Film Room: What new Auburn QB TJ Finley showed in his 140 pass attempts at LSU

The stats from five SEC starts during a wild true freshman season don't tell the whole story for Auburn's newest quarterback pickup.

(Courtesy of LSU Athletics)

New Auburn quarterback TJ Finley wasn’t expected to be a starter at LSU last season. But when Myles Brennan went down with a season-ending injury, the former high 3-star prospect stepped into the role for the Bayou Bengals.

Finley had five starts — two wins and three losses — before LSU opted for freshman Max Johnson in the final two games. He completed 57.1% of his passes for an average of 6.7 yards per attempt, both of which were lower than new Auburn teammate and returning QB1 Bo Nix. Finley didn’t finish out any of his three losses as a starter.

So when Finley entered the transfer portal after seeing that he was the clear No. 3 at LSU following spring practices, Auburn’s pursuit raised a few eyebrows. Nix had two years of starting experience and looked locked in as the guy during spring ball.

But with the departures of Chayil Garnett and Cord Sandberg this offseason, coupled with the lack of experience for backups Grant Loy and highly touted newcomer Dematr…