Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne details this year’s offense being different and all the new talent coming to play for the Tigers.
The first question for Thorne would be a great one. He is asked to define the difference between this fall camp and the one in 2023.
“Just about everything honestly,” Thorne began. “You’ve got some familiar faces around, players and coaches, but for the most part, there are a lot of new guys.
“That’s a good thing. The guys that coach (Hugh) Freeze brought in are his caliber of guys. You know, they’re high-character guys. They’re like-minded guys. So you have more of the same people around, I would say.
“It’s been great. It’s been easy to work with. There’s been more talent out there to work with, too. It’s been really fun working these past few months. And obviously right now it’s the team that we have. So, this is what we’re going with.”
As for Saturday’s scrimmage inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, Thorne breaks down why it’s still not the same as going live, as well as what the Auburn offense needs to work on.
“You know, it’s tough going out there and scrimmaging like that. You want to compare it to a game, but at the same time it’s not you know? We’re thudding most of that day during the scrimmage.
“You don’t really know how many yards you’re gaining, when you’re thudding. When you can fall forward for an extra three or four yards. So, you try to keep that in mind while you watch the film. We, offensively, were frustrated walking off the field with how the day went. It was one of our not-so-good days of camp, I would say.
“Then you go back and watch film. And like they say, it’s never as bad or as good as you think. Just some detail stuff on Saturday that was getting us, but like I said, we weren’t game planning for the scrimmage; we weren’t game planning for our defense.
“Sometimes when we were out there it was the first time we ran those plays. It was like a practice. You keep that in mind. Some guys showed some good flashes, obviously. I think the defense did a lot of good things, too.”
Thorne is certainly happy about the freshmen receivers, including Malcolm Simmons .
“First thing that you start with him is his speed. He can fly and that’s obviously showing with his track speed and jumping ability. So, I think his Instagram is like Freak-something (laughing). That lives up to the name; he’s a freak.
“You look out there and we got a lot of guys like that. A lot of guys that can run in that room. A lot of guys that have shake in that room, too. And can run. That’s a rare combination. So our receiver room is whole lot different than it was last year.
“A guy like Malcolm, he had a good day Saturday. And other guys have shown up consistently throughout camp as well.”
Talking about freshmen, Thorne digs into the subject a little bit more with how they are working with him.
“Obviously you spend a lot of time in the summer with those guys. Perry ( Thompson ) and Malcolm (Simmons) are two guys that showed up in the summer. They are a little bit behind in that aspect. Just didn’t have the time the other guys had.
“Trying to catch up those guys as fast as possible. Guys like Cam ( Coleman ), he’s a different type of receiver. You throw him different kind of balls. You don’t necessarily have to do things the same way that you do with a guy that’s 5-foot-11, 6-foot, and can’t jump and touch the ceiling. So Cam, you throw him different balls, let him go play. Let him be him.”
As for fellow freshman receiver Thompson, Thorne sees a big jump from summer seven-on-seven to the early part of fall camp.
“He’s cleaned up some things from summer. Just some things that you saw from the first few seven-on-sevens. You know that’s a young receiver. That’s just because he is (laughing). He just came in right out of high school, and a lot of the things that he was doing you can get away with in high school because you’re that much more athletic than everybody.
“Obviously, he is another freak. He weighs 220 pounds as a freshman and can run. So, I saw him get it (technique) cleaned up in two or three weeks, honestly. And they’re not really easy things to break the habit of. He worked at it and did a really good job. He is quickly developing into a guy that will be able to help us this year."
Overall, Thorne's press conference gives credence to why so many people are excited about Auburn's offense this fall.
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