Auburn football's plan at QB with Deuce Knight officially signed on NSD may not be what you think

As On3's Justin Hokanson points out, Deuce Knight signing with Auburn football on National Signing Day doesn't mean that the George County (MS) star will be QB1. The plan is for Knight to sit behind a veteran transfer portal addition under center.

"QB Deuce Knight announces his signing with Auburn. Now, it's all about landing an absolute difference maker at QB in the transfer portal -- no room for error," Hokanson tweeted on December 4.

Knight has the talent to start right away at every Group of Five school and many Power 4 programs. Putting a true freshman out there to run the offense is a major gamble, though, and not one Freeze could afford to make.

Freeze's seat is molten hot heading into the 2025 season. Who knows if he'd even be in the seat still if the Tigers had laid an egg against Texas A&M in Week 13 instead of upsetting the Aggies in the team's best win of the season.

Either way, he'll be back, but perhaps no coach in the country needs to show proof of concept as much as Freeze. Especially with another stellar recruiting class making way to the Plains.

As for who can be pursued in the portal to assume the QB1 role, John Mateer is the hot name. Tiger fans love Mateer's toughness and RPO ability and have been posting ad nauseum hoping to bring the Wazzu star to East Central Alabama.

Another is Miller Moss, who's strongly considering AU and has better odds of landing with the Tigers than any other team.