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Auburn quarterbacks Sean White (13), Jeremy Johnson (6) and John Franklin III (5) run through drills during spring practice Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at the Auburn practice facility in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

(JULIE BENNETT)

Four sentences into his introduction of Chip Lindsey as Auburn's new offensive coordinator, coach Gus Malzahn got to the core of why he chose Lindsey to man the Tigers' offense moving forward.

The fifth-year Auburn coach rattled off three criteria he was searching for in an offensive coordinator. The first one was, perhaps, the most telling.

"I just felt like I needed to find somebody that could develop and evaluate quarterbacks," Malzahn said.

Since Malzahn took over the program after the 2012 season, the Tigers have experienced a mixed bag when it comes to their quarterbacks. Nick Marshall was a roaring success in 2013 and 2014 while running Malzahn's zone-read offense after transferring from junior college, but the last two seasons have left plenty to be desired as the most important position on that side of the ball. At quarterback, Marshall accounted for 4,508 passing yards and 34 touchdowns along with 1,866 rushing yards and 23 scores in two seasons. In the two years since, Auburn's quarterbacks have combined to throw for 4,416 yards and 22 touchdowns while rushing for 798 yards and 12 scores.

When it comes to diagnosing Auburn's struggles at quarterback at times during the Malzahn era, the question is whether it is an issue with the team's recruiting of the position or an issue with development once players are on campus, where Malzahn has traditionally not allowed his quarterbacks to work with private coaches or quarterback gurus in the offseason. Malzahn said that may change under Lindsey, who has full control of the offense moving forward.

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Malzahn's primary criteria when introducing Lindsey hinted that both of those areas, recruitment and development, contributed to Auburn's inconsistent quarterback play in recent years. His decision to allow Lindsey to decide if quarterbacks can work with private gurus also appears telling in that the head coach seems more open to outside development after years of opposition.

It's difficult to pinpoint which factor affected the Tigers more at that position, but they likely aren't the only contributing causes for the team's quarterback quandary since Marshall graduated.

During Malzahn's tenure as Auburn's head coach, the Tigers have signed nine quarterbacks, with two of them in the 2017 class and already on campus: Jarrett Stidham and Malik Willis. Of the other seven quarterbacks to ink a letter of intent with Auburn, five have attempted at least one pass at Auburn and four have started at least one game, including three of them starting over the last two seasons.

That collective group has included three-pro-style quarterbacks and six dual-threat options, with three of those classified as athletes in recruiting rankings.

"I hesitate to say (Auburn's quarterback recruiting) has been bad because you can't really argue with some of the results, but obviously there's been some misses," said J.C. Shurburtt, the former national recruiting director at 247Sports. "How I kind of see it is this: They're all different types of quarterbacks. The offensive scheme, the one Gus ran, was sort of set up to take advantage of different guys."

In 2013, Malzahn signed Marshall out of a junior college as well as four-star pro-style quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who was the No. 11 prospect at his position according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Marshall earned the starting job in fall camp and developed into a dangerous dual-threat option for two seasons.

With Malzahn's second class, Auburn signed four-star signal-caller Sean White, who was the No. 8 pro-style quarterback in the nation. White was highly regarded after being an Elite 11 quarterback and the MVP of the Under Armour All-America Game, but Auburn was easily his best offer, even if it wasn't necessarily the best offensive fit for him.

In 2015, the Tigers added Tyler Queen, the No. 15 pro-style quarterback, and Jason Smith, the No. 1 JUCO athlete. Queen has been a career backup so far, while also being plagued by elbow and shoulder injuries. Smith came to Auburn to compete for the starting job, but quickly changed position to wide receiver.

Last signing day, Auburn landed four-star quarterback Woody Barrett, who was the No. 6 dual-threat option in the nation, as well as John Franklin III, the No. 1 JUCO athlete. Barrett redshirted in 2016, while Franklin competed for the starting job during spring and fall practices before being relegated to the backup role behind White.

"Obviously, you have to give (Auburn's quarterback recruiting) about a C-minus," said Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals. "You can't give it a true failing grade because of Marshall.... White is serviceable but certainly not a guy you want to rely on to win football games for you. They've been successful, obviously with that power running attack, but the other guys have not done well."

