Auburn Daily

Former Alabama QB Greg McElroy Raining on Auburn's Parade

The Auburn Tigers have had a successful offseason, but former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy thinks Jackson Arnold is "damaged."

Keith Cummings

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold led his Oklahoma Sooners to a win over Alabama in 2024.
Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold led his Oklahoma Sooners to a win over Alabama in 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold is getting the fresh start he so desperately needed from Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze. Will that fresh start be enough for him to resurrect his career and guarantee Freeze gets a fourth year on the Plains?

Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy has gone all Paul Finebaum on us by casting serious doubts.

"I think he is damaged right now," McElroy said during his own show. "No one can deny that. He was absolutely a damaged player last year and it is going to take a little while to get things rolling. 

“We have seen this before. We have seen this in the NFL. It happens and it isn't the first time it will happen,and it won't be the last. Can you avoid the critical mistake that puts you on the bench to begin with? I don't know the answer to that, and that's what we are going to find out with Jackson Arnold."

Getting Arnold back on the right track is always going to be a high risk and reward type of deal for Freeze and the Auburn Tigers. They’ve hedged their bets on Arnold by adding Tanner Bailey and Ashton Daniels from the portal, but make no mistake, this is Arnold’s job to lose. 

Even so, Auburn fans would be guilty of burying their heads in the sand if they simply dismissed Arnold’s time as a Sooner. Levels of dysfunction within the program undoubtedly put Arnold in a position to fail.

Cajoling Arnold back into an earlier version of himself will require levels of patience, the kind of which Freeze simply lacked last season. And he may not be afforded the opportunity to be patient after back-to-back seven loss seasons. Freeze needs to show significant improvement in year three of his tenure.

The trouble being, nothing Freeze did with his struggling former starter Payton Thorne suggests he's any kind of quarterback whisperer. It’s a small sample size, so were the continuous problems the last two seasons on Thorne or the three-headed play-calling monster he had to navigate?

McElroy's damaged goods narrative as it relates to Arnold doesn't really help, so Freeze should be minded to protect his new quarterback from outside noise. 

Certainly Arnold has the tools. He was rated so highly out of high school for a reason. But building his bruised confidence back to its best is going to take some time. Will the spring and summer be enough? Freeze is on the clock.

Freeze will have to prove he can juggle the right scheme, while also getting the best from a player McElroy believes might be beyond repair.

It’s been a good offseason for Freeze and the Tigers, but the rubber hits the road once the games start.


Published
Keith Cummings
KEITH CUMMINGS

Home/Football