A deeper dive into Chance Nolan, the only portal quarterback Auburn has reached out to so far.
As reported nearly a week ago here, Auburn has been in contact with transfer portal quarterback Chance Nolan. There was no movement as far as an offer or any signing, but Auburn did reach out. That leads one to believe there is more than just a small interest in this young man coming to Auburn. So, a deeper dive might be in order.
Nolan, a six-foot-three 193-pound junior, a transfer out of the Oregon State Beavers program, is one player that could move the needle for an SEC school. He has fifteen games as a starter under his belt, which is the experience that would be welcomed on a lot of teams. He has thrown 270 completed passes over the last two years for over 3,000 yards. With that came 26 touchdowns to 18 interceptions and an average quarterback rating of around 140. He also added 286 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. The caveat here is that the bulk of that came the season before last.
Last season, he was playing very well when a concussion in the fifth game ended his season. His career completion rate is only 59%. The concussion was brutal, it has also been described as a neck injury. Either way, he has the talent and experience that will land him somewhere as a starting quarterback.
Is that "somewhere" Auburn? More than anything one has to believe that Auburn is looking for quality starting experience in a portal quarterback this go around. There will be very few in the portal who have more than Chance Nolan.
Hot Take: With no offer made, and with how long Nolan has been in the portal, one has to wonder if Nolan was looked at and possibly discussed as a backup quarterback for Auburn’s 2023 campaign. He would not be someone that one could name as a definitive starter going into summer as other options would. He has a great skill set and could fit into the Auburn offense nicely. The injury factor is scary. Of course, injuries can always happen, but looking at a quarterback with that serious of an head/neck injury as either starting ahead of or supporting Robby Ashford, who himself is an injury liability, just isn’t the best course of action for Auburn right now. I originally listed him as low on the board. He had to move up because Auburn contacted him. I still think there is only a 10-20% Auburn makes this move.
Auburn football has seen three players officially depart this week, with Tar'Varish Dawson announcing intentions to transfer early Saturday morning. Will T.J . Finley be the next?
Dawson joins the following Auburn Tigers that have announced that they will be in the transfer portal.
Defensive lineman Jeffrey M'ba
Linebacker Kameron Brown
Linebacker Desmond Tisdol
The Auburn Tigers have pulled in an impressive haul thus far during Hugh Freeze's first season on the Plains, currently sitting at No. 3 nationally in 247Sports' transfer portal class rankings.
You can check out our transfer portal tracker here. Stay up to date on all of the Tigers' commitments, departures, and prospects for key positions at auburndaily.com.
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