Marshall, Newton among best transfer QBs of all-time

In recent memory, Auburn football has benefitted greatly from transfer quarterbacks.

Cam Newton, Nick Marshall, and Jarrett Stidham led Auburn to SEC Championship games after transferring in from a fellow Power conference program. The first two quarterbacks mentioned led the Tigers to National Championship appearances, with Newton leading Auburn to its first title since 1957 in 2010.

Two of Auburn’s best transfer quarterbacks in history were recently included in a list by 247Sports. Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently ranked the best 20 transfer quarterbacks of all time, which includes Newton and Marshall.

Marshall kicks off Auburn’s representation at No. 17. Marshall began his college career as a defensive back at Georgia before switching to quarterback at Auburn in 2013. In two seasons at Auburn, Marshall passed for 4,508 yards and 34 touchdowns while rushing for an additional 1,866 and 23 scores. He led Auburn to the SEC Championship Game and the BCS National Championship Game in 2013.

Crawford remembers Marshall as the quarterback that flipped Auburn from “worst to first” during his debut season in Auburn.

The year prior to Marshall earning QB1 status on the Plains, Auburn finished 3-9 — so the Tigers’ landmark turnaround was met with tremendous praise. A converted defensive back, Marshall went from Georgia to JUCO to Auburn and was the player responsible for the “Prayer at Jordan-Hare” when the Tigers beat the Bulldogs on one of the most memorable plays in college football history. Marshall and Auburn reached the BCS National Championship against Florida State, but couldn’t hold on to a late lead in that one.

Newton, the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner, checks in at No. 2 on Crawford’s list. The Florida transfer won six individual honors in addition to his Heisman win in 2010, earning those awards by passing for 2,854 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for 1,473 additional yards and 20 touchdowns. Outside of Joe Burrow, who transferred to LSU from Ohio State in 2018, Newton had the best career of any transfer quarterback in history.

Cam Newton, who spent one season at Blinn (Texas) Junior College after departing Florida, enrolled at Auburn in 2010 and led the Tigers to their first national championship since 1957. Along the way, Newton completed passes at a 66.1% clip for 2,854 yards with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Newton was a physical runner that accounted for 1,473 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. The Carolina Panthers saw enough of Newton to make him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Four years later, he was league MVP and playing in the Super Bowl.

Former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix also made the list after he transferred to Oregon for the final two seasons of his college career. Nix grabs the No. 10 spot after earning a Heisman nomination and the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2023. He was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019 while at Auburn.

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