Film Review: Can Ashton Daniels Fix Auburn’s Offense

After a grueling month of close losses and subpar quarterback play, head coach Hugh Freeze made a quarterback change last weekend in Auburn’s win over Arkansas. A stagnant second-quarter offense had blown another early lead, and Jackson Arnold’s 85-yard pick-six was the nail in the coffin. 

Taking control of the offense for the rest of the game was senior Ashton Daniels, who transferred in from Stanford in the offseason. Daniels had shown flashes of potential stardom in his two years leading the Cardinal. But he didn’t develop into the player he could have been. His transferring to a program like Auburn gave him a sure spot as a backup. He could be a high-floor veteran signal caller who maybe still has some room to grow. On Saturday, despite a small sample size, the Tigers saw just that. 

Daniels only attempted eight passes, but completed six of them for 77 yards. On the ground, he ran seven times, picking up an additional 35 yards. 

While the sample size was limited, with the offense leaning on a hot Jeremiah Cobb, there was a lot to take away from Daniels’ half-plus behind center. 

The Good

Jackson Arnold’s greatest strength is undeniably his ability to run the ball from the quarterback position. If Daniels is the starter going forward, drop-off may not be too steep, if at all, in that regard. 

Last season, Daniels took on a larger workload running the ball and showed it was a legitimate strength of his as well. He ran for 669 yards, picking up almost five yards a carry. In his seven attempts on Saturday, he picked up where he left off. In his very first play, he sensed pressure coming from the right side of the line and took off. He shot through a hole, lowered his shoulder, and dealt a blow to a Razorback linebacker on the way to picking up eight yards. Offensive coordinator Derrick Nix felt comfortable enough with his performance to even begin sprinkling in designed runs, as well. 

Experienced

Daniels’ two seasons of starting experience showed on Saturday, as well. His poise and awareness of pressure were the best from an Auburn quarterback this season. Two plays stood out in this regard. The first of which was a 1st and 10 just outside Arkansas’ red zone. Daniels dropped back, made his first and second read, sensed pressure, stepped up in the pocket, made his third read, and, as an edge rusher finally came clean, he fired the ball underneath to Brandon Frazier.

It was just a four-yard pickup, but too many times this season has that situation resulted in a sack or a forced throw. The other standout was on the previous drive, where in the red zone, Daniels dropped back on 2nd and 8. His right tackle was pushed backwards, drifting right in front of his line of vision, but he didn’t panic. Instead, he waited for Perry Thompson’s route to develop, stood tall, and delivered a strike to pick up the first down. 

The Bad

In terms of on-field performance, the only knock against Daniels on Saturday was his arm strength. While his short and intermediate throws had zip on them, his 48-yard completion to Eric Singleton in the third quarter was underthrown by a few yards. It was the right read, with Singleton man-to-man on a post route, but he had to slow down and almost box out the corner to high-point the ball. 

Working against Daniels’ case as the starter moving forward is the sheer amount of reps he’s taken at this point. While Freeze admitted he’s wanted to get Daniels some snaps lately, he’s now only thrown eight passes in 2025. This wouldn’t be a big deal if he were the sure starter going forward, but that’s not the case. Not according to Freeze, at least. 

Despite the performance that led to Auburn’s first win in a month, Freeze was non-committal in regards to Daniels as the starter going forward. 

“There’s no greater motivator than competition. And that’s what it is, an open competition, to see who prepares and plays the best. They both will split reps, and then we’ll make a decision. There are good things that both did,” Freeze said at his Monday morning press conference.

The Future

Up next for Auburn is the 2-5 Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky, coming off four straight losses, has a bottom-25 passing defense in the nation. Should Daniels be named a starter, this will be another ideal situation for him to gain chemistry with the first-team wideouts. 

Especially needing work with chemistry will be sophomore Cam Coleman, who left the Arkansas matchup early with an ankle injury. Daniels and Singletary had developed a solid connection by the end of last weekend’s game. Don’t be surprised, however, to see the ball forced to Coleman early and often to begin building that relationship. 

There’s still much work to be done to improve Auburn’s bottom-20 passing attack this season. However, despite a limited amount of dropbacks, Daniels looks like a step in the right direction.