Auburn football: Hugh Freeze says Jackson Arnold is QB1. He still wants a competitive room.
HOOVER — Hugh Freeze isn't anticipating much of battle for Auburn football's starting quarterback position in 2025. He said Wednesday at the Regions Tradition pro-am that Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold "is the No. 1."
Still, he "absolutely" wants to see a competitive room heading into the regular season.
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"Do I want Jackson feeling like it's his and him getting that confidence and swagger? Yes," Freeze said. "Do I want him looking over his shoulder saying, 'Dang, Deuce (Knight) and Ashton (Daniels) had two really good practices today'? Yes. I want both."
In two seasons with the Sooners, Arnold completed 62.9% of his passes for 1,984 yards. He threw 16 touchdowns to six interceptions and added another 560 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He also caught two passes for 16 yards and a touchdown.
He started 10 games in 2024, throwing for 1,421 yards and 12 touchdowns while completing 62.6% of his passes and throwing just three interceptions. He also rushed for 444 yards and three touchdowns.
Between two stops in high school, Knight threw for 3,976 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 56.8% of his passes and averaging 8.6 yards per attempt. He also rushed for 982 yards and another 23 touchdowns.
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Daniels, who wasn't on campus this spring, spent three seasons at Stanford. He logged 3,986 pass yards and 30 total touchdowns, nine of which were rushing.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Hugh Freeze talks Auburn football's QBs, Jackson Arnold's starter status
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