All Gas No Breaks

A year ago, I wrote about Tennessee QB, Joe Milton. He had a strong arm, but at the time had yet to have a full season in college as a starting QB. Some people suggested that Milton could become the next Anthony Richardson, saying that a Hendon Hooker type breakout season could propel Milton into the 1st round of the NFL draft. Instead, Milton had a relatively average 2023 season and ended up as a 6th round pick by the Patriots.

Like Milton, TJ Finley is another massive QB with a strong arm. He began his career at LSU, then transferred to Auburn. In 2021, Bo Nix was a true junior at Auburn and Finley was the backup. Nix struggled early that season and in the 4th game, ranked Auburn was playing at home against Georgia State. A shocking 1st half ended with Georgia State leading 24-12. Nix was benched in the 2nd half and Finley entered the game. Late in the 4th quarter, Finley engineered a dramatic game-winning drive, capped by a frantic 4th down pass, rescuing Auburn from a potential embarrassing upset. After the game, some media writers and fans called for Nix to be permanently benched in favor of Finley.

Nix continued to start but suffered a season-ending broken ankle injury. Finley finished out the year, including a near upset of Bryce Young and Alabama in the Iron Bowl, falling 24-22 in 4 OTs. Bama lost in the National Championship game that season.

If Finley had stayed at LSU, would he eventually have become the starter there instead of Jayden Daniels? Is Finley a better pro prospect than Nix and Milton? Why does Finley's name not even appear on most draft boards? Can he emerge from the shadows and transform himself from a "draft nobody" to an early round pick in next year's draft?

Background

Name: Tyler Jamal "TJ" Finley. Turns 23-years-old in March of 2025. 5th year redshirt junior in 2024.

School: Western Kentucky in 2024, Texas State 2023, Auburn 2021-2022, LSU 2020.

Size: Listed 6'7'' tall 249 pounds. Listed 242 pounds in 2020, 247, 250, 255 in following seasons. Draftscout lists him at 6'6 1/8'' tall, 5.12 second estimated 40 time.

3-star recruit from Louisiana. Younger brother is WR for Southwest Louisiana. Played basketball in HS as a wing player. Both his parents are doctors. His mother is a pharmacist and involved in youth ministry. His dad was a college baseball player and amateur boxer. Twin sons with his fiancé, a basketball player at Auburn, who is from his hometown.

High school team was famous for using a triple-option run oriented offense, but Finley wasn't suited for the system. The coach changed the scheme to accommodate Finley. Recruiting profile projected him to be a power conference starter but not a draft pick, saying he had raw tools and a high ceiling, Feleipe Franks as his comp [Franks was a highly touted QB recruit, tall with a very strong arm. I wrote a draft profile about him, criticizing his pocket presence and ability to read coverage. He was an UDFA in 2021. The Atlanta Falcons tried to convert Franks into a TE to be a hybrid player like Taysom Hill. Franks is currently a street FA.]

Enrolled early at LSU. Finley says that he was "embarrassingly" overweight when he arrived at LSU, 265 pounds, and lost 25 pounds before the start of the season in the fall. Made 5 starts as true freshman after injury to Myles Brennan but was benched later in the season and replaced by Max Johnson. In the spring of 2021, Finley fell behind both Brennan and Johnson in the QB competition. Garrett Nussmeier, a 4-star freshman, also was on the roster. Finley elected to transfer to Auburn and was immediately eligible to play. The following year, Jayden Daniels transferred to LSU.

Finley started 3 games after Nix's injury in 2021. He injured his left ankle in the Alabama game but remained in the contest. In the spring of 2022, Auburn had a hotly contested QB competition that would stretch into fall camp. Finley initially got upset when another QB got 1st team reps in the spring.

In the fall, Finley was named the starting QB to begin the 2022 season. In August of 2022, he was arrested for a traffic incident while riding on a moped. The initial report said that the police tried to stop him twice, but he eluded them and both times the police stopped the pursuits for safety reasons. Later, Finley was only charged with not wearing a helmet.

