Spring practice is underway at Auburn, and it's time to debut our position group previews ahead of A-Day, which will take place on Saturday, April 12, at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The next position group that we will examine in our Spring Breakdown series is the quarterbacks, which will feature many fresh faces. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze needed to rebuild his quarterback room following the graduation of two-year starter Payton Thorne, and the transfers of Walker White to Baylor and Hank Brown to Iowa. This years room will feature two experienced transfers in former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold and ex-Stanford starter Ashton Daniels. Alabama high school legend Tanner Bailey has joined the roster as a walk-on, with the headlining addition being four-star signee Deuce Knight, who has enrolled and will participate in spring practice.
As expected, the battle will be between Arnold, the former Gatorade Player of the Year from Texas, and the freshman Knight. Last week, Freeze shed light on what each player brings to the room.
“(Arnold) has a calm demeanor and confidence. He understands ball and has a high football IQ. Arm strength is good. There's a reason he was Gatorade Player of the Year coming out of high school. I think he needed to start to regain some confidence, and I think he's doing that in a fast, fast pace. His decision making has been on point. We'll watch today's film, I don't know about it, but in the previous three days — again, he didn't have pads on — there's been very, very few decisions that were the wrong ones. I think he is throwing a very accurate ball. I'm really impressed by his pocket presence when the traffic is around him, his eyes stay down field and uses his legs when he needs to. I'm really excited and impressed by both him and Deuce (Knight). Deuce's maturity is way farther along than what I even knew, and he is hungry to learn and is always asking questions. Always wanting to talk about how I improve this and that. He is an extremely hard worker that you have to run off the field from trying to throw too much. They're getting a lot of throws because there's only two of them right now. I'm really pleased by those guys right now."
Here is a look at every quarterback on the roster as spring practice continues on the Plains.
No. 9 Deuce Knight
- 2025 recruiting ranking (247Sports): 4-star QB | No. 6 QB | No. 2 player from Mississippi | Auburn's No. 2 signee
Knight signed with Auburn after flipping his pledge from Notre Dame and fighting off a late push from Ole Miss. Quarterbacks coach Kent Austin says that Knight is turning heads early on by being "physically gifted" and by making throws that many quarterbacks his age can't make. Watch for Knight to be a threat at the quarterback position this spring, as well as in the fall.
No. 11 Jackson Arnold
- 2024 stats (at Oklahoma):154-of-246 (62.6%) | 1,421 yards | 12 touchdowns | 3 interceptions | 124.8 QBR
- Career stats (Two seasons):198-of-315 (62.9%) | 1,984 yards | 16 touchdowns | 6 interceptions | 128.7 ...