During that same time frame, Auburn has had a few notable misses with quarterbacks it recruited but was unable to land. Those are fewer than you might expect, however.

Without a doubt, Auburn did its best with the 2013 class when it plucked Marshall from the JUCO ranks.

In 2014, when Auburn signed White, the Tigers' most notable miss was Clemson's Deshaun Watson, who took a secretive trip to Auburn in May 2013 while committed to Clemson. Missing out on Watson, who became a two-time Heisman finalist and guided Clemson to the College Football Playoff title earlier this month, has become a bit of a what-if scenario for Auburn fans.

"With Watson, they didn't really have a shot," Shurburtt said. "A player of that magnitude, you just try your best and let the chips fall where they may."

When Auburn signed Queen and Smith in 2015, the Tigers had some other misses on the recruiting trail. Auburn had offers out to No. 1 pro-style passer Deondre Francois, whose final two was comprised of Auburn and Florida State; No. 1 dual-threat option Stidham, who originally signed with Baylor before landing at Auburn last month; and Lamar Jackson, the No. 13 dual-threat passer who signed with Louisville and won the Heisman last season.

"Certainly you look at him, look at his skillset and look at what Auburn has been trying to do under Malzahn on offense and you think, man, you probably just should have gone down there and tried to get him," Shurburtt said.

After those three recruiting cycles and the departure of Marshall, Auburn rolled with Johnson heading into 2015.

Groomed to be the heir apparent to Marshall, Johnson spent more time under Malzahn than any previous quarterback and was a trendy Heisman pick ahead of the 2015 season. Auburn was all-in on the former Alabama Mr. Football winner.

Johnson experienced a turbulent final two seasons on the Plains and never lived up to the immense expectations bestowed upon him. Following his final game at Auburn, a loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl in which he made a relief appearance, Johnson remarked that he was ready to "get coached up a little more" while working with a private quarterback coach in Orlando, Florida, and preparing for Pro Day and a possible shot at the NFL.

Johnson's words, which came after his revelation that he spent most of the year away from the first- and second-team offenses while working with the scout team, seemed to imply a lack of development from the coaching staff during his time at Auburn. His high school coach, Billy Gresham, said he "didn't think" that Johnson was insufficiently developed while at Auburn, but added that he only saw what happened on game days and not during practices and meetings.

"I don't think 'just getting coached up' means that says anything about being developed," Gresham said. "He understands it was a combination of a lot of things, the reason he wasn't as successful as he wanted to be and a lot of people wanted him to be. I don't think it was a development deal. In the past, Auburn has done a good job of developing successful quarterbacks, so I just think success is all about timing and a combination of everything."

The dawn of the Johnson era quickly went south in 2015, and Johnson was benched after an error-filled three-game start to the year when he threw more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (five). That led to White, a redshirt freshman, earning the starting job ahead of his time. White started the next five games before an injury forced Johnson back into the starting role, but White regained the starting job ahead of the Birmingham Bowl.

"It wasn't like they went out on a ledge and despite all this evidence and everyone else's opinion said Jeremy Johnson is a great quarterback," Shurburtt said. "But some guys, it just doesn't click, and that was unfortunate. Maybe they did put a lot of stock in Johnson, but you know what? I don't know that you could blame them for it. That's sort of what's beautiful and tragic at the same time about football and evaluations is you can have a guy that everybody's on the same page with that has everything you want, then it just doesn't work out.

"That happens. I've seen it happen over and over, especially at that position."

Johnson's ineffectiveness after two years of solid backup play and spot starts, when he threw for 858 yards and nine touchdowns while completing 73 percent of his passes, could have been Auburn's biggest downfall at the position -- possibly setting the program back a couple steps after belief that the Tigers were set at quarterback through 2016.

"It just shows you that if you miss at quarterback or you have a guy that just doesn't pan out, that never develops, it can throw you off for a couple of years and really start to kind of turn your offense into a mess," Shurburtt said. "That's just how important that position is.... If you total it up, they've really only had one guy to not pan out, and that's Johnson. But quarterback is such a key cog in the whole deal that it kind of threw everything off for a couple years."

