Auburn Football 2011: Kiehl Frazier Ready to Challenge for Starting Role

There comes a time in any writer’s career when they must admit having underestimated a situation. This is going to be the case with many writers, including yours truly, in the case of Kiehl Frazier.

It was the opinion of most that Frazier could not arrive on campus so late and still compete heavily for the starting position. It appears this is not the case at all.

In this evaluation, accuracy and consistency were listed as negatives for Frazier. He has since competed in several camps and worked out with NFL-caliber receivers. Evaluations improved with time, and then he arrived on the plains.

Reports had Frazier underrated by many prior to arriving at Auburn—despite being a top-five pick at quarterback by almost every recruiting service. It seems that his hard work and 4.5 speeds in the forty had impressed some, but his absolute will to win had impressed all.

He finally arrived on campus listed at 6’3” and 210 pounds. His pedigree seemed scripted perfectly for the SEC. Most thought he would take the conference by storm in 2012 after a red shirt season to learn the offense.

This writer no longer thinks this is the case. Scuttlebutt from receivers who caught passes from Cameron Newton has Frazier with an incredibly strong and accurate arm. It seems he has studied the Auburn offense and was much farther along than anticipated when he arrived.

While all of this is important, the fact that he is earning the respect of former Auburn players and current teammates is of even more significance. Frazier has come to Auburn with a hard work ethic that will help ready him for the quarterback competition beginning in a few weeks.

It was this writer’s opinion that Barrett Trotter or Clint Moseley would be the starting quarterback for Auburn in 2011. It simply did not seem possible for Frazier to learn the system so quickly as well as his teammates' respect.

No longer is this a viable opinion; Kiehl Frazier has come to compete and he just could be the favorite at this point. It will take a phenomenal performance by Barrett Trotter or Clint Moseley to hold the charge from this true freshman back in 2011.