Much like for any college football team, the ultimate wild card going into a new season is how well a quarterback will perform. For Hugh Freeze and the 2025 Auburn Tigers, this is even bigger of a deal than most after two mediocre seasons from Payton Thorne and a bit of Robby Ashford.
New signal-caller Jackson Arnold is set to return to his home state of Texas for his first start in an Auburn uniform on Friday night as the Tigers battle Baylor in Waco. So, how has the quarterback come along this fall?
"Jackson, I think, is progressing every practice," Freeze said on Monday. "Excited to go see him compete. In our mock game, I thought his decision-making was really good. I wish he'd hang in the pocket a little more and go through his progressions."
Staying in the pocket is something that Freeze, Derick Nix and Kent Austin have preached to Arnold since he arrived this offseason. The quarterback definitely has the wheels to make plays on the ground, rushing for 444 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games for Oklahoma last season. Still, with the quality of wide receivers at his disposal, the Auburn offensive coaches would prefer he go through his reads much more than in the past.
"We're working on that with him," Freeze said. "At the same time, he's an athlete that creates some things, too, when he does escape the pocket. You have to balance that as a coach. He made good decisions. We've got to make sure we're not doing too much. We want our receivers in the right spots at the right time. We're athletic enough there to win. Just be sure we're not making stuff up on a given play because you think you see something. Just do what the play is designed to do, and we're good enough there to win and get open. That will help our quarterbacks."
The Auburn head coach also brought up true freshman Deuce Knight, who showed flashes of brilliance in the Tigers' scrimmage on Friday night. Freeze isn't too quick to expect that against a team that has the caliber of Baylor, though.
"Deuce in the mock game the other night was 7-for-7, and looked like nothing fazed him," he said. "Again, I know it's not against Baylor, but he was very accurate, stood in the pocket and threw the ball, and was very impressive."