Rece Davis, Pete Thamel project how Alabama and Auburn transfer QBs begin the season
By Keith Farner
Published:
Rece Davis and Pete Thamel of ESPN took some time on their podcast to discuss the transfer quarterback situations at Alabama and Auburn, and how Tyler Buchner and Payton Thorne would begin the season.
“So much of that has to be locker room-based,” Thamel said when asked about Thorne starting at Auburn. “So my guess is no. Because it’s really hard. You’ve got to be like a Russell Wilson to walk in and navigate all the thorny locker room dynamics.”
Thamel recalled that he’s heard coaches say that a player wouldn’t start until Week 3 even though he’s the best because everyone needs to see it first. Thamel said Thorne would get better offensive coaching at Auburn than he would have at Michigan State, and sometimes a change of scenery works out.
For his part, Davis said he saw Robby Ashford play in high school, and expected him to make a notable impact at Oregon, and then at Auburn, so Davis admitted he may be the last one off the Ashford bus.
“I think he’s still got potential to be an effective player in the SEC,” Davis said of Ashford.
Davis added that by the same token, he doesn’t see Buchner starting Week 1 either.
“I’m not sure either of those guys are slam dunks to start, I’m not sure they’re slam dunks to hold the job, either,” Davis said.
Davis figures that Alabama would play 2 quarterbacks to open the season, and then make a decision for the starting QB ahead of the Texas game in the second week of the season.
“Buchner will need to be in that mix, or else it’s going to perhaps not have been the wisest move,” Davis said.
If Nick Saban makes the decision on Buchner, Davis said the Alabama locker room will be less likely to share discontent because of Saban’s reputation and standing at Alabama and across college football.
The comments begin at about the 30:00 mark below:
New @CollegeGameDay Pod:
What can we reasonably expect from Colorado in Year 1 under Coach Prime? (Can they possible recruit a back-up QB?)
Why is the post-spring portal barren? Who stumped @ReceDavis at NFL Draft?
Who starts at Bama? https://t.co/9xAaVTpJDa— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 9, 2023
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
