Payton Thorne
 Thorne with Michigan State in 2021 | |
| Auburn Tigers – No. 1 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class |  Senior |
| Major | Communication |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | June 26, 2001 Naperville, Illinois, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight | 207 lb (94 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Naperville Central (Naperville, Illinois) |
Payton Thorne (born June 26, 2001) is an American
Early life
Thorne originally attended
College career
Thorne was redshirted his first year at Michigan State in 2019.[5]
In 2020, he played in four games as a backup to Rocky Lombardi and made one start. In his first career start against Penn State he passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns.[6][7] For the season, he completed 48 of 85 passes for 582 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
In 2021, Thorne was named the Spartans starter to open the season.[8][9] In his first full year as a starter, Thorne threw for 3,240 yards, 27 TDs, 10 INTs, with a 77.7 QBR.[10]
In 2022, he was a 12 game starter with 2,679 yards passing, 19 touchdown passes and one rushing TD.[11]
In the 2023 offseason, Thorne transferred to Auburn to play under newly acquired head coach Hugh Freeze. He was a starter in 2023, and had 16 TDs with ten interceptions for the season.
For 2024, he beat out freshmen Hank Brown and Walker White for the starter spot in summer practice, but was benched in favour of Brown following Auburn's week 2 loss against California.[12] Two weeks later, due to Brown's poor play, Thorne returned to the starter.[13] He finished the season with 21 TDs, nine interceptions, and 2,713 yards.[14]
Statistics
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| Michigan State Spartans | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Redshirt
| |||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 4 | 1 | 0–1 | 48 | 85 | 56.5 | 582 | 6.8 | 3 | 3 | 118.6 | 25 | 47 | 1.9 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 13 | 13 | 11–2 | 235 | 389 | 60.4 | 3,232 | 8.3 | 27 | 10 | 148.0 | 82 | 181 | 2.2 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 12 | 12 | 5–7 | 242 | 387 | 62.5 | 2,679 | 6.9 | 19 | 11 | 131.2 | 60 | 42 | 0.7 | 1 | |
| Auburn Tigers | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | 13 | 12 | 6–6 | 162 | 265 | 61.1 | 1,755 | 7.0 | 16 | 10 | 129.1 | 134 | 515 | 3.8 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 11 | 10 | 4–6 | 199 | 317 | 62.8 | 2,713 | 8.6 | 21 | 9 | 150.8 | 112 | 283 | 2.5 | 2 | |
| Career | 53 | 48 | 26−22 | 885 | 1,442 | 61.4 | 10,961 | 7.6 | 86 | 43 | 138.9 | 413 | 1,068 | 2.6 | 11 | |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle |
Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+5⁄8 in (1.87 m) |
207 lb (94 kg) |
31 in (0.79 m) |
9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.70 s | 1.67 s | 2.69 s | 4.25 s | 7.20 s | 31.0 in (0.79 m) |
9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) | ||
| All values from Pro Day[15]
| ||||||||||||
Personal life
Thorne is a Christian.[16] Thorne's father, Jeff Thorne, was the offensive coordinator at Western Michigan in 2022.[17]
References
- ^ Long, Beth (November 21, 2018). "2018 Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year: Naperville Central's Payton Thorne". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Baumgartner, Blake (November 17, 2018). "Naperville Central's Payton Thorne is the 2018 Naperville Sun Football Player of the Year". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ Baumgartner, Blake (December 15, 2018). "Changeup: Naperville Central's Payton Thorne switches from Western Michigan to Michigan State". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ "The rapid process that led QB Payton Thorne to Michigan State". mlive. December 18, 2018.
- ^ Schmit, Kevin (June 19, 2020). "Naperville Central grad Thorne has high hopes at Michigan State". Football Focus.
- ^ Baumgartner, Blake (April 6, 2021). "Naperville's Payton Thorne made a difference in his first start at QB for Michigan State. Now, he wants to do that with regularity". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ "Michigan State QB Payton Thorne shines early in first career start". mlive. December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Payton Thorne to start at QB for Michigan State in season opener at Northwestern". mlive. September 4, 2021.
- ^ Charboneau, Matt. "Payton Thorne named starting QB for MSU ahead of opener vs. Northwestern". The Detroit News.
- ^ "Payton Thorne Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
- ^ "Payton Thorne transfers to Auburn: Ex-Michigan State starting QB adds intrigue to battle entering summer". CBS Sports. May 5, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
- ^ "Payton Thorne Benched, What's Next for Auburn Tigers". Auburn Tigers On SI. September 13, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ Cobb, David (September 27, 2024). "Auburn to start Payton Thorne vs. Oklahoma: Hugh Freeze pivots back to veteran QB for SEC battle with Sooners". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ "Payton Thorne - Auburn Tigers Quarterback". ESPN. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ "Payton Thorne College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
- ^ Doering, Joshua (November 17, 2021). "Michigan State QB Payton Thorne looks to God while leading resurgent Spartans". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ Solari, Chris (November 19, 2020). "Twists of fate allow Michigan State QB Payton Thorne's dad to see son play up close". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
External links
