Auburn’s $20M Gamble Rests on Jackson Arnold as National Analyst Raises Key Concerns on Hugh Freeze’s SEC Leap

Auburn is coming off a 5-7 record in 2024 under head coach Hugh Freeze following some lackluster quarterback play. But now is a great time to reflect to avoid the ghost of the past reappearing. One of the significant changes looming large this year is the change in the starting quarterback role following the inevitable departure of Payton Thorne, who couldn’t do much for the Tigers despite having an overwhelming 2023 with the Michigan State Spartans. The contradiction looks quite intriguing if you compare it with Jackson Arnold, the rising QB phenom of the Tigers, who is largely expected to run the complex Tigers offense and produce a minimum of an eight-win season at Auburn.

As the starting quarterback for Oklahoma last season, Arnold had 1,421 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also ran for three rushing touchdowns. This didn’t help the OU offense that much, leading him to leave Norman. But that doesn’t mean he’s carrying the slump with him at Auburn, too. Spring will be an early test to see if Hugh Freeze’s experimental transfer portal decision pays off.

Breaking down his fate with the Tigers, ON3’s JD Pickell said, ”I want to make sure we say this though Jackson Arnold does not have to live up to what he was as a high school recruit, a five-star plus kind of guy for Auburn to be successful. My guy just has to lock in and not turn it over, which sounds super simple. There’s a lot more to it, especially in Hugh’s offense, with all they ask you to do at the quarterback position.”

Arnold will have a tough time beating the competitors, Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight, in the QB room. He needs to show why Freeze should bet a dime on him to flip the recurring strong defense, weak offense narrative of his team.

But his Oklahoma failure was a byproduct of a lot of factors, including a serious shortage in the receiver room, which Freeze is keeping a watchful eye on. ”But you look at what he was at Oklahoma, and maybe that gives you some anxiety as an Auburn fan. I don’t think you’re wrong for being slow to trust, But I would just say this: I don’t hold the Oklahoma thing against him too much,” said PicKell, justifying his faith in the potential QB1 for the Tigers.

”To me, Oklahoma was just tricky. How am I supposed to know what he is when we got a mess on offense? We have a sack rate of like 12%. Nobody knows what Jackson Arnold is going to be, but going back to my point here, there’s enough around him at Auburn.”

Arnold has a strong receiver core, including Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons, and Perry Thompson, to safeguard him, allowing him to leave the past scars behind and mount a new start with a new setup in the Tigers’ offense.

Hugh Freeze faces a do-or-die challenge in his third year with the Tigers

Hugh Freeze is stepping into his make-it-or-break-it year at Auburn. His contract runs through 2028, but he won’t have the luxury to waste another year as a trial. Although he has been pretty successful in the recruitment class, it’s time to make it work. He is a guy to put Nick Saban on notice and topple him in back-to-back seasons in his prime. So, the ability to get there is not even a question.

But he needs to be more active and careful not to let any mistakes get the better of him. Analyst Rittenberg points out that Freeze has already availed two years of his extended honeymoon campaign since he took the reins of a beleaguered program from Bryan Harsin in 2022. He was supposed to be an offensive mastermind, but that remained a hypothesis with two years of wasted quarterback play with Payton Thorne.

“Freeze’s return to the SEC in late 2022 sparked widespread reaction, but few could deny he fit Auburn’s vision for improvement,” wrote Rittenberg on ESPN. “Auburn’s personnel had dropped off, and Freeze had the roots and results in the deep South to turn things around. But Tigers fans are still waiting, as Freeze sits at 11-14 overall and 5-11 in SEC play. His tenure includes home losses to New Mexico State, Cal, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma.”

These things need to be on the focus to get better at and the stars will take care of the rest. It’s either a win or a breach of a $20 million safety net for the veteran Tigers’ coach!

The post Auburn’s $20M Gamble Rests on Jackson Arnold as National Analyst Raises Key Concerns on Hugh Freeze’s SEC Leap appeared first on EssentiallySports.