FreezeWarning

I think it’s pretty clear Thorne will be the starter. I just hope we have him on a tight leash since I don’t have high hopes when it comes to him improving enough. If Thorne is meh the first few games then I hope we’re quick to give Hank or White a shot to see what they can do.

We’re in need for multiple CB if Scott does end up leaving

I agree with this. Hugh had to hit HS recruiting hard at some point to help build a young foundation. The only issue is majority of our 2024 HS commits won’t have any type of impact until their sophomore season at the very least

I’d say that’s debatable. We already have 4 portal commits for 2024. As for what we did in the portal before New Years for our 2023 class, we only had Wade, McAllister, and Fairweather committed. The other 17 portal players Hugh landed for the 2023 class came after New Years. So that being said, Hugh really didn’t start racking in players from last years portal until January and the spring yet we still ended up a with a top 5 portal class. So it seems to me portal and HS recruiting are just two different animals. Portal recruiting is quick while HS recruiting is long. Hugh seems to be an aggressive recruiter overall which is a good sign too! Hugh’s last class proved he could recruit the portal very well and now he’s proving he can recruit HS just as well with this upcoming class. So I don’t really see how prioritizing HS recruiting impacts portal recruiting like that. Hugh still as plenty of time to bring in some impactful players through the portal for 2024. The only thing I think impacts recruiting all around is a schools NIL budget and how and where they’re spending money. I’m assuming it’s the highly ranked HS recruits that are being recruited by damn near every school that are likely getting a big NIL deal. So likely the top 50-100 HS recruits could possibly be drawing in big NIL money. The NIL deals for the HS recruits that are ranked outside of the top 50-100 probably drop off significantly. As for the top 50-100 portal guys, they’re likely getting the most when it comes to NIL money all around. I’m assuming the NIL money drops off significantly as well when it comes to the portal guys ranked outside of the top 50-100 as well but I’d assume they’re still getting a hefty amount unlike the HS recruits ranked outside the top 50-100. This is just me guessing on how it all works since it’s still new and nobody really seems to have it figured out but it seems pretty logical to think NIL budgets factor the most when it comes to what type of HS and portal players each school are recruiting.

How many more HS and JUCO recruits do you guys think Auburn is still in on at this point? I know Ryan Williams but who else?

Anything but Thorne at this point. I get that our WRs don’t get any separation but Hank still took chances and threw the ball down field today unlike Thorne did all year. I see a lot of people blaming our O-Line for Thorne struggling too. I’m not gonna say our O-Line is perfect but they did buy him a good amount of time for the most part this season. Thorne just holds on to the ball way too long and refuses to throw it unless he has a WR open. It’s not bad to take 50/50 ball chances downfield if a WR is covered

If we did focus on using our money to solidify the roster then I’d be emphasizing portal players with 2 years of eligibility at the minimum. I’m not on board with Auburn spending top dollar on a high ranked transfer portal QB this offseason but next offseason is a different story. I think using most of our money this offseason to solidify the roster is massive when it comes to rebuilding the program correctly. That doesn’t mean we still can’t add a QB in the portal tho. I just wouldn’t break the bank on one until we feel confident enough that the roster around the QB is built well enough to compete. A Heisman caliber QBs that’s on a bad team can’t win it all just by himself. So spending big on a top QB transfer now before our roster is built well enough to compete is a waste of money. As much as I don’t want to see Thorne as our QB next season, I’d understand why he could be but that’s AS LONG AS we solidify the rest of the team with players that have multiple years of eligibility. Then spend big time on a transfer QB when it comes to next offseason. Thats just imo tho

I wish we had some type of deep threat so we can just let Ashford throw it downfield and let the WR go get it but I don’t think we have the WR to do that

Here’s a wild stat for you guys…. 2020: Bo Nix (357 ATT / 12 TD) 2021: Bo Nix (323 ATT / 11 TD) 2022: Robby Ashford (250 ATT / 7 TD) 2023: Payton Thorne (31 ATT / 3 TD) I think it’s clear Auburn needs to just stick with 1 QB since playing 2 QBs will just minimize the chance of our QBs getting into a rhythm. I think it’s also clear by like at those stats that we have to balance out the offense and to get the pass game more involved. Thorne is the QB for that and not Ashford.

Facts. Thorne finally put up a good drive once they let him get into a rhythm

We don’t deserve to win this at all

73 of those yards in the last drive lmaoooo

It’s clear we need to keep up the tempo with Thorne in.

What a horrible penalty 🤦‍♂️

This has been the complete opposite of what I expected for both teams. I figured it’d be a shootout. Auburn’s offense has looked pathetic. All defenses have to do is stack the box and dare us to throw. I won’t be shocked if Geriner gets his chance to start at some point this season. As for the defense. Hats off to those guys! They’ve actually managed to hold it down so far!