It’s been long-established that Payton Thorne would return as Auburn’s starting quarterback in 2024.

After Robby Ashford hit the portal and Hugh Freeze passed on adding a transfer quarterback, all signs pointed towards another year of Thorne, which Freeze went on to confirm ahead of fall camp.

In early July, Freeze told reporters at an Auburn AMBUSH event in Alexander City that the starting quarterback job was Thorne’s to lose.

Then during SEC Media Days, Freeze said Thorne would be getting “the nod” as Auburn’s starter.

Who would be next in line, however, was a question that’s yet to be answered.

However, in a meeting with reporters on Thursday, Auburn quarterback coach Kent Austin provided a bit of insight into the pecking order of the Tigers’ quarterback room.

In terms of the QB2 position, unsurprisingly, it sounds to be boiling down to redshirt sophomore Holden Geriner and redshirt freshman Hank Brown.

“Right now they’re probably on the same level,” Austin said. “I mean, if you were to hold a gun to my head and made me choose one of the two categories, you know, I’d say they’re, they’re probably at the same spot.”

Looking back at last fall, statistically, Brown was better of the two as he finished 7-for-9 for 132 passing yards — all of which came in his lone appearance in the Music City Bowl.

Meanwhile, Geriner went 5-for-15 for 75 yards and an interception across five games.

Nonetheless, while they might be neck-and-neck now, Austin is anticipating separation.

“That will separate. That always does,” Austin said. “There’s rarely a case where two guys go through the entire camp and there isn’t some separation at some point. That might be the case this time, but ask me about it in a couple of week when we have a few more live periods under out belt.”

Meanwhile, true freshman Walker White seems to be bringing up the rear of the group, though Austin sees a high ceiling in the former four-star.

“He’s very detailed. Takes a ton of notes. He wants to know the ‘Why?’ — sometimes too much, especially at his age right now and his development,” Austin said.

“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. But as you guys know, the physical attributes in quarterbacking only carries you so far.”

And while all four quarterbacks are still rotating heavily throughout practices, Austin says that will have to change sooner rather than later.

“You can’t get four guys ready. You really can only get two guys ready and that’s marginal when you get into the season,” Austin said. “We need to get a scrimmage in, at least one, and we’ll make an evaluation after that first scrimmage and see where guys are at.”

Auburn is expected to scrimmage some during practice on Saturday.