The Auburn Tigers enter year three of the Hugh Freeze regime. In the first two seasons, the Tigers have won no more than six games and have yet to win a bowl game. The best they’ve done is appear in the Birmingham Bowl in year one. They have no choice but to do better.
Freeze is quite optimistic that this will be the case. With Payton Thorne graduating, he had to go out and find his next starting quarterback. He found his starting quarterback in Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold.
“He has a calm demeanor and confidence. He understands ball and has a high football IQ. His arm strength is good. There is a reason he was Gatorade Player of the Year coming out of high school,” Freeze said of Jackson Arnold. “I think he needed to regain some confidence, and I think he is going to do that at a fast pace.”
Before transferring to the Plains, Arnold had played at Oklahoma. In year two of being a Sooner, Arnold was benched for Michael Hawkins Jr. for a couple games before regaining the starting job. He finished with throwing for 1,421 yards and 12 touchdowns to three interceptions.
He’s yet to look like the top-10 recruit that he was coming out of high school, but now that Arnold is getting a change of scenery, that could change. On top of that, he will have better weapons than what he had at Oklahoma.
“They better make plays. If that [receiver] room doesn’t have success, we won’t have success, but it is one of the more talented rooms I’ve ever been associated with,” Freeze said.
The Tigers’ receiver room is currently highlighted by Cam Coleman, Eric Singleton Jr. and Horatio Fields. Freeze also mentioned that he thinks it rivals a receiver room of D.J. Metcalf, A.J. Brown and Van Jefferson. He thought Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson could be regular contributors on offense.
With these being the best weapons that Arnold has had in his short college career, the Tigers could be significantly more dangerous offensively in 2025.
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