QB Development

[WarEagle231 55]

Can Auburn develop a QB?

I continually see people say something like "Auburn is where QBs go to die". I spent a little time going through each year of high school QB commits and the reality is what you would expect. Depending on the year, only about 4 out of the top ten high school QB recruites each year have a productive college career. As you know that ratio goes way down with the leap to the NFL.

That's the reality of QB talent "development". 

A strong running game and a great O-line can make a team less QB dependent and allow that QB to be a game manager. Besides that it's pretty clear projecting QB ability from any level to the next is nearly impossible. 

For teams with resources like Auburn the transfer portal is by far the best place to land a predictably good starter. 

Payton Thorne may not be Bo Nix or Cam Newton but he is definitely an SEC level starter and would have operated really well in a system like Tennessee's this year where they rushed for 32 tds and only needed a game manager at QB. Essentially Nick Saban's strategy in the majority of his championship years.

What everyone has said is true, we should have run the ball more and built the offense around our great running backs.

 

[EastAl_Tiger 239]

2 hours ago, WarEagle231 said:

What everyone has said is true, we should have run the ball more and built the offense around our great running backs.

IF true, then Auburn has hired the wrong man for the job.

[Tiger 8,927]

the better Bo Nix does the worse we look as a program. He literally had to escape his lifelong dream school to show what he's really got as a QB.

 

Just an all-around terrible look for our program and we're going to need a bonafide star at QB to reverse the narrative

[I_M4_AU 9,769]

2 hours ago, Tiger said:

the better Bo Nix does the worse we look as a program. He literally had to escape his lifelong dream school to show what he's really got as a QB.

 

Just an all-around terrible look for our program and we're going to need a bonafide star at QB to reverse the narrative

Unfair. Bo had chemistry with Gus and that all left when Harsin showed up.  Bo made the correct decision for his future when he left for Oregon.  It is the way of the NIL now.

[Tiger 8,927]

5 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Unfair. Bo had chemistry with Gus and that all left when Harsin showed up.  Bo made the correct decision for his future when he left for Oregon.  It is the way of the NIL now.

Unfair or not, the optics are the optics

Nobody is going to dig that deep to see what kind of chemistry he had with a former coach etc. It just looks bad

[I_M4_AU 9,769]

34 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Unfair or not, the optics are the optics

Nobody is going to dig that deep to see what kind of chemistry he had with a former coach etc. It just looks bad

QBs that are interested in Auburn will look that deep.  Who cares about the rest?

[metafour 5,776]

58 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Unfair or not, the optics are the optics

Nobody is going to dig that deep to see what kind of chemistry he had with a former coach etc. It just looks bad

Nobody is even going to remember Bo Nix transferring to care. You have guys transferring left, right, and center as part of the new normal. Dillon Gabriel went from UCF, to Oklahoma, and then to Oregon. We're talking about Maalik Murphy here who went from Texas, to Duke, and now he's going off somewhere else.

Do you know how I can confirm to you that Bo Nix transferring is a non-story? We just signed Deuce Knight, and Walker White before that. If "perception" mattered at all, why did those two come here?

[AuburnEagle79 2,300]

6 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Unfair. Bo had chemistry with Gus and that all left when Harsin showed up.  Bo made the correct decision for his future when he left for Oregon.  It is the way of the NIL now.

Bo’s stats were better with Harsin. Had he played all 13 that season, it would’ve been his best in terms of yardage as well.

Cut his interceptions in half too. 

Not sure what chemistry he had with Gus, but it didn’t lead to better stats.

[Hank2020 3,607]

12 hours ago, WarEagle231 said:

Can Auburn develop a QB?

I continually see people say something like "Auburn is where QBs go to die". I spent a little time going through each year of high school QB commits and the reality is what you would expect. Depending on the year, only about 4 out of the top ten high school QB recruites each year have a productive college career. As you know that ratio goes way down with the leap to the NFL.

That's the reality of QB talent "development". 

A strong running game and a great O-line can make a team less QB dependent and allow that QB to be a game manager. Besides that it's pretty clear projecting QB ability from any level to the next is nearly impossible. 

