Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown is already drawing draft talk, but not everybody is buying the first-round buzz.
One opposing coach, speaking anonymously to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg after seeing Brown last year at USF, made it clear he isn’t sold on the Tigers’ new starter as an elite NFL prospect.
"I'm not one of these Byrum Brown haters, but I'm also not one of these guys who thinks he's a first-round [NFL draft] pick, either," said a coach who faced Brown at USF. "He's all right. I'm not enamored with the guy."
The coach didn’t back up the take with any real explanation, but the skepticism centers on two familiar concerns: whether Brown can make the jump to SEC competition and whether his completion percentage is good enough.
That first point is harder to pin down in today’s transfer-heavy game. The old clean divide between a conference like the American and a Power 4 schedule has blurred, and some weeks USF was already seeing SEC-caliber defenders on the field.
The second issue is tied to the way Brown played in a fast-tempo offense. The incompletions were part of the package, but the production in Tampa still stood out. With Auburn’s resources and a full year of buy-in, that part of Brown’s game could be under a brighter spotlight.
Auburn coach Alex Golesh, though, isn’t sounding alarmed. He said Brown has kept moving forward.
"He's improved every year," Golesh told Rittenberg. "He's gotten better as a passer, he's gotten better as a leader, he's gotten better with his decision-making.
The next step is just to take one more step, decision-making, understanding of defenses. He understands that it happens faster [in the SEC].
We played Bama, we played Florida, we played Miami. The game just is faster.
"But he's a kid that embraces the challenge of 'Man, what's next?'"
Golesh has been around Brown since the quarterback’s second collegiate season, and Brown has been his QB1 for every year of Golesh’s head coaching career with the Bulls and now Auburn.
What comes next is a huge stage in Auburn. If Brown can steady Golesh and Joel Gordon’s first offense on the Plains and help the Tigers find consistency - maybe even a winning record - the first-round chatter for the 2027 NFL draft will only grow louder.
And if he does it while operating behind a rebuilt offensive line that’s expected to be a weak spot, the comeback narrative writes itself.
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For now, Auburn is still sorting out its backfield pecking order, with Jeremiah Cobb and Omar Mabson getting the first crack ahead of him. Washingtons challenge is to turn a late start into a real push before the season begins, especially with camp reps being the main proving ground for a player trying to force his way into the rotation. [Read more 🡒]