Saturday the nation’s No.1 JUCO quarterback announced his commitment to play for the Auburn Tigers. Social media lit up with the news as many Auburn fans look for the former Baylor player to give the Tigers what they have lacked since Nick Marshall graduated after the 2014 season – a consistent dual threat signal caller.
A brief look at Stidham’s resume is cause for jubilation. There’s no disputing that when the Tigers have struggled the last two years, it was due largely to ineffective quarterback play. The old Ball Coach, Steve Sprier once said, “If you’ve got a good quarterback, you’ve got a good chance at a good season; if you don’t, you probably won’t.”
Stidham appears to be the type QB the Tiger offense needs to get back to consistently performing at a high level. He is a 6′ 3″ 5-star recruit that started for the Bears as a freshman. An ankle injury limited him to nine games yet he threw for 1,262 yards and 12 touchdowns with a near 69 percent completion rate. In addition he had a couple of games where he threw for more than 300 yards.
So yes, there is reason for excitement about his teaming up with the Tigers young and talented receiving corp. Added to the positive jibe was the news yesterday that the SEC Running Back of the Year, Kamryn Pettway will not be turning pro. The two in the same backfield could prove to give some SEC defensive coordinators headaches in 2017.
However, SEC defenses will not be Stidham’s beigest challenge. Winning the hearts and minds of his new teammates will be. If current starter Sean White has proven anything the last two years is he is a fierce competitor. Sean White is a leader, and a good quarterback with an accurate arm. And more importantly, he has the support of his teammates. They know what kind of fearless field general he is and they play at a different level when a healthy White is under center.
When he’s on the field he makes the players around him better. Running back Kerryon Johnson said, “He has a little mean streak to him. He’s not going to back down from anybody. He’s a spicy player and he loves competition. That’s the thing that people get out of playing with him. They really get that attitude that you can feed off of as a team.”
This will not be the first quarterback battle he has been in and he will make it a tough for the new guy. Stidham will have to win the confidence of both the coaches and the players to make the offense his, because right now it belongs to Sean White.
The post Jarrett Stidham’s Biggest Challenge at Auburn May Not be SEC Defenses appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.
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