HC Hugh Freeze names Auburn’s starting QB, but gushes over five-star freshman

“Jackson, it’s (the starting quarterback job) his, but I want him looking over his shoulder knowing that ‘Man, dang, Deuce sure did have a dang good practice today,’” Freeze told Finebaum when discussing his quarterback room of Arnold, Knight and Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels (h/t On3).

Arnold played at Oklahoma last season. He started the Sooners’ first four games but was benched in favor of true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr.

He transferred to Auburn for a fresh start, but ironically, he may have the same situation brewing on the plains that he did in Oklahoma.

Knight is a former five-star recruit, ranked as the No. 5 quarterback in the 2025 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s a dual-threat quarterback who threw for 2,067 yards and 25 touchdowns (five interceptions) while also rushing for 450 yards and 12 touchdowns his senior season in high school.

If Freeze is already talking him up, he could be the real deal for Auburn.

“His arm strength — he can make every single throw as a true freshman, and I haven’t seen that a lot,” Freeze continued. “He’s got this demeanor about him that everybody wants to be around him and is drawn to him. And he has this humility to where, literally, there was not one time in spring ball where something didn’t go his way and it was always him taking the blame.”

“He’s a zero excuse maker. He comes in and he studies and I just think the sky’s the limit for a guy with that size, that range, that arm strength, that IQ.”

The sky is the limit for Knight, which could mean another early pull for Jackson, but we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out for Auburn. For what it’s worth, Freeze has liked what he’s seen from Jackson this spring.

“I think I saw a growing confidence through him all the way through spring,” Freeze said.