Could missing on Kelly Bryant be the final straw for Gus Malzahn at Auburn?

Kelly Bryant was arguably one of the two best transfer quarterbacks out there this offseason. Will missing him be the last straw for Gus Malzahn at Auburn?

With their 2018 starting quarterbacks both headed for the NFL, Auburn and Missouri were in a similar place as they considered dipping into a transfer market that has been overflowing. Kelly Bryant left Clemson as a graduate transfer, and he ultimately landed at Missouri, despite a “great visit” to Auburn days before making his decision.

Auburn is trying to replace Jarrett Stidham, who was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of April’s draft. Redshirt freshman Joey Gatewood and true freshman Bo Nix are the favorites to win the starting job. Either would be making his first career start in the season opener Aug. 31 against Oregon, which will be the first time that’s happening for Malzahn as a head coach.

Speaking at SEC Media Days Monday, Bryant acknowledged Auburn was a place he strongly considered coming out of high school. But Malzahn signed Tyler Queen and Jason Smith in the 2015 recruiting class, and Bryant chose to stay closer to home (Calhoun Falls, South Carolina) at Clemson.

Auburn was also the last school Bryant visited before he announced his transfer decision on Dec. 4:

"Just jelling with Coach Malzahn and seeing the offense, I felt like he was going to cater to me…But I just wanted an offense that was going to challenge me as far as learning a whole new terminology."

In Derek Dooley, Missouri has an offensive coordinator with seven seasons as an NFL assistant on his resume. The departed Drew Lock cited Dooley’s NFL experience as a reason he stayed at Missouri for his senior season in 2018, and Bryant clearly followed that template when making his transfer decision with the same next-level aspirations in mind.

With eight or fewer wins in four of the last five seasons, Malzahn is firmly on the hot seat entering this season. An otherwise deep, experienced and talented Auburn roster has a problem under center, at least in terms of an experienced, proven commodity. Bryant would have solved that problem, and allowed Gatewood and Nix to sit a year before likely competing for the starting job in 2020.

Projecting recruits is always tough, so Malzahn gets a mulligan for missing on Bryant out of high school. But a failure to close on a second chance when it’s now known what Bryant is looks sure to be a big part of Malzahn’s final undoing at Auburn.