While not having the hype of blue-chip receivers Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson, few players were more important to Auburn’s 2024 recruiting class than Walker White.

White, a four-star quarterback from Little Rock, Arkansas, was ranked as the fifth-best quarterback and No. 41 player overall by 247Sports coming out of high school.

“Walker White, I think, is going to be a star. I think he’s got all the attributes of what a quarterback should (look) like,” Hugh Freeze said on signing day.

White enrolled early, spending spring camp with the team before going into his first season.

A week into fall camp, Freeze is still impressed with what he has seen in White.

“Walker has looked incredible in 7-on-7,” Freeze said Friday.

While White is still developing in certain parts of the game, he has already shown his natural talent.

“The game is a little fast for him right now in the 11-on-11 world,” Freeze said, “But as far as him and 7-on-7 and he knows the routes that are running, man, he looks really good.”

Quarterbacks coach Kent Austin echoed similar praise for White.

“He’s really physically talented. He’s big and strong. He’s got a great arm. He’s naturally accurate. He can get out of trouble if he needs to,” Austin said.

With his physical talent, Austin emphasized the importance of becoming more technically sound as the next phase of White’s development.

“The physical attributes in quarterbacking only carry you so far. That’s really not quarterbacking,” Austin said. “You’ve got to learn how to play the position and be a real quarterback and student of the game and understand defense and what defensive coordinators understand.”

White has often been praised for his mobility. Combine that with a 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame, and he stands out physically from most other quarterbacks.

Austin also commented on how detailed White is.

“He wants to understand the ‘why,’ almost too much,” Austin said.

White is one of the members of a competitive quarterback room. While Payton Thorne owns the starting job, there’s an ongoing battle for the backup spot.

That battle is still primarily being fought by the returning Hank Brown and Holden Geriner, but White remains in the mix as he continues to impress.

“We’ll see when we get into some live periods and some scrimmages,” Austin said. “We’ll get a better idea of their ability to process and make great decisions and throw accurate passes in a real competition period.”