After transferring to Auburn, will TJ Finley beat Bo Nix for Tigers starting quarterback job?

Bo Nix now has competition at quarterback on the Auburn football team in TJ Finley.

As expected, former LSU football starting quarterback TJ Finley is transferring to the Auburn football program where he will compete for the starting job with the incumbent Bo Nix.

Finley entered the transfer portal shortly after the end of LSU spring practice. He found himself third on the Bayou Bengals’ depth chart behind Myles Brennan and Max Johnson. While Auburn had been the favorite for a while to land Finley in the portal, he elected to wait to make is decision, based on if he would be eligible to play right away. He made his announcement Monday.

With Finley heading to Auburn, does he have what it takes to beat out Nix for the starting job?

Auburn football: Will TJ Finley beat out Bo Nix for starting quarterback job?

Nix was Auburn’s starter for the last two seasons. While he has been okay, the legacy quarterback has not exactly run away with it down on The Plains. He has completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 4,957 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 24 career games. Nix completed 59.9 percent of his passes for 2,415 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions last year.

In Finley’s freshman season with LSU, he completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 941 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions in five games, splitting time with Brennan and Johnson. While Auburn had the slightly better season on the field over LSU a year ago, it was Auburn who saw its long-time head coach Gus Malzahn get fired not long after beating Mississippi State to get to 6-4.

The biggest reason why Finley could theoretically beat out Nix is this is a new coaching staff at Auburn. Bryan Harsin did not recruit Nix, but did play his part in helping get Finley to Auburn. The former Boise State head coach may be in for a rough season anyway, regardless of who starts at quarterback for them. Even with Nix getting all the first-team reps this spring, it may not matter.

Yes, it may have been in a different offensive system, but LSU and Auburn’s programs are comparable in the SEC West. You can win big at both schools. They typically recruit the same level of players anyway. Ultimately, Nix should win out because he has more banked reps in Harsin’s system and time on his side. However, Finley may rip some playing time away from him in 2021.

Nix should be favored to win the job, but Finley’s arrival will put a ton of pressure on the junior.

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