Johnson's downfall as a junior was unexpected, and his confidence was shot following the benching. Although he went 7-4 as a starter during his career, he never truly recovered or grew into the quarterback many expected him to be.

Although White "grew up" during his sooner-than-expected time in the spotlight -- notably against Arkansas in a quadruple-overtime loss in 2015 -- it wasn't the sort of play Auburn anticipated from the position heading into 2015.

The uncertainty at the position led to a prolonged offseason quarterback battle between White, Johnson and Franklin leading into last season. After White prevailed during fall camp, he developed into a more accurate passer and led the SEC in completion percentage (63.9 percent).

Ken Mastrole, White's private quarterback coach from eighth grade through high school, said he has been pleased with how White has come along as a passer during his time at Auburn. He particularly praised how White has improved with his accuracy, technique and ability to complete passes over the middle of the field -- anticipating throws -- during his two years of action. That, he said, is what separates good quarterbacks from potentially great ones.

"I think they've done a nice job with him there in terms of playing to some of his strengths and some of the things they do, but I think Sean technically he's very efficient if you watch him throw," Mastrole said. "He's very compact and there's some boring things fans don't want to hear about that people don't want to hear about from a technical standpoint.... He's going to be consistent over and over and over again. I think he's gotten better."

While Mastrole has noticed White's improvements since arriving at Auburn, he noted that White's string of injuries have been unfortunate. Those injuries -- most recently a shoulder issue and then a broken arm -- continued to plague White late last season, leading to more issues at quarterback and an offensive setback late in the year.

Franklin, who received a late offer from Auburn in his final JUCO game at East Mississippi Community College -- when then-Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was on hand for the first half of a brawl-shortened game that saw Franklin account for six total touchdowns -- got the first start White couldn't make. Although he brought a dynamic running threat to the position all season, he was limited in the passing game.

"I don't think John Franklin really developed as a passer, honestly," Shurburtt said. "I don't know that that's Gus Malzahn's fault. I just think that's kind of how it was. When you're in a situation and you want to add a guy, go add a guy. That's fine. It's not like there's a stable of quarterbacks you can go select from that late in the process."

That assessment of Franklin, who was confident he could win the starting job in 2016 and completed 13-of-26 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown while adding 430 yards rushing and two scores, is not shared by all.

Buddy Stephens coached Franklin at EMCC in 2015 and said he saw Franklin develop and grow as a quarterback from afar during his first season on the Plains. He also believes Franklin will continue to improve under the tutelage of Lindsey, whom Stephens knows well.

"I think he did improve on his passing," Stephens said. "You can tell his mechanics had gotten a lot better, and I think he's only going to get better... He got a lot better as a quarterback while he was there, without a doubt. Some people may not think so, but he got better as a mechanical quarterback there his first year."

Johnson started the final two games of the regular season, including a fruitless effort in the Iron Bowl, when he was handcuffed by Auburn's offensive game plan against a frenzied Alabama defense. Following that loss, Malzahn addressed the team's quarterback situation, which despite others' assessments resulted in oftentimes uninspiring play the last two seasons.

"We have to get depth, and we're going to work on that," Malzahn said.

Auburn added that depth in December, when it got a commitment from Stidham, the top-rated JUCO quarterback who spent 2015 at Baylor, and Willis, a three-star former Virginia Tech commit. Stidham will compete for the starting job with White, Franklin and Barrett, though White is likely to be limited during spring practice when it begins Feb. 28 due to his broken throwing arm.

After two straight seasons of underwhelming play at quarterback, Stidham is the favorite to start in 2017, and fans are already putting a lot of hope into that basket. If he earns the starting job and plays at the level he did as a freshman at Baylor, he could change the perception of Auburn's quarterback situation during the Malzahn era. That will hold especially true if Lindsey, who has a history of successful quarterback development, can hasten Stidham's growth in Auburn's new system.

"Now you look at their situation and on paper -- and again, on paper -- you've got Stidham and Barrett sitting there, that's one of the better situations in the Southeastern Conference, because believe me, there are a lot of bad quarterbacks in the SEC," Shurburtt said. "I think they've done a good job of repairing it."