For teams with resources like Auburn the transfer portal is by far the best place to land a predictably good starter. 

Payton Thorne may not be Bo Nix or Cam Newton but he is definitely an SEC level starter and would have operated really well in a system like Tennessee's this year where they rushed for 32 tds and only needed a game manager at QB. Essentially Nick Saban's strategy in the majority of his championship years.

What everyone has said is true, we should have run the ball more and built the offense around our great running backs.

 

Saban went to choosing elite level QB’s when scoring went up. Had to keep up.

Edited December 13, 2024 by Hank2020

[I_M4_AU 9,769]

37 minutes ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

Bo’s stats were better with Harsin. Had he played all 13 that season, it would’ve been his best in terms of yardage as well.

Cut his interceptions in half too. 

Not sure what chemistry he had with Gus, but it didn’t lead to better stats.

Did you feel Bo had a better future with Harsin after his injury in the Miss State game?  Are stats the be all and end all of a person’s worth?  Bo is an aggressive QB that only got to blossom under Dan Lanning tutelage.  I don’t think that would have happened under Harsin at Auburn.

If you look at the last play in the 2019 Iron Bowl and the way Bo was so excited about the way Gus out smarted Saban; that would be the chemistry I am talking about.

[AuburnEagle79 2,300]

50 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Did you feel Bo had a better future with Harsin after his injury in the Miss State game?  Are stats the be all and end all of a person’s worth?  Bo is an aggressive QB that only got to blossom under Dan Lanning tutelage.  I don’t think that would have happened under Harsin at Auburn.

If you look at the last play in the 2019 Iron Bowl and the way Bo was so excited about the way Gus out smarted Saban; that would be the chemistry I am talking about.

Got it, so not the actual product on the field, just the feels of it.

As far as Bo and Harsin go…would Bo have wound up a better QB than under Gus, absolutely. We would’ve smoked USC and Bama with Bo in 2021, so maybe he stays and we aren’t a train wreck in 2022.

The moral of the story, Gus was awful with QB’s but we now we prop him up because Harsin was so bad.

[au701948 1,256]

14 minutes ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

Got it, so not the actual product on the field, just the feels of it.

As far as Bo and Harsin go…would Bo have wound up a better QB than under Gus, absolutely. We would’ve smoked USC and Bama with Bo in 2021, so maybe he stays and we aren’t a train wreck in 2022.

The moral of the story, Gus was awful with QB’s but we now we prop him up because Harsin was so bad.

To some degree. I guess that’s human nature.

[I_M4_AU 9,769]

10 hours ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

Got it, so not the actual product on the field, just the feels of it.

As far as Bo and Harsin go…would Bo have wound up a better QB than under Gus, absolutely. We would’ve smoked USC and Bama with Bo in 2021, so maybe he stays and we aren’t a train wreck in 2022.

The moral of the story, Gus was awful with QB’s but we now we prop him up because Harsin was so bad.

I’m not a Gus fan at all and Harsin wasn’t here long enough to get a feel for how he would have developed any QB, he only recruited one.  The narrative Auburn is a place where QBs go to die is unfair in that Gus couldn’t develop a QB to save his job and Harsin wasn’t here long enough to even try and that covers the last decade.

Bo, along with Cam and Marshall, were special QBs in that they had that fire inside that isn’t coached.  Stats are great for fans because that’s all we have to go on, but as the financial world likes to say; past performance does not guarantee future success.

[Hank2020 3,607]

11 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Did you feel Bo had a better future with Harsin after his injury in the Miss State game?  Are stats the be all and end all of a person’s worth?  Bo is an aggressive QB that only got to blossom under Dan Lanning tutelage.  I don’t think that would have happened under Harsin at Auburn.

If you look at the last play in the 2019 Iron Bowl and the way Bo was so excited about the way Gus out smarted Saban; that would be the chemistry I am talking about.

Bo and Harsin definitely not good chemistry. Like oil and water.

[Hank2020 3,607]

15 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

I’m not a Gus fan at all and Harsin wasn’t here long enough to get a feel for how he would have developed any QB, he only recruited one.  The narrative Auburn is a place where QBs go to die is unfair in that Gus couldn’t develop a QB to save his job and Harsin wasn’t here long enough to even try and that covers the last decade.

