Bo Nix's pledge to Auburn changes program's QB future perception
Matthew Stevens
AUBURN — Coaches always fear quarterback attrition on a roster but in Auburn's case, attrition led the Tigers to arguably their greatest spot at the position in the Gus Malzahn era.
One year ago, the past, present and future at the Auburn quarterback position was considered completely muddled at best.
Rhett Lashlee was leaving his offensive coordinator position under his mentor, Malzahn, for the same position and a lower salary at Connecticut. Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham had verbally committed to Auburn, but nobody knew what kind of player he'd be immediately. Sean White was still hoping to make an impact after recovering from his injury in the 2017 Sugar Bowl loss to Oklahoma.
Once Auburn hired Chip Lindsey as its offensive coordinator Auburn still had White, John Franklin III, Tyler Queen and Woody Barrett on its roster along with newcomer Stidham and true freshman Malik Willis, Malzahn knew and publicly acknowledged he'd have a quarterback attrition problem.
"Obviously you can't go through spring with five quarterbacks," Malzahn said in February 2017. "You've got to narrow things down, and I know that will be part of (Lindsey's) plan."
Before the 2017 season, Franklin III, Queen and Barrett transferred from the program. By the end of the first month of the season, White was dismissed following a public intoxication arrest on the night after a game.
Suddenly Auburn only had two scholarship quarterbacks. In the current world of college football, you need more than one ready quarterback. Alabama's backup quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, led the Tide to a win in the national championship over a Georgia team that began the season with Jacob Eason but turned to freshman Jake Fromm after an injury. Fromm will in the future likely be pushed by five-star signee Justin Fields.
Stidham finished 2017 with 3,158 passing yards (the most by an Auburn quarterback since Dameyune Craig's 1997 season) and 18 touchdowns. When Stidham announced he would be returning to Auburn for his junior season, he remained the present of the program's quarterback position. However, having just a pair of scholarship quarterbacks allowed for incoming recruits to believe they'd have an opportunity to play sooner rather than later or never.
Enter Joey Gatewood — a four-star quarterback prospect who committed to Auburn when Lashlee was the offensive coordinator but never wavered on his verbal pledge despite the coordinator change. On the first day of the early signing period on Dec. 20, Malzahn compared the potential and physical stature of four-star signee Gatewood to 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton.
"There's only one Cam Newton and I think everybody knows that but just from if walked in the room, he'd look like Cam Newton," Malzahn said. "That's probably the fairest and best way to put that assessment."
According to ESPN.com, Gatewood was the highest ranked player of Auburn's 15 early signings for a 2018 class that currently ranks in the top 10 nationally among all three internet recruiting services. Gatewood, who passed for 1,468 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for 1,100 yards with 16 scores as a senior while leading Bartam Trail High in Jacksonville to Florida's Class 7A state title game. Gatewood is the future of the quarterback position at Auburn. Auburn will likely enter the 2018 season with a depth chart of Stidham, Willis and Gatewood.
Bo Nix's verbal pledge this week to Auburn's 2019 recruiting class gave Auburn, Malzahn and Lindsey some security. It wouldn't be an overreaction to assume in a perfect world that Nix will be given the opportunity to compete with Gatewood for the starting position in 2020 or 2021.
More:Alabama's top-rated 2019 QB Bo Nix verbally commits to Auburn
Nix passed for 2,872 yards and 35 touchdowns while still four games for Class 6A champion Pinson Valley this past season. In a Class 6A state quarterfinal, Nix completed 31 of 39 passes for seven touchdowns in a 51-50 overtime win at Austin, with Auburn tailback signee Asa Martin on the other sideline.
In the Class 6A championship game against Wetumpka, Nix was 13-of-25 passing for 223 yards with three total touchdowns. Nix is already on social media developed a relationship with Martin and 2019 four-star wide receiver George Pickens, who is a committed to Auburn's 2019 class as well. Nix, whose father, Patrick, started at quarterback at Auburn in 1994-95, is seen as the magnet that can draw prospects to this 2019 class where prospects will want to play for him.
When Malzahn says "the future is bright" with his program, he's not being disingenuous when it comes to the player behind center.