Auburn football QB Jackson Arnold is the poster boy for On3's graphic for Andy Staples' 10 College Football teams that addressed their most glaring needs in the Transfer Portal. It's hard not to understand the implication there.
Arnold is the answer. At least he could be.
One of Hugh Freeze's biggest critics, former Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace, agrees that Arnold is what the Tigers needed after spending two years trying to make Payton Thorne happen.
“A Hugh Freeze offense with a guy that can run the football, like they just signed in Jackson Arnold, they can now play 11 on 11 instead of 10 on 11 all the time with the quarterback run game,” Wallace said, per The Montgomery Advertiser. “I think he's a perfect fit for what Coach Freeze really wants to do.”
With that said, Freeze has to do some things different too. He was frequently criticized for how he handled Thorne and his lack of development for a young QB that just exited the Plains in unison via the transfer portal.
On SI's Keith Cummings warned that Freeze needs to show Arnold patience unless he wants to get similar results.
"Moving on from the distinctly average Payton Thorne might well give Freeze a real bolt of energy, but he will have to show more flexibility and patience toward Arnold than he ever did his former quarterback," Cummings wrote.
"Therein lies the rub for Freeze - he can’t afford patience in 2025. If he fails to show significant improvement with Arnold, then the path toward quarterback in waiting Deuce Knight will also get more complicated for Freeze.
"Repeated slip ups against SEC opponents must also be reversed, the fans are fed up watching Freeze’s Tigers find new and ever-more interesting ways to lose games."
If Freeze can heed that warning and effectively nurture Arnold in his and Derrick Nix's system, the Tigers may end up among the transfer portal's biggest winners this cycle.