Where does Auburn's Jackson Arnold land in The Athletic's preseason QB outlook?
The 2025 college football season is just over one month away from kicking off, and the most underrated quarterback in the league may reside on Auburn's roster.
Jackson Arnold was famously given a difficult hand during his two seasons at Oklahoma and has transferred to Auburn in hopes of getting a fresh start. The tools for a resurgence are there, as Arnold will play behind an experienced offensive line and will throw to talented receivers such as Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton.
Sure, the potential for a stellar season is there for Arnold, but college football experts are careful to place high expectations on him. The Athletic recently revealed tier levels for each projected starting quarterback, placing Arnold in tier four. Tier four is reserved for quarterbacks that are "young, unproven starters with high potential" and "veterans who have flashed great talent but hit performance or injury speed bumps somewhere along the way."
Arnold, honestly, could fit both descriptions. The Athletic identifies a factor that prevented him from becoming an elite, proven quarterback during his time in Norman.
A mess of offensive problems — from the line, to the receiving corps, to the coordinator — muddied Arnold's would-be breakout sophomore season at Oklahoma, where he was briefly benched.
'He was set up to fail at OU,' a Power 4 coordinator said.
Auburn provides a fresh start for a guy coaches are still bullish on talent-wise, but he'll have to take better care of the ball.
Sooners' head coach Brent Venables spoke about Arnold's time at Oklahoma during SEC football media days last week, where he admitted that the odds were not stacked in the quarterback's favor.
'Unfortunately for him, everything around him wasn't helping him be successful,' Venables said of Arnold (via On3). 'So he had no chance in some ways, under the circumstances, and (got) dealt a really bad hand.'
Despite his struggles as a Sooner, Arnold managed to 1,984 yards and 16 touchdowns with a 62.9% completion percentage. It will be interesting to see how much Arnold progresses under a new system under Hugh Freeze and offensive coordinator Derrick Nix.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
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