Finley struggled early in the 2022 season, sometimes replaced by the backup, Robby Ashford. Then, Finley sprained his throwing shoulder, resulting in a permanent change to Ashford as the new starter. There were reports that Finley stopped going to practice in the middle of the 2022 season. It was announced that he left the team "for mental health reasons" late in the 2022 season. Since he only appeared in 4 games, was able to redshirt in 2022. Ashford was only Auburn's backup QB in 2023. Auburn's HC was fired in the middle of the 2022 season.

Set school record for passing yards at Texas State in 2023. Finley initially announced that he was returning to Texas State for 2024, but just days later announced he was entering the portal. Jayden de Laura transferred to Texas State from Arizona in 2024 one day before Finley transferred out to WKY and it is unclear how those 2 events were related.

2020 (LSU, 5 starts) 80 for 140 (57.1% completions) 941 yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs, 118.2 passer rating, 7 sacks, 3 fumbles, 29-34-1 rushing

2021 (Auburn, 3 starts) 70 for 128 (54.7% completions) 827 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 122.9 rating, 10 sacks, 3 fumbles, 20-(-36)-1 rushing

2022 (Auburn, 3 starts) 33 for 53 (62.3% completions) 431 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs, 121.7 rating, 6 sacks, 3 fumbles, 17-33-1 rushing

2023 (Texas State, 13 starts) 67.4% completions, 3,439 yards, 24 TDs, 8 INTs, 152.4 rating, 29 sacks, 7 fumbles, 78-81-5 rushing

NFLMDD consensus board 673 (UDFA)

Not ranked by Shane Hallam (among 104 QBs for the 2025 draft and not ranked for 2026 draft), Drafttek (among 20 QBs) or DraftBuzz (among 48 QBs)

Finley is ranked so super low that the most likely scenario is he'd stay in school for 2025 and use all of his eligibility. He's not even a fringe draft prospect at the moment, he's an off-the-radar prospect.

Strengths

Good arm strength and ball velocity. Smoke on intermediate throws over the middle and outside the numbers. Can jam the ball into tight windows. Can drill hole shots and 30-yard deep in-cuts. Effortless and easy 45-yard deep post. Some impressive 35-yard throws to the sideline from opposite hash, on the money. Rockets on short and intermediate throws are though for defenders to stop. Zip on ball when throwing on the move to his right. Has some mechanical flaws and if he could fix those, he could unlock even more arm strength.

Not all fastballs. Throws with touch, doesn't overcook shorter throws, proper weight on most passes. Solid touch on fade patterns.

Quick release for QB with long limbs. Lines up feet and shoulders when throwing horizontal passes.

Can make throws extending plays outside of pocket. Climbing forward in pocket, keeps his eyes downfield, knows where he is on field and will run just behind the LOS while looking for WRs to target. Medium 3rd down, zone blitz, QB avoided sack, stayed 1-yard behind LOS, then with pressure from behind closing in on him, zips pass 20-yards downfield for conversion. 3rd&20, immediate pressure, QB climbs forward to escape sack, runs sideways 1-yard behind LOS, throws touch pass 25 yards downfield for first down.

Enough overall athleticism to make some plays with legs. Adequate ability to dodge sacks in pocket. Size to shrug off contact. While he's not fast, has imposing size, not easy to bring down and tackle. Slides appropriately.

5-man rush, LB beats the center immediately and pocket collapses, QB scrambles forward for 15 yards, then slides. 3rd&14, QB takes deep drop 10 yards behind LOS, sees lane up middle, scrambles, not fast at first but after 15 yards (5 yards past LOS) has built up enough speed to be threatening, then when defender dives to try to cut him down, short hurdles over him at the marker to gain 17 yards.

Scrambled up middle on 2nd&10, defender grabbled him at LOS and tried to rip ball out of his arms, 2nd defender hits him 3 yards short of marker, 3rd and 4th defenders arrive to try to help, QB holds onto the ball and gains 13 yards, picking up first down.

Has been in different offensive schemes. Texas State had a spread offense with wide WR splits and RPOs. Auburn had more pro-style elements with actual TEs, and even some snaps under center. When he was at Auburn, pass protection issues and unimpressive WRs, some of the same things that negatively impacted Bo Nix's production, were a drag on Finley's opportunities to make plays.

Signs of slight improvement in his career. Had deer-in-the-headlights look when pressured by Alabama in 2021. HS and college coaches have praised him for his football IQ. Frequent transfers and OC changes have prevented him from having continuity with the same system and staff. Has never been in a true "bombs away" deep field passing attack that could fully showcase his arm strength.

Weaknesses

Average accuracy. Routinely sails passes too high. Needs to play with WRs who are all 7-feet tall and have very strong hands to catch outside their frame. Who was the guy who said NBA players could play in the NFL? The only WRs who could catch some of his passes would be former NBA players. Some of his high passes and late throws expose the WRs to dangerous hits. The WRs have to jump high into the air to try to catch the ball, then the DBs crash into the WR's legs or smash them with blindside hits. Blitz, slot WR on post is wide open, pass too high to catch, WR nearly gets injured on hit by safety. Sails sideline fades out of bounds. Pass over middle zoomed a full foot over leaping WR's outstretched hand. Poor accuracy on backshoulder throws. Speed outs sometimes go to inside shoulder, not outside shoulder. Passes tend to have too flat of a trajectory.

Imprecise ball placements can limit YAC. Shaky accuracy to wide open receivers forces unnecessarily difficult catches. 4th down slant, didn't put ball on frame, forcing WR to make difficult grab reaching to snatch the ball with strong hands. WR is behind the CB, plenty of space to lob ball into back of end zone for TD but QB's touch throw moving to his left comes up way short, forcing WR to make difficult leaping contested grab at the very front of the end zone.

4th down, post route up the seam breaks wide open 25 yards downfield, potential easy TD, QB sails pass over WR's head giving WR no chance at catching the ball.

RPO, defense caught in wrong coverage, no safety in middle, slant route should be easy TD but pass not out in front of the WR, behind, allowing the trailing CB to get PBU.

WR destroys the CB on deep corner route, wide open 35-yards downfield, QB leans backwards, pass drifts too wide, bounces incomplete off WR's hands instead of being an easy walk-in TD.

Undisciplined footwork and mechanics. Too reliant on his arm strength. Inefficient dropback, not quick to come to balance. Takes extra hitches, pats ball, wasted hop steps. Overstrides. Struggles if he has to quickly reset his feet inside the pocket. Doesn't slide laterally inside the pocket to buy time and maximize available space.

Left shoulder sometimes opens too early, torso leans backwards with shoulders tilted upward. Doesn't get full upper body rotation. Slightly low release point somewhat reduces height advantage. Needs to be more consistent with mechanics on horizontal passes in quick game. Upper body mechanic issues cause some short throws to be driven into the ground, low and wide of the target.

Average mobility. Lacks sudden agility and short area burst to escape sacks and cleanly get out of the pocket. Limited acceleration and burst on QB draws and scrambles, a lumbering mover with build-up speed. Not explosive enough to spin out back or side of pocket and get away from pressure, can get caught and tripped up and doesn't always buy enough time and space (or get outside the tackle box) to throw the ball away cleanly to avoid grounding penalties.

Average composure and patience inside pocket. Long 3rd down, post route pops wide open, but QB doesn't let routes develop, goes to checkdown too quickly. Indecisive and panics if the first reads aren't open, doesn't read the full progression. Tends to go too far when climbing forward in pocket, not staying in proper body positioning to throw the ball.

Below average field processing and reading of coverage. Fails to recognize WRs coming wide open. Medium 3rd down, slot WR turns his CB around and is wide open on deep post for potential huge gain, but QB cluelessly fails to see it and runs into sack instead. On 4th quarter "must-have-it" drive, slow processing when WR was open resulted in critical sack that sealed loss for his team.

Obvious zone coverage, doesn't throw open slant in designated window, dangerously late he throws the ball directly over the hand of leaping LB in underneath zone, behind the WR and only a twisting catch prevents the ball from going past the WR to the S for a potential INT.

Red zone, 3rd down play, cover 4, the slant is wide open to the outside WR coming behind the slot WR, QB has zero anticipation and doesn't see it, eats a sack instead of an easy TD.

Comes off reads too early, seeming to predetermine the route he wants to throw. Slot WR to left wins great leverage on CB and is wide open on slant but QB comes off this read way too fast and forces nearly impossible sideline deep fade into tight coverage towards the right side of the field, the pass drifting 5 yards out of bounds and not catchable.

