Auburn's Payton Thorne classified as bottom-tier quarterback in college football

The assessment of Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne varies from outlet to outlet.

The Athletic recently released an article ($) placing various Power Five and Group of Five quarterbacks into five different tiers. It is "by no means a complete list of every qualified FBS quarterback," but it does hit 31 of the more important signal-callers in the sport.

Auburn's Payton Thorne was placed in the fifth and bottom tier of the list. It's not as bad of a place to be as one would assume, considering the tier is also comprised of quarterbacks such as Quinn Ewers of Texas, Joe Milton of Tennessee, Will Rogers of Mississippi State, and Riley Leonard of Duke (among others).

Article authors Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel noted that "Thorne slid as well at Michigan State but could be rejuvenated playing in Hugh Freeze’s offense."

Thorne was a two-year starter at Michigan State before transferring to Auburn over the weekend. The Tigers were in search of a new starting quarterback, and the expectation among fans is that Thorne comes in and wins the job in fall camp with (relative) ease.

It's unknown how Hugh Freeze is going to play things out before Auburn takes the field vs UMass, but expect incumbent Robby Ashford to push for the job regardless.

Thorne finished an accomplished quarterback at Michigan State, setting single-season records for total yards, total touchdowns and passing touchdowns. He ranks fifth in career total touchdowns, fifth in career total yards, fourth in career passing touchdowns and third in single-season passing yards.

He's not a dazzling arm talent but was excellent attacking downfield in his two seasons with the Spartans. He's a great system fit for Freeze and Montgomery.

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