Auburn football had a makeover at QB this offseason, and the Tigers have an extremely strong claim about their group of signal callers
The Auburn Tigers got a full makeover at quarterback this offseason, completely overhauling that position. Payton Thorne is out of eligibility, and all of Walker White, Hank Brown, and Holden Geriner decided to transfer. That meant that Auburn had to be aggressive to find talented bodies in that room, and they do have three new […]
The Auburn Tigers got a full makeover at quarterback this offseason, completely overhauling that position. Payton Thorne is out of eligibility, and all of Walker White, Hank Brown, and Holden Geriner decided to transfer. That meant that Auburn had to be aggressive to find talented bodies in that room, and they do have three new names to know.
From the Transfer Portal perspective, the Tigers have hauled in Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) and Ashton Daniels (Stanford) with the intention of Arnold starting, and Daniels backing him up. Auburn also has five-star signal caller Deuce Knight enrolling this offseason, so the present and future are set to look very, very different.
If you follow the recruiting world, it’s easy to get excited about the remake of the room. Auburn even released a graphic recently stating that this is the highest-rated quarterback room in program history. It’s a pretty interesting way to portray the position, even though there are more than a few question marks that still exist.
Arnold is fresh off of being replaced as the Oklahoma starting quarterback during a solid portion of the season. Despite his high recruiting ranking, Arnold threw for just 1,421 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt and completed less than 63 percent of his passes. He is nothing more than a reclamation project right now.
Daniels is a pretty good backup option for that offense, but there is a chance he could be pressed into duty if Arnold falters. He threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns last season (10), and has seriously struggled with injuries this past fall. Daniels is an imperfect player who is a wildcard until he isn’t one anymore.
In Knight’s case, he is an extremely gifted football player but probably isn’t ready to start in 2025 if something goes wrong. The long term is more of the sell there, and who knows what the future is going to bring for Hugh Freeze and this program from a stability perspective. Knight also hasn’t been the best example of commitment out there either.
Auburn can boast about the talent in the quarterback room all they want, but that’s all it is right now, potential. With Arnold’s inconsistency, and Knight’a experience level, there’s a chance things could fall apart quickly. But hey, at least their recruiting rankings were high.
