Turns out that analyst Lindsay Crosby has been living in the future. Back in April this year, in a podcast, he came up with a bold projection on Hugh Freeze’s quarterback room. He said, “If I say there legitimately could be a like a legit quarterback competition in spring and in fall, like obviously Jackson Arnold’s the favorite, but there is a world where Deuce Knight just looks fantastic and gets into the conversation.” Cut to fall, looks like Deuce Knight is actually ahead of the curve. Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold might hold the QB1 torch for Freeze’s squad. But that hasn’t changed the optimism for five-star freshman signal caller.
Knight turned analyst Phillip Dukes into his biggest fan. On the August 16th episode of the Dukesthescoop podcast, the analyst shared, “Deuce Knight had a good camp. It’s just that it’s gonna be finding his fit in the offense. You got a guy who can make the throws that he can. He can hit all the spots on the field that he can.” Knight is ticking off all the criteria being the force in Freeze’s camp.
First things first, his key trait is arm strength. Knight throws with raw mechanics and lets his arm do most of the work. Sometimes, weight is missing in throws, but that did not stop them from reaching the right destination with zip and velocity. But what makes Freeze’s quarterback so rare? Knight can throw a deep ball off of his back foot, which is pretty rare. This fall camp, he became viral for his impressive throw to star wide receiver Eric Singleton.
Dukes continued to say that he is also getting snaps with both the second-team (twos) and third-team (threes) offenses. That flexibility lets coaches test him in different situations. The analyst noted, “Part of the beauty of having a guy like Deuce Knight being able to go with the twos and the threes is that you get quality quarterback play to know what you have in the future or to know what you even have right now when you can rotate a guy.”
Freeze might be considering himself to be lucky to have a “specimen” as Dukes called Knight. After all, he is a big force in himself, already weighing around 208–210 lbs despite just finishing high school. But nothing lasts one way in the long run. To make the most of Knight, Freeze, too, needs to promise the quarterback great things. As the analyst noted, “I think Auburn has to do a good job, you know, selling him on the future and selling him on the offense and looking and say, ‘Hey, look, this is you next. This is your ground and you’re going to have these weapons.’” Amidst all the Knight hype, what about Freeze’s starter?
Analyst projects Hugh Freeze’s Jackson Arnold plan to be a big flop
Back in Oklahoma, Arnold was unable to excel by playing under a defensive-minded head coach in Brent Venables. As host Cole Cubelic noted, “Hearing Jackson Arnold is not just being more decisive but being aggressive, attacking. That goes back to Greg [McElroy], what you said about the mindset, he may have been trapped in last year playing for a defense-minded coach, he told you at Media days.” In that case, things were expected to turn better for Arnold to be playing for an offensive-minded head coach who would give him enough liberty. But that’s not going to be the case.
USA Today’s Matt Hayes ripped the Auburn head coach for a set of decisions he took on the QB situation. Primarily how he told the defense to allegedly go easy on Arnold so that he can build confidence. Freeze, along with the Tigers, were already standing on loose sand. That’s when they took the burden of a benched product. “Because this can’t be said enough: Freeze has failed spectacularly with the very thing that got him the job in the first place. In two seasons, Freeze’s offenses have been 12th and 11th in the SEC in points per game, and his quarterbacks have combined to throw 26 interceptions. Knowing all of this heading into a crossroads third season, and knowing he needed a tough and talented quarterback who could protect the ball, Freeze signed benched Oklahoma starter Jackson Arnold from the transfer portal. Then told his defense – the one good thing in Freeze’s two seasons on The Plains – to ease up on his new quarterback so he leaves practice feeling confident.” the analyst did not mince his words.
What’s the need of the hour for Auburn to save the quarterback position from hitting rock bottom? An efficient and proficient quarterback. Not someone who was pressured 132 times, carrying the burden of getting sacked 34 times.
Analyst Brooks Austin doesn’t trust Hugh Freeze to handle Arnold well because his history suggests turnovers will happen often. And when it comes to protecting or building confidence in his QB, Freeze might pass the buck to Arnold. He shared, “When Jackson Arnold throws an interception to cost them a football game in the fourth quarter, which he will, by the way, cause Hugh Freeze’s offense have lose the turnover battle 12 of his 13 years coaching. Hugh Freeze’s offenses have turned the ball over 25 plus times, eight of 13 seasons coaching football. They’re going to turn it over. He’s going to be negative towards Jackson… So, that’s always been my concern about Hugh Freeze.” Now, this is not something that the Tigers fans were ready for.
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