My guess is that by Saturday night, we’ll have watched Jarrett Stidham’s last game in an Auburn uniform.

That’s right. Forget about playing in the TaxSlayer Bowl or returning for his senior season.

Stidham is a goner. At least he should be.

Why should that happen? Well, my prediction isn’t necessarily based on anything he said, though Stidham did say nearly a year ago that he spent time hunting back home in Texas before making the decision that he was going to return to the Tigers in 2018. It’s hard to imagine Stidham repeating that process.

It wouldn’t be surprising if he pulled a Josh Rosen and decided to begin shifting the pre-draft narrative a month early.

As much success as he had in his first season in Gus Malzahn’s system — it’s still amazing to think he led Auburn to double-digit victories over No. 1 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama — this year has shown that Stidham isn’t the fit with Malzahn that many thought he was. Call it a round peg in a square hole or whatever, but the year Stidham hoped he’d have simply hasn’t happened.

Spending another year throwing swing passes with Malzahn isn’t going to change that. I think both realize that. Stidham can salvage his fading draft stock by balling in shorts and telling every front office exec he can that it was Malzahn’s system that plagued him in 2018.

I mean, is he wrong?

Stidham’s numbers are down in completion percentage, yards per attempt, yards, touchdown passes, quarterback rating and basically everything you measure a quarterback by. Look at Stidham’s passing chart breakdown from @CFBFilmRoom and it’ll show what everyone knows to be true — Malzahn rarely lets him stretch the field and the majority of his throws (68 percent) are within 9 yards of the line of scrimmage.

The pro scouts will, however, like that Stidham handled pressure well behind a struggling offensive line.

Even in an era when run-pass options are not only tolerated but encouraged at the next level, Stidham isn’t playing in a system that’s remotely like anything he’ll have in the NFL. The earlier he can distance himself from the belief that he ran a gadget offense, the better.

And there’s the flip side of this. Are we sure Malzahn would even want Stidham back for another year? That’s not a knock on him as a player, but in the same way that Stidham could feel like Malzahn is holding him back, Malzahn could feel like Stidham’s lack of elite running ability is holding his offense back.

I also don’t think it was a coincidence that Kelly Bryant changed course and canceled his official visit to Miami to go to Auburn, where he already took an unofficial visit. I’d be stunned if Bryant, who only has 1 year of eligibility left, went to Auburn if there was any chance that Stidham was coming back for his senior season. While Stidham is the more polished passer, Bryant is the more natural fit in Malzahn’s offense.

So would Stidham get forced out at Auburn? I’m not saying that. Publicly, I’m sure Malzahn will say all the right things about Stidham and that he hopes he returns. But privately, you’re crazy if you don’t think Malzahn wants a decision from Stidham before Bryant makes his announcement on Dec. 4.

To be clear, I wouldn’t fault Malzahn or Stidham if that was their current mindset. There’s nothing wrong with a coach trying to map out his future offense, nor is there anything wrong with a player making what he feels is the best business decision. I have no problem with them going their separate ways, even if it’s earlier than we’re used to seeing.

And if Stidham does prove me wrong and elect to stay for whatever bowl game Auburn ends up in, that’s fine, too. If he wants to roll the dice on his draft stock in order to play in one more game with his teammates, that’s his call.

But I just keep picturing Stidham taking sack after sack against that Alabama defense Saturday and thinking to himself, “I’m done with this.”

Maybe he said that to himself at some point this season when he threw the same swing pass to the flat that he’s thrown a bajillion times. Auburn fans have probably had a few “I’m done with this” moments watching the 2018 offense.

If Saturday is it for Stidham, his accomplishments should still outshine his struggles with Malzahn. Winning a division title over Alabama, going 17-8 and not missing a game are all impressive feats. Could he have been better? Absolutely. Could Malzahn have been more flexible? Of course.

It’s interesting that one of Stidham’s big selling points for returning in 2018 was that he was told that he’d have more freedom at the line of scrimmage. It’s unknown exactly how much freedom he had this year, if any. Stidham now has the freedom to make his own decision about his future.

Something tells me he’ll choose the path with a few less swing passes.