At the beginning of spring ball, head coach Hugh Freeze expressed concern over the quarterback room. Freeze was transparent to the media when stating his guys weren’t where he wanted them to be, but he knew his quarterbacks could get there.
After last week’s practice, Freeze saw improvements in his quarterbacks’ technique.
“Robby's [Ashford] pocket presence – quieter feet in the pocket. T.J. (Finley) is playing within the system and has gotten better. He’s made some accurate throws, just sometimes it shouldn’t have been thrown; it should have been handed off, so this was new to him,” Freeze said. “Holden’s [Geriner] accuracy, particularly on down the field throws and he had several explosives Wednesday. He’s gotta get still in the pocket too, but he’s still young.”
Ashford has been nursing his shoulder this spring, so Freeze admitted it has been hard to truly evaluate his skills. However, Freeze stated that Ashford looked good last week.
“I thought Wednesday in practice [Ashford] was fairly close to full speed, well enough to take reps and thought he had another good practice. I didn’t get to talk to him because we got quite a few people here today, recruits and other things,” Freeze said. “In our team meeting, I saw him, and he had his therapy stuff on it right then, but I didn’t get to ask him... I think he’s okay.”
Geriner continues to impress Freeze with his performance in practice. Freeze mentioned that the competition between the quarterbacks and their response to it will be interesting to see that dynamic unfold.
“I think [Geriner] has a real chance to be a solid quarterback, but I think the other two again had good days, also better days. So the interesting thing will be their response to the competition that’s created. That will continue to go on, and being quarterback at an SEC school at a place like Auburn carries a lot of weight with it, and that doesn’t end when spring practice is over.”
Although his quarterbacks have greatly improved, Freeze still wants to see improvement from that room.
Outside the quarterback room, running back Jarquez Hunter has made a lasting impression on Freeze.
“Well, I think Jarquez is special. I think he’s probably the best running back I’ve ever coached,” Freeze said. “Jarquez is the best that I’ve coached thus far and excited about his demeanor and the way he goes about his work, keeps his mouth shut and just goes to work.”
Maryland transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite’s performance over spring ball has caught Freeze’s attention.
“I thought he improved probably the most from practice one to last week in the D-Line as any. He was disruptive and plays the game extremely passionately and hard. He definitely caught my eye,” Freeze said.
Hunter, Nasili-Kite and Auburn's quarterback room will be on display on Saturday when Auburn holds its annual A-Day game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CST and can be streamed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
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Caitlyn Griffin is a sophomore from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @caitlyngrif99
