Payton Thorne changes conversation about Auburn, creates pressure

The addition of former Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne has changed expectations for the Auburn Tigers.

According to On3’s JD PicKell, Thorne will raise the level of play around the offense, and be exactly what Hugh Freeze’s team needs. He’s expecting the Tigers to out-perform expectations by a lot with Thorne under-center.

“Payton Thorne at Auburn is the next guy I want to talk about,” started PicKell. “Now Auburn fans, we’re going to talk about your Tigers a little bit more a little bit later in the show, and I’ve told you, I don’t think there’s a ton of guessing with Payton Thorne. You’ve got a large sample size of him at Michigan State. How does he fit at Auburn? Because notice the conversation has changed around Auburn when you landed Payton Thorne at quarterback. The conversation was, ‘Okay now, missed a bowl game last year. Yeah, we know. Robby Ashford’s really talented. Yeah, we know.’ But there was newfound optimism when Payton Thorne decided he was going to come to The Plains, and for a good reason.

“You know what you’re getting in him. He’s a starter. He’s had solid production throughout the course of his career. But he’s the batteries for this offense at Auburn. Make no mistake about it, the offense under Hugh Freeze at Auburn will go as Payton Thorne goes.”

While Thorne is one of the many athletes Freeze brought to Auburn through the NCAA Transfer Portal, PicKell believes nobody will have a greater impact on the Tigers than the former Spartans quarterback.

“Did a lot through the portal. Have one of the top portal classes this cycle. Payton Thorne being a part of that portal class. But if Payton Thorne doesn’t bring his a-game, if he doesn’t allow the offense to operate because he’s not up to speed, or he’s making mistakes, he’s not consistent, whatever it ends up being, they will go as Payton Thorne goes,” added PicKell. “So all the excitement around Auburn, all the people taking over 6.5 wins for Auburn, you believe that because you believe in Payton Thorne. Like last year’s Auburn wasn’t a ton to write home about. The transfer portal has upped the level of talent on that roster, but you can’t unlock that talent if your quarterback in this RPO style of offense isn’t on his Ps and Qs. If he’s not on his Ps and Qs, you put the defense in a tough position. It builds on itself. It all builds on Payton Thorne.

” If they want to have success in ’23, looking right at Payton Thorne and saying, ‘Alright, you’re the batteries. We need you to have this whole thing humming.’ So a lot of pressure on Payton Thorne, I think, in a positive way. Again, pressure is privilege, but Payton Thorne is going to bear a fair amount of that in ’23 at Auburn.”

Perhaps Auburn could be a surprise team in 2023, it looks like it’ll rest squarely on Payton Thorne’s shoulders moving forward.