Bo, along with Cam and Marshall, were special QBs in that they had that fire inside that isn’t coached.  Stats are great for fans because that’s all we have to go on, but as the financial world likes to say; past performance does not guarantee future success.

Gus’s offense was not good for a QB’s future in NFL, Harsin’s wasn’t as bad from that prospective at the time.

[AU120289 705]

Yes - Auburn QB development is on my Christmas List 

[aubiefifty 19,321]

14 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

QBs that are interested in Auburn will look that deep.  Who cares about the rest?

just go back and watch bo under gus and then under hars and you will see a difference.errr not you but others...........

[Cardin Drake 2,373]

Bo would have been fine at Auburn if he would have had a good offensive line and a few more receivers.  QB development at Auburn is less of a problem than maintaining a quality offensive line. Gus neglected it, Harsin doubled down on neglecting it, and Freeze is fixing it.  But it's the hardest position group to repair once the pipeline is broken.  And there was no pipeline at all for the 2 Harsin years.  We have quality young linemen that Freeze has recruited but we still need to fill some gaps with transfers because of the lack of upper classmen from the high school ranks.  

Edited December 13, 2024 by Cardin Drake

[AUx 3,533]

I'm not sure there's much development anywhere in the vein of what I also used to hope for and complain about. You seem to either accumulate the talent in depth and don't F it up, or you Auburn. Orgeron didn't finally develop Joe Burrow. Hugh didn't 'develop' Malik Willis. Lanning didn't develop Bo Nix (nor did Gus or Haskins). Alabama didn't develop Tua Tagovailoa any more than it developed Spencer Pennington. I'd like to imagine the Sabans and Kiffins and Lanningses as Mickey the trainer running their dilettante QB through one-handed pushups and punching sides of beef to the Eye of the Tiger montage until he's Arch Manning or Diego Pavia - but that doesn't seem to happen anywhere. I'm not sure how Gus seemed to make decent QBs devolve other than weird scheming and leaving critical positions unrecruited. If there was a formula, at least half D1 teams would be cranking out Tom Brady's every year. Amen to figuring out the offensive line. Father Merrin, Father Karras, Father Dyer please exorcise our game management demons. 

[ToomersStreet 804]

On 12/12/2024 at 10:15 AM, Tiger said:

the better Bo Nix does the worse we look as a program. He literally had to escape his lifelong dream school to show what he's really got as a QB.

 

Just an all-around terrible look for our program and we're going to need a bonafide star at QB to reverse the narrative

I would argue the worse Malzahn looks as a coach

[TigerOne 1,516]

Well we will find out first game next season against Baylor, Walker Whites new team.

"I can’t wait to meet my new teammates and get to work in Coach Spavital’s offense. I’m also excited that there’s a clear plan for quarterback development," White told ESPN's Pete Thamel.

[AUBldr 193]

2 hours ago, TigerOne said:

Well we will find out first game next season against Baylor, Walker Whites new team.

"I can’t wait to meet my new teammates and get to work in Coach Spavital’s offense. I’m also excited that there’s a clear plan for quarterback development," White told ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Not sure what Walker White watching from the Baylor sideline will tell us about QB development at Auburn. Walker is probably a great kid, but if he was ready to be a QB at this level, he would have seen the field way more than he did. He’ll have his work cut out for him trying to unseat Sawyer Robertson. Unless Robertson leaves in the portal of course. 

[AU120289 705]

On 12/13/2024 at 9:32 AM, AU120289 said:

Yes - Auburn QB development is on my Christmas List 

Update: Santa left me a note. He said he tried his best but wasn’t sure his discussion with the offensive staff went well.🤪

[DAG 36,511]

3 hours ago, TigerOne said:

Well we will find out first game next season against Baylor, Walker Whites new team.

"I can’t wait to meet my new teammates and get to work in Coach Spavital’s offense. I’m also excited that there’s a clear plan for quarterback development," White told ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Sounds like he ran from competition. Good luck. 

[aucanucktiger 2,010]

Honest thread topic should be why do RECENT Auburn coaches have a suspect QB development record.