‘It’s going to be fun’: Robby Ashford dishes on Auburn's upcoming quarterback competition

After facing a quarterback battle in Auburn’s fall camp last year, Robby Ashford is eager for what’s to come with another competition at the position heading into this season.
“It’s going to be fun,” Ashford told the Opelika-Auburn News following a youth camp in Loachapoka on July 16. “I feel like it’s going to be a good battle, and our coaches are going to give us a fair chance to compete, and I mean, like I said, as a competitor, that’s all you can ask for. You want to get the best guys brought in to help you; to make you get better. And I feel like that’s what we did, so I’m excited.”
While Ashford started the final nine games of Auburn’s 2022 season at quarterback, the program saw two scholarship quarterbacks in TJ Finley and Zach Calzada depart, and first-year Auburn coach Hugh Freeze subsequently dipped into the transfer portal for another passer.
That other passer was former Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne, who transferred to the Plains in May after setting records for the Spartans.
“We’ve had a really good relationship,” Ashford said of Thorne. “He’s older, like a vet, too. So it’s cool to learn from him, kind of pick his brain some, because we’ve both been on the field now.”
In his only season as Auburn’s starter, Ashford proved to be a force in the rushing attack, with 710 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Both those rushing marks were second-most on the team, but he struggled statistically through the air, completing less than half his passes and throwing as many touchdowns as interceptions. Following the Iron Bowl, Ashford also revealed he’d been dealing with multiple upper body injuries since his first start in Week Four against Missouri.
Auburn’s Robby Ashford (9) throws a pass in the second half of the team’s game against Arkansas on Oct. 29 in Auburn.
While Ashford will look to demonstrate his passing abilities at full health, he’ll have to do so in a three-man competition that’s set to include Thorne, who showed prowess as passer while starting at Michigan State. In the past two seasons, Thorne has thrown for 5,911 yards and 46 touchdowns.
“It’s going to be fun to compete with him,” Ashford said. “It’s been fun just competing in workouts, but I’m excited to put the ball down and compete, because I know we’re going to try and compete every day and try and get each other better.
“At the end of the day, that’s what we want, whether you’re the starter, the backup. I mean, if you’re the backup, you’re one play away from being the starter, so you’ve always got to prepare yourself like you’re the starter.”
That competition, along with the rest of Auburn’s fall camp, is slated to begin Aug. 3.