Out of all the quarterbacks who entered the transfer portal this season, the pressure may be the greatest on the one who chose Auburn football. After spending two seasons with Oklahoma, quarterback Jackson Arnold entered the transfer portal and made his way to the Plains.
After two seasons of watching Payton Thorne run the offense and two seasons that ended in losing records, it is imperative that Head Coach Hugh Freeze's quarterback selection works out this time around. According to AL.com, the ceiling is extremely high for the first-year transfer at Auburn.
"Looking at the history quarterbacks who’s had immediate success after transferring schools, Arnold can join elite company if things pan out at Auburn," wrote AL.com's Jerry Humphrey III. "Auburn has had legendary signal callers transfer in and do great things for the program. Cam Newton and Nick Marshall did not start their college careers at Auburn. However, both players would go on to lead the Tigers to conference titles and national championship appearances."
Though he had a rocky 2024 season and was benched for some time as a Sooner, Arnold was a 5-star recruit out of high school and recorded 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions along with 444 rushing yards and three touchdowns in only 10 games.
During the Reese's Senior Bowl practices earlier this year, Freeze told the media that he believes Arnold is a great fit for the Tigers' offense.
“If you go back to his high school days, you don’t get to become the Gatorade Player of the Year without a great skill set,” Freeze said. “And when I see the way, he functions with the fundamentals of that position with what we want to do. It’s a pretty natural fit.”
The Tigers will return to action on August 29 against Baylor.