Auburn quarterback Zach Calzada underwent surgery today to repair an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, per Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin.
"Zach Calzada, on his repaired shoulder, will get another surgery on that," Harsin said. "That'll be Wednesday, so they'll go in there and repair some of what had happened from before. That'll be season ending there."
Speculation of this happing was originally brought up in late September when Justin Hokanson of On3 Sports originally reported on the story.
The former Texas A&M starter came in with an impressive stat line from last year which consisted of passing for 2,185 yards and 17 touchdowns, along with completing 56.1 percent of his passes. The year was highlighted when Calzada led the Aggies to their first win against Alabama since 2012 in a thrilling 41-38 victory at Kyle Field.
Needless to say, Auburn fans were very excited to see what the sophomore could bring to this squad after beating the Crimson Tide, in addition to the departure of Bo Nix to Oregon.
Calzada transferred to the Plains in January with eyes set on the starting job. Throughout most of fall-camp that seemed to be the case until the lingering shoulder issues ultimately caught up to him. Presumed to win the starting job at the start of camp, Calzada was ruled out in the spring and then suffered multiple setbacks in the fall from the injury, which was sustained against when Texas A&M faced Auburn this past November and cost him valuable time.
“I think what he wanted to do is he wanted to jump in so fast and just get going, and he thought he could just jump in from where he got off from when he got hurt,” Auburn offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said Aug. 19. “So, that’s been the biggest adjustment for him — just getting acclimated and getting these opportunities. It’s kind of the reps he’s going to get. How does he respond? And we’re still working through it with him, to be honest with you.”
Among the other quarterbacks in the mix for the starting job were TJ Finley, Oregon transfer Robby Ashford, and four-star freshman Holden Geriner.
Finley is the one who was called upon as the starter and did so for the first three games of the season, while ultimately ruining a two-quarterback system with second string quarterback Robby Ashford. This left Calzada as the third string quarterback on the depth chart.
With the injury to TJ Finley, it was presumed Calzada would jump to number two on the depth chart behind Robby Ashford, but that was not the case.
This brings us back to what was speculated since late September, Calzada will undergo surgery and take a medical redshirt year.
With being behind Ashford and TJ Finley, after Finley comes back from injury, on the depth chart as the third string quarterback and having a question mark above his head, Calzada decided to cut his losses and undergo season ending surgery.
It would not be a shock to many if Calzada, once again, enters the transfer portal after this season. Auburn fans would be disappointed with the outcome as the expectations were high when he announced his transfer in from College Station.
The problem of only having two healthy scholarship quarterbacks rostered for the Georgia game was brought up during the Monday press conference with Bryan Harsin. He responded to this by revealing that Auburn has three healthy scholarship quarterbacks. This comes after Auburn placed senior Trey Lindsey on scholarship before the Missouri game.
The former walk-on from Montgomery, Alabama, has not seen the field in three years at Auburn but Harsin highlighted the work that Lindsey has put in.
“He’s out there every single week. This guy’s a future coach. He brings a tremendous value and a lot of really positive things to this team,” Harsin said.
The Auburn quarterback room will look slightly different this week for Auburn. Robby Ashford is expected to start with Finley and Geriner behind him. If Finley is unable to go, Lindsey will likely fill in at third on the depth chart.
“As far as our quarterbacks, you’ve got Robby out there, you’ve got Holden out there. We’ll see where TJ’s at this week. Those are guys we’re getting prepared to play. Just so you know, for them, their mindset is they’re getting ready to play,” Harsin said.
The Auburn Tigers will look to knock off No. 2 Georgia in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcasted by CBS.
