Alabama quarterback Mac Jones was a skinny three-star recruit who had to wait in a daunting line for a starting shot. Bo Nix arrived at Auburn as a prized recruit and has started every game since.
They have taken different career paths but both enter Saturday's Iron Bowl playing well.
Jones has emerged as a Heisman Trophy contender and a worthy successor to Tua Tagovailoa, leading the top-ranked Crimson Tide into the game against Nix and the No. 22 Tigers. His days as a largely unheralded recruit destined to labor behind eventual NFL quarterbacks Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts seem a distant memory.
"You know, people always give you a rating or whatever in high school, but once you step on campus that doesn't really matter," Jones said.
That goes both ways.
Nix arrived on campus with more acclaim as a five-star recruit and the son of a former Auburn quarterback, Patrick Nix. He also didn't get the time to ease into Southeastern Conference football and has had to learn on the job, with all the growing pains that entails.
Nix did help direct Auburn to a 48-45 Iron Bowl win in his first start in the bitter rivalry. Of course that was at home, not at Bryant-Denny Stadium even if it's before a crowd shrunken by pandemic rules.