QB looks to left side, sees the 2 WRs in that area aren't open, then panics instead of reading the right side of the field, doesn't recognize that TE is wide-open underneath, tries to go deep to wheel route but feet aren't organized, and pass sails out of bounds instead of being accurate for TD.

Short 4th down, CB gives slot WR a large cushion, 7 yards off the LOS, the backs up after the snap. When WR turns around, ball still hasn't left QB's hand, the ball and CB arrive simultaneously at the WR, lucky that WR strong enough to hold on through contact to complete catch.

Texas State scheme had very simplistic reads, like a high school team offense.

Panicked vs blitz, didn't use hot route, taking avoidable sack. Made critical mistake vs Bama in 2021, taking 13-yard sack on 3rd down from Bama's 20, trying to spin out of the back of the pocket, hurting opportunity to get a key FG. This poor decision also resulted in him injuring his ankle on the sack and he was gimpy for the rest of that game. Finley crumbled and completely fell apart late in that game, throwing a critical INT, throwing another killer 4th quarter INT, then almost throwing yet another bad INT late in the 4th.

Fumble prone. Initially has 2 hands on ball in pocket, but once he starts to move, his hands separate and he holds the ball in only 1 hand, exposing the ball, contributing to loose fumbles. Hands not strong even when he has 2 hands on the ball. Doesn't tuck the ball securely when he takes off running.

The most impressive player from the Auburn and Penn State game was the one-man game destroyer named Chop Robinson. Chop obliterated Auburn's pass protection that day and was primarily responsible for the fumble that led to Finley getting benched. Even prior to that point, in the final seconds of the 2nd quarter, ball at midfield, what an offense cannot allow to happen in that situation is for PSU to get the ball in a position to score. There is so little time left, unless you throw a pick-six type INT or fumble it, there is no way they can get more points. Finley drops back, Chop beats the RT badly, rips the ball out of QB's hands and Auburn is very luck Finley was able to fall on the ball to prevent a turnover.

Off field incident and weight issue when he first got to LSU raise maturity questions. Self-centered POV, not team-oriented in his mentality. Egotistical, with inflated opinion of himself and his abilities. Ended up at a smaller school after he was unable to win QB competitions vs SEC level QBs (and not even star QBs, just average SEC QBs.)

Draft Grade and Pro Comp

Late round grade. (Byron Leftwich, 1st round, 7th overall selection 2003, Jacksonville Jaguars, Marshall)

Leftwich was a 23-year-old rookie. He was 6'5 3/8'' tall, 241 pounds, with a 4.85 second 40-time. He was part of a very strange draft incident where a trade between the Vikings and Ravens fell through, resulting in the draft clock expiring on the Vikings. Instead of having the 7th overall pick, both the Jaguars and the Panthers jumped ahead of the Vikings.

Instead of getting Leftwich, the Ravens took Terrell Suggs at pick 10, then they used a 1st round pick in 2004 to trade up to get Kyle Boller. Even though Boller didn't work out, since Suggs was so great, not trading up for Leftwich worked out well for the Ravens in the long run.

As a rookie, Leftwich made 13 starts but struggled, with more INTs (16) than TDs (14) and he was only slightly better in year 2. He seemed to emerge in 2005 and had the best season of his career but suffered a broken ankle in the 2nd half of the season. Another injury in 2006 opened the door for David Garrard to be the starter. In the spring of 2007, the Jaguars declared that Leftwich was still the team's starter but in a shocking move Leftwich was cut in the fall prior to the start of the regular season. He was a backup for multiple NFL teams, including the Steelers.

Leftwich was the OC for the Tampa Bay Bucs from 2019 to 2022 under Bruce Arians. He was considered to be a potential HC candidate, but the offense struggled after Tom Brady retired. He's not currently coaching in the NFL but reportedly still is interested in trying to land an NFL job.

Western Kentucky opens the 2024 season at Alabama. Their only other power conference opponent is Boston College. A key WR loss was Malachi Corley. WKY's OC is Will Friend, who was on Auburn's staff in 2021 and 2022. NFL teams like big QBs with strong arms, so even though TJ Finley isn't a well known or highly ranked QB prospect, he could draw the attention of scouts, particularly if he had a good showing against Bama. If he plays well in that first game to begin the season, watch out for him as a potential draft riser.