 😎 

It seems brasco will blame me for it. 😂 

If I had to bet, I think we go into 2023 season with the QB's we have. I don't think it will be because we missed on any portal QB (McCall's academic situation wasn't our fault), I think it's because Freeze, Montgomery and Austin must feel like they can mold our current QB's into the player that they need. Whatever they choose at QB, I'll support them and the team 100% because those 3 coaches track record of developing QB's gives me hope that they'll do the same here at Auburn.

[TeamZero77 1,784]

40 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

It does stink that he is going to end up at Ole Miss by tomorrow and Sanders is probably going to be there as well. They will sign two quarterbacks and we will sign none, and yet they already have a quarterback that is better than anyone on our roster before they add them. 

And before anyone thinks, I am criticizing freeze, I am not. He basically had an impossible task of rebuilding the worst roster in Auburn history in six weeks. What he has done has been remarkable. He has not had time. 

That is why if you go back and read the McCall thread people (Including me) were so freaking upset. You hardly ever hear about a star qb entering the portal and then cannot transfer because of grades. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard of it before with a QB, and it happened to us at the worst possible moment. 

So we are stuck until at least May. By then, we will see what happened during the spring, and heaven help us if Finley is the leader in the clubhouse again. 

I read a few days ago that Spencer Sanders said that he never had any visits scheduled to Auburn, never talked to Auburn, etc. The article claimed it wasn't because he wasn't interested in us but because we didn't seem interested in him. Have you seen or heard this? 

It may be that Freeze, Monty and Austin feel they can work with the current QB's we have. It just seems to me that those 3 coaches feel alot more confident with what they have then we do. I'll trust them regardless.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

22 minutes ago, TeamZero77 said:

I read a few days ago that Spencer Sanders said that he never had any visits scheduled to Auburn, never talked to Auburn, etc. The article claimed it wasn't because he wasn't interested in us but because we didn't seem interested in him. Have you seen or heard this? 

It may be that Freeze, Monty and Austin feel they can work with the current QB's we have. It just seems to me that those 3 coaches feel alot more confident with what they have than we do. I'll trust them regardless.

Possibly. I’ve been reading on the Ole Miss boards the last two days that his grades would not transfer to Auburn. That is according to them. Everyone agrees that he has not visited and we have not offered, but once again, I just don’t think he could get into Auburn even if he wanted to (or if HF even wanted him). 
Ole Miss is like Uat- very easy to get into that school. 
 

Edited January 17, 2023 by gr82b4au

[gr82b4au 5,568]

One more post on this, and probably not the last one.

The On3 national analyst just did a honest look at auburn after the transfer portal (today). Basically, he said that hf has done an amazing job. He talked about how Auburn currently sits at number 2  in the portal rankings and filled so many needs. 

But then he talked about quarterbacks, and he said that it is crucial that auburn picks up a quarterback after spring. He said everything else has been amazing, but a good quarterback is a necessity. He said that Ashford with seven touchdowns, seven interceptions, and seven fumbles will improve, but probably not to the point where Auburn fans want him. He said if you were looking to win seven or eight games, Ashford can be the man. If you’re looking to win 10 games, Ashford cannot be your quarterback.

Basically he said what everybody else on this board has been saying- Auburn needs a new transfer QB if they want to be competitive in the SEC. 

He ended it by saying that everyone would be shocked if we did not pick up a transfer in May (like most of the people on this board have been saying). 

 

[DAG 33,982]

1 minute ago, gr82b4au said:

One more post on this, and probably not the last one.

The On3 national analyst just did a honest look at auburn after the transfer portal (today). Basically, he said that hf has done an amazing job. He talked about how Auburn currently sits at number 2  in the portal rankings and filled so many needs. 

But then he talked about quarterbacks, and he said that it is crucial that auburn picks up a quarterback after spring. He said everything else has been amazing, but a good quarterback is a necessity. He said that Ashford with seven touchdowns, seven interceptions, and seven fumbles will improve, but probably not to the point where Auburn fans want him. He said if you were looking to win seven or eight games, Ashford can be the man. If you’re looking to win 10 games, Ashford cannot be your quarterback.

Basically he said what everybody else on this board has been saying- Auburn needs a new transfer QB if they want to be competitive in the SEC. 

He ended it by saying that everyone would be shocked if we did not pick up a transfer in May (like most of the people on this board have been saying). 

 

You are starting to become AUWENT 2.0 with this QB saga lol. Everyone including HF knows we need a QB. His staff probably knows more than anyone on this board in that regard. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

You are starting to become AUWENT 2.0 with this QB saga lol. Everyone including HF knows we need a QB. His staff probably knows more than anyone on this board in that regard. 

I’m just providing updates on what the national media just said an hour ago. 
but I agree that I need to take a break from this topic. Let’s let the spring practice play out.

Edited January 17, 2023 by gr82b4au

[AUwent 3,748]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

You are starting to become AUWENT 2.0 with this QB saga lol. Everyone including HF knows we need a QB. His staff probably knows more than anyone on this board in that regard. 

Make no mistake, IF we can land one in May, this could be a fun year.

Edited January 17, 2023 by AUwent

[DAG 33,982]

Just now, AUwent said:

Make no mistake, IF we can land one in May, this could be a fun year!

I believe we will my friend.

[autan 737]

Some programs will have two big time QBs going into Spring. The ones that come out of Spring game No. 2 are likely to test the portal waters. If they are not picked up by another program, it's back to their team with an apology. I'm pretty confident one of these 1bs or 2s will be a good fit for Auburn. Our dynamic trio of HF, PM, and KA will be watching!! WDE!!

[AU-24 3,077]

18 hours ago, cole256 said:

Lmao. The guy who on 3 different occasions has quoted articles, misread them and had the entire board tell him he misread them, and he STILL refused to admit it. Has the audacity to label someone low IQ.......Now that's hilarious. 

You are entertaining.

[cole256 17,059]

Let's just be real a good QB. The kind of QB that's being discussed....they aren't going to come until they see some success first. And that would have been whoever came as the coach. 

If we show some promise......they will come

[AU-24 3,077]

54 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Let's just be real a good QB. The kind of QB that's being discussed....they aren't going to come until they see some success first. And that would have been whoever came as the coach. 

If we show some promise......they will come

Let’s just be real, McCall wanted to come, but his transcripts didn’t.