TJ Finley
Quarterback
6'6" 250lbs
RS Sophmore Quarterback
A grown-ass man has just arrived in San Marcos, and not just in physical stature. I encourage everyone to listen to a TJ Finley interview (sources below). He is an extremely articulate young man who is mature beyond his years. He graduated in three years, is engaged to get married, and is one of the best interviews in college football. A high three-star QB coming out of high school, TJ had offers from just about every school, including Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, and Baylor, before committing to LSU where he started as a freshman in 2020. He then transferred to Auburn where Bo Nix was entrenched as the starter. TJ saw his first action when he replaced Bo Nix in the fourth quarter against Georgia St, with Auburn down by five. With about three minutes left on the clock, TJ drove Auburn 98 yards down the field and finished with an amazing fourth-down TD pass with seconds left to win the game. Bo Nix remained the starter until later in the season when he went down with an injury, and TJ replaced him for his first start at Auburn against South Carolina. In the first half of that game, TJ looked like an NFL prospect to me.
TJ started the following week against Alabama and helped lead Auburn to OT where they eventually lost by 2 points. This is how one article(sources) described TJ that game,"T.J. Finley was firing absolute strikes in the game. Not only did Finley show an incredible amount of toughness in the 24-22 four overtime classic, but he dropped some epic dimes in the game as well." After watching the game myself, I agree. He finished the game against Alabama completing 65% of his passes with 2TD and an INT. His total yards were low but did see a couple of deep passes dropped. The sky is the limit for TJ at TXST.
Here are my evaluation notes on TJ:
I'm going to go out on a limb and say TJ is going to eventually be our starter unless Malik or CJ get an opportunity early and beat Baylor and then follow it up with a victory against UTSA. You'll find Auburn fans and media who say TJ can't play QB, but similar criticisms were levied at Bo Nix. Bryan Harsin was a terrible hire for that program and blame can be placed squarely on his shoulders. I suspect TJ will experience similar success at Texas State that Bo Nix has experienced at Oregon.
My Rating: 5 Stars!!
Sources:
Post Spring Interview: fast forward to 5:43 mark
Georgia State Highlights 2021: fast forward to 7:13 mark
