Since his commitment to Auburn football last December and his arrival on the Plains in January, it has been pretty set in stone that former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold would take over the starting job for the Tigers. However, the competition for backup QB is a lot less black and white.
The only other quarterback on campus throughout the spring was freshman Deuce Knight, so he and Arnold split all of the reps, whereas normally a freshman would be at the back of the line. All year, there has been praise for Knight's work ethic and his skillset, with quarterbacks coach Kent Austin describing the young QB as "remarkably poised" and "ahead of the curve."
This summer, Arnold and Knight were joined by former Stanford QB Ashton Daniels, who comes with plenty of experience and was also highly recruited in the Transfer Portal. Both Knight and Daniels have continued to impress their coaches, and because they're such different athletes with different strengths, it's possible that instead of a backup quarterback the Tigers will have backup quarterbacks, plural.
"I think that there's a place for both, depending on the scenario in the game," Freeze said of the No. 2 quarterback job, per Auburn Undercover. "You know, without giving away too much, I think there's a place for both of those guys that you can play to their strengths. We won't be afraid to do that."
With a completely new quarterback room after Payton Thorne, Holden Geriner, Hank Brown and Walker White parted ways with the team for various reasons, the Tigers are holding out hope that Arnold, Knight and Daniels will guide the Tigers to more wins this season.
Auburn football returns to action in just over a week with a Friday night season opener against the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas.