Auburn Quarterbacks Among Top-10 'Most Interesting' by The Athletic

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze overhauled his quarterback room for 2025 after suffering through inconsistency last year.

Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers are placing a big betting on new quarterbacks like former Oklahoma Sooner Jackson Arnold. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Less than a month after the Auburn Tigers struggled to a disappointing 5-7 finish marked by inconsistency, the quarterback room changed. While changed doesn't feel like strong enough of a word, it does begin to encompass the depth of the upgrade.

A year ago, Payton Thorne and a menagerie of relatively-unknown signal callers, that promised to lead Auburn to an improved 2024. Instead, the team could not stop from throwing passes to the opposition. Time changes perspective.

The Athletic's Antonio Morales cited Auburn as one of the 10-most interesting quarterback situations in college football.

Words Matter

Morales detailed the current situation, possibly hinting at what Auburn could look like on the field during the coming season. 

"Freeze and the Tigers have been active in the portal themselves," wrote Morales on The Athletic. "Their headliner addition is Jackson Arnold, who was a five-star prospect in the 2023 cycle but struggled at Oklahoma and was temporarily benched this fall."

9️⃣0️⃣ YARDS!@_JacksonArnold_ » @JJHester_8 pic.twitter.com/NNFxnQudWz

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 2, 2024

"He seems to be the favorite to start, but the Tigers also added Ashton Daniels, who started at Stanford but definitely wasn’t the most prolific passer. Neither is a sure bet to hit, but Auburn does have solid talent at receiver, which should help whoever starts at quarterback."

Ashton Daniels right on target 🎯 pic.twitter.com/ApsrYBp8Fb

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) October 29, 2023

Reaction

Essentially, Auburn possesses their best quarterback room since before COVID. Now that proclamation may seem outlandish, but looking at the school's recent history, the bar for Auburn quarterback excellence remains quite low. Bo Nix played well enough for Auburn, but he wasn't close to the same player he was at Oregon. And there wasn't much behind him in terms of depth.

That being said, the overwhelming positivity that flows from the Plains centers on actual football talent, not a cure-all, placebo blend of schemes and wishing. Steeped in reality, Auburn will look drastically different on the field. 

The wideout group, led by Cam Coleman gained experience and could rank in the top five in the nation, not just the SEC. Furthermore, their talent changes the play calling. When you can field three wideouts that can take the top off the secondary, defenses will adjust. In turn, that opens the door for a rushing attack to not only chew up yards but fatigue opponents.

Bottom Line

You can devise a great scheme, plan for every contingency, get all the metaphorical ducks in a row. However, if a skilled, thoroughly composed quarterback does not lead the offense, the team will suffer.

Hugh Freeze has built an interesting quarterback room for 2025. How successful they are will go a long way to determining not just Auburn's future, but Freeze's as well.

At least Auburn appears to have taken a big step forward.