QB Once Anointed Joe Burrow’s Heir Now Fighting for Job at 6th College Football Stop

Quarterbacking futures rarely travel in straight lines, but the 6-foot-7, 255-pound passer who succeeded Joe Burrow at LSU has carved a route more winding than most. Three autumns ago, he was firing a 265-yard debut in Baton Rouge; this fall, he’s unpacking a new playbook in downtown Atlanta, making Georgia State the sixth locker he’s called home. Physically imposing and armed with a howitzer right arm, he arrives as both a grad student and a nomad, hoping that stop No. 6 finally brings the stability that injuries, coaching changes, and portal cycles have denied so far.

His name is TJ Finley, and his mileage is jaw-dropping: LSU in 2020, Auburn in 2021-22, a record-shattering turn at Texas State in 2023, an ankle-marred cameo at Western Kentucky in 2024, a paper-only stint at Tulane last spring, and now the Panthers for 2025. The highs are undeniable: 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns that rewrote Texas State’s single-season record, plus the fourth-and-goal dart that saved Auburn from a Georgia State upset in 2021. The lows include a season-ending shoulder injury at Auburn and the April suspension that kept him from ever wearing Tulane green. Through it all, the arm talent that once thrilled LSU recruiters has never been in doubt. The challenge has been finding a setting sturdy enough to keep it on display for more than one season at a time.

“BREAKING: Former LSU, Auburn, Texas State, WKU, and Tulane QB TJ Finley has enrolled at Georgia State. Finley has thrown for 6,128 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his career,” the Transfer Portal account announced on X, compressing five campuses, 34 games, and a half-dozen playbooks into two lines of resume. The numbers confirm what every defensive coordinator who has faced him already knows that when healthy, Finley brings both experience and production in bulk.

Panther coaches can use both after last week’s 63-7 loss at Ole Miss, where two quarterbacks combined for only 69 passing yards. Georgia State supporters haven’t forgotten how Finley tormented them in 2021. And now they’re banking on that same arm to ignite an offense suddenly in need of a spark. Sources inside the program say he enrolled in graduate courses and has been cleared for full participation, positioning the veteran to compete immediately as the Panthers prepare for Memphis on September 6. If the ankle that derailed his Western Kentucky run is finally sound, his 34-game log across four FBS leagues offers a steadying presence for a bruised locker room.

Whether Atlanta becomes a redemption arc or a brief layover rests on Finley’s ability to stay upright, master yet another scheme, and resist the portal’s siren song one last time. In an era when quarterbacks change jerseys as often as uniforms rotate, his journey is evidence of the transfer portal’s boon and bane. The Panthers only need him to seize one more chance; the quarterback who once followed a Heisman legend is determined not to let the story end until he’s written a lasting chapter in blue and white.

Off-field trouble marks yet another detour

Tulane never saw the towering quarterback take a snap because an off-field misstep sidelined him before summer workouts even ended. University police in New Orleans discovered that a pickup truck blocking a driveway on campus had been reported stolen in Atlanta. When the driver showed up to move it, officers recognized a familiar face: the 6-foot-7 passer who had just transferred in for 2025 spring ball. He was booked on a felony charge of illegal possession of stolen property valued above $25,000 and then released pending a June 1 court date.

Tulane athletic officials immediately suspended the quarterback, citing privacy laws and leaving the final length of discipline “dependent on the outcome of his case.” Head coach Jon Sumrall could only note that “when guys make mistakes, they have to have accountability,” while Finley’s attorneys argued their client was duped in a social-media marketplace scam. According to their statement, he received “both a bill of sale and registration,” giving him every reason to believe the purchase was legitimate. They added that he’s cooperating with investigators to recoup his money and clear his name.

For a player already on his fifth roster, the legal snag wiped out another chance to establish traction. Tulane had hoped the onetime LSU freshman starter, later of Auburn, Texas State, and Western Kentucky, could win a wide-open quarterback battle. Instead, the suspension set the stage for his sixth move, the one chronicled above: enrollment at a Sun Belt program eager for a veteran arm. In a career defined by abrupt exits, this latest twist underscores why his journey keeps winding.