AUBURN | Let the battle begin.
In what’s likely to be the most competitive position battle at Auburn this spring, five quarterbacks will vie for the starting job. With no clear favorite, each one will harbor at least some amount of belief they could emerge the winner.
It starts where it ended last fall, with T.J. Finley.
The LSU transfer started the final three games of the season following Bo Nix’s injury. He completed 70 of 128 passes (54.7 percent) for 827 yards with six touchdowns and one interception.
He subbed for an ineffective Nix against Georgia State, throwing the winning touchdown on fourth down with 45 seconds remaining, but was 0-3 in his starts as the Tigers finished the season with five consecutive losses.
Perhaps Finley's toughest competition, and to many the odds-on favorite, will be Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada. He started 10 games for the Aggies last season completing 184 of 327 passes (56.3 percent) for 2,185 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
His best moment came in a 41-38 upset of No. 2 Alabama when he completed 21 of 31 passes for 285 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He took a big hit on his 25-yard touchdown pass with three minutes left that tied the game, but returned to lead a 54-yard drive that was capped with a 28-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
The three other candidates have yet to play a college snap including transfer Robby Ashford, who redshirted his first season at Oregon and didn’t play last fall. The Hoover, Ala., native did play baseball for the Ducks and could play both sports at Auburn.
Dematrius Davis redshirted his first season at Auburn, working mainly with the scout team. He led North Shore in Houston, Texas to 6A D-I state championships as a sophomore and junior, and finished his high school career with 10,536 passing yards, 3,047 rushing yards and 171 touchdowns.
True freshman Holden Geriner, who enrolled in January, threw for 7,100 passing yards and 71 touchdowns at Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Ga.
If all goes to plan, Auburn wold like to narrow the race to two quarterbacks heading out of spring and have a starter chosen a couple of weeks into fall drills.
Spring practice begins March 14 with the A-Day game scheduled for April 9 at 1 p.m. CT.
Here’s a look at a potential depth chart entering spring…
QUARTERBACK
1. T.J. Finley, Jr.
2. Zach Calzada, Jr.
3. Robby Ashford, So.
4. Dematrius Davis, RFr.
5. Holden Geriner, TFr.
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