Do a deep dive on SEC quarterbacks heading into this season and you will find many “experts” espousing their top 16 list.  None of which I could find have Payton Thorne higher than eleventh.

I am guessing these are the same prognosticators that pick Texas A&M and Notre Dame to win it all every year. Let's play around with something not used very much anymore, common sense and facts, and see where Thorne actually fits on the list.  

As Captain Obvious, I will point out that there are sixteen currently projected starting quarterbacks in the SEC for 2024. Eight of them have not taken many if any, meaningful college snaps. We will eliminate them directly from the conversation.

Yes, I am sure they are all Heisman caliber, but until they play, they are hope.

You can generally extrapolate positions like WR and DB well. FBS QB is an entirely different level of “What if”. Call me jaded, but I am not going to believe Sam Pittman's’ farewell tour is going to vault Taylen Green to the top of the food chain. I also seriously doubt South Carolina’s Sellers is turning that program around because he “wears spectacles” as one writer wrote. If Spencer Rattler couldn’t get there, it'll take Sellers a while.

You see my point.  

It also seems fair to only include SEC quarterbacks who have 11+ win seasons. That narrows the best QB list down to six. Now we can get to the comparison.  

Beck, Cook, Dart, Ewers, Milroe, and Thorne.  

Which of these six has the most career passing yards going into the 2024 season?  

Thorne, with 8,256. He and Jaxon Dart are the only two quarterbacks that legitimately have a chance for going over that elusive ten thousand passing yards mark for their career at this point. Cook has an outside shot to get there, I wouldn’t bet against it with the receivers he is working with. However, it will take a strong season. Thorne could have another meltdown and still get to ten thousand. That is an exclusive list. Thorne gets the win.

Which projected SEC starting quarterback has the most career touchdown passes going into the 2024 season?

Thorne, with 65. More than doubling Beck and Milroe. Nearly doubling Cook and Ewers. The only one close, once again, is Dart.  Thorne gets the win.  

Which of these quarterbacks has a New Year's Six or better bowl win?  

All six of these men have played in this category. Milroe and Ewers lost. They are out. Beck only needed two quarters to destroy a depleted, defeated and cheated FSU team. Cook, and Dart won their respective chances last year. Thorne won his.  This would seem like a 4-way tie! One caveat breaks it, Thorne did it with much, much less talent around him.  

The numbers continue in that fashion

Thorne appears time and time again at the top of the list. Unfortunately, he also tops a dubious list that explains a lot of his struggles last season. In the 2023 season, 14.77% of his passes were registered drops. Hit his receivers in the hands and nothing.

Auburn had one of the worst WR rooms in the country last year. Watching film, they were constantly out of position, ran the wrong routes, and whatever they did on running plays could not be called blocking. Decimated by injuries and lack of separation ability (read: talent) this offense could barely complete a forward pass.

Even still, Thorne led Auburn to within an illegal push-off play on 4 and 32 of beating SEC champion Alabama and had Georgia on the ropes until injuries in the secondary let Brock Bowers apparently become invisible to Auburn defensive backs for a fourth quarter. Pick up the New Mexico State debacle and this team could easily have been 9-3 despite itself.  

Fast forward a year, and the offensive line has made massive leaps and bounds. The WR room has arguably become one of the best in the SEC, behind Mizzou and Ole Miss.  He still has a future NFL guy and possibly the best tight end in the SEC, Rivaldo Fairweather, to throw to.

Oh, and THE best RB room in the country behind him.  Quarterbacks love that.  Georgia might make an argument there with Etienne, with loads of potential talent behind him.  Even with that in mind, Auburn has three running backs on the roster that would be starters anywhere else in the SEC with Hunter, Cobb, and Alston.  

Heisman

It is unnecessary to type this next phrase, but I will anyway: Most of these guys have been mentioned in the Heisman race. Preseason favorites would have to include at least five of these six.

 A friendly reminder, Thorne once was as well. He had a season of Heisman hype and a ton of preseason Heisman hype before coaching changes, loss of talent, system changes, and a late Summer portal into Auburn slowed his chances. The man didn’t forget how to play the quarterback position at an extremely high level.  The early word coming out of camp is that QB1 has noticed the shade.

He is exactly where he wants to be. Under the radar with plenty of new toys to play with. Don’t be surprised when the media narrative shifts on Thorne somewhere around week six.  You might even see him in New York on December 14, 2024.