Payton Thorne Reveals Difference Year 1 vs. Year 2 and 'Freak' Receiver

Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne struggled his first year on the Plains, and he sees a big difference in year two including a "freak" wide receiver.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne / Austin Perryman, Auburn University Athletics

Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne struggled his first season on the Plains. After starting two years at Michigan State, Thorne saw career lows in completions, yards, and touchdowns, while posting a career-high interception percentage.

Head coach Hugh Freeze backed Thorne in the offseason and went to work improving the cast surrounding his quarterback. Thorne has noticed big differences between his first summer at Auburn and his second.

"Just about everything, honestly,” Thorne said on Monday after being asked about the difference between year one and year two. “You got some familiar faces around, some coaches, some players, but for the most part, there’s a lot of new guys. That’s a good thing.

"I think the guys that coach Freeze has brought in are his caliber of guys. They’re high character guys; they’re like-minded guys. So you have more of the same people around which has been great. It’s been easy to work with. There’s more talent out there as well. It’s been really fun working these past few months."

A lot has been said about wide receiver Cam Coleman since he committed to Auburn and won the MVP of the A-Day game in the spring. Rightfully so. However, it was another freshman receiver who stole the show at Saturday's scrimmage, and Thorne was asked about Malcolm Simmons and his two touchdowns.

"First thing starts with the amazing speed," said Thorne of Simmons. "The kid can fly and that’s obviously showing you his track speed. His jumping ability. I think his Instagram is something like ‘freak-something (freak0fnatureee).’ He lives up to the name. He is a freak."

Thorne is in the enviable position of having multiple targets after struggling to push the ball downfield in 2023.

"But you look out there and we’ve got a lot of guys like that," Thorne continued. "We’ve got a lot of guys that can run in that room, and we’ve got a lot of guys that can shake in that room too… and that can run. That’s a rare combo.

"As a whole, our receiver room is a lot different than it was last year. So, a guy like Malcolm, he had a good day Saturday, and other guys have shown up consistently throughout camp as well." 

For a player who struggled his first year, changing "everything" isn't necessarily a bad thing. Head coach Hugh Freeze took over a team that was in dire need of a talent infusion and culture change.

The early returns have shown both to be true. On August 31st against Alabama A&M, the Auburn Family will get its first look to see if the hard work has paid off.

.@MalcolmSimmons0 balled out in his first time in Jordan-Hare 👀 pic.twitter.com/bdnuTHfkEI

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) August 10, 2024