Payton Thorne excited to work with Freeze, Montgomery in RPO heavy offense

The Tigers' new signal-caller is excited to step into a new offense this fall.

Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne joined the Locked On Auburn podcast to discuss how his arrival to the Plains has been.

Thorne voiced his excitement to podcast host Zac Blackerby about getting to work with Hugh Freeze and Philip Montgomery in an offense that is proven.

"Looking at his track record with quarterbacks, and then pairing that with Coach Montgomery’s quarterbacks that he has worked with, that was very intriguing," Thorne said. "To be with those two guys that have been around and developed really good quarterbacks that’s really something you can trust."

The conversations Thorne, Montgomery and Freeze have had have been encouraging. Now, Thorne is diving into the playbook to take in what they're teaching him.

"I’m just looking to soak it all up. What they’re displaying to me, what they’re saying to me, and I’m really excited to get going with them once the summer progresses."

Thorne explained in the interview that having played three years of college football has helped him pick up on some things quickly, but he's still walking through the start of the process - drawing up plays is first.

"I got the whole playbook when I got here," Thorne said. "Just going through it, trying to get very familiar with it and to be able to draw up the plays is the first step. Once you’re able to draw everything up, all the formations, all the motions, then you can take a deeper dive into it and figure out the details of each play, the little things."

"Being in an offense for three years like I was, you pick up on stuff over that course of time, so that’s why people talk about quarterbacks that have experience in an offense - there’s stuff you learn - so right now, I’m trying to bang out the X’s and O’s of trying to draw out the plays… watching as much film as I can to pick up on things,”

RPO isn't something Thorne really got to see during his time at Michigan State, but he believes he's comfortable with it and has enjoyed learning about the nuance of the way Freeze and Montgomery want to run things.

"(RPO) is a big part of this offense," Thorne said. "I am excited about that, that’s one of the strengths of my game… learning the in’s and out’s of our run game here, and obviously that is part RPO, is how we block things. Most of it stuff that I’ve done in terms of the run game. There’s definitely different wrinkles and I really want to get sharp with it. The RPO stuff, who we’re reading, what our rules are for when we’re going to decide to pull it or when we’re giving it, all of that stuff is stuff I’ll be learning here shortly."

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.

Some of Thorne's career statistics:

Career pass attempts - 861 (7.5 YPA)

Career pass yards - 4,693 (61.0%)

Career pass touchdowns - 49

Career rush yards - 270

Career rush touchdowns - 6

Best game of career: Vs Pittsburgh (12/30/2021) - 29-of-50 passing, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception

Related stories