Auburn football Class of 2025 QB Deuce Knight is not publicly gunning for the Tigers' starting quarterback role. By all accounts, Jackson Arnold has the QB1 role on lock as things stand on the Plains. Arnold is skipping the Manning Passing Academy to be with his teammates.
Knight revealed his actual goal this season: to be the best teammate he can be in any capacity it must be.
“It’s been big because I’m a guy that has to go out there and do things,” Knight said, per AL.com. “Getting all these reps has been helping me learn the offense and just see different looks to everything I’m throwing. Just coming up with ways to play faster.
“I’m just going out every day trying to get better. I’m not thinking about all that stuff. Just trying to get better each and every day. Just trying to be the best teammate I can. And that’s about it.
“I call [Jackson Arnold] late at night if we’re looking over a script or something and ask him a question and he’ll have the answer for me. It’s like another coach on the field. And then he’s just a cool guy. Jackson plays around a lot. He’s something similar like me.”
Arnold has three years of eligibility left, so it's unclear if he'll be satisfied being a great teammate for so long. Two redshirt years is possible, but something might have to give by Arnold's senior year if he isn't already declared for the NFL draft.
A lot can change in three years. Especially in college football. Projecting that far into the future is a fool's errand.
Hell, given Hugh Freeze's shaky ground as head coach after two losing seasons, a year from now could see a regime change that impacts the QB position too. Maybe Knight and Arnold are elsewhere.
Does that cover every possibility? Perhaps. Either way, in the immediate future, Knight is prepared to be a net positive even if his snap-count is close to zero his freshman year.