Hugh Freeze Believes Auburn Tigers have 'One of the Better Quarterback Rooms'

After struggling at quarterback his first two seasons on the job Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze desperately wants stability at the position. Obviously, Freeze didn’t feel he had that going into the offseason as he completely overturned the room. 

What ultimately emerged was a total rethink under center, and that led to giving former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold a very timely second chance.

Arnold was anointed the starter before he ever took a snap, but Freeze thinks the depth and competition at the position will make his team stronger. 

Backups Ashton Daniels and superstar new recruit Deuce Knight are definitely going to be given the green light to push him fully.

"Jackson is the No.1," Freeze said at the Regions Tradition fundraiser this week. "Now, do I want him to be pushed by Deuce and Ashton every single day? Absolutely."

We live in an era of football when college teams put a great deal more emphasis on building a more complete quarterback room. With injuries and the transfer portal just an offseason away, they can’t have enough depth.

Freeze learned that valuable lesson during his second season, having put all of his eggs in the love/hate Payton Thorne relationship.

"I honestly think we have one of the better quarterback rooms in the SEC," Freeze enthused. "Now, we haven't proven it yet. But I think you stack those three guys in there, you've got an argument that you've got three pretty good dudes."

Increased levels of competition can only be a good thing for each of the quarterbacks.

As far as Arnold is concerned, surely being installed as the starter can only boost his confidence, and that was the undoubted early goal of Freeze in the first place.

"Do I want Jackson feeling like it's his, and getting that confidence and swagger? Yes," Freeze declared. "Do I want him looking over his shoulder thinking, dang, Deuce and Ashton had two really good practices today? Yes. I want both."

There's little doubt that the long-term future under center for AU is the supremely talented, multi-threat Deuce Knight, but finally, a workable succession plan sounds like it's being activated with a free hand. To get to the long-term plan, the Tigers must win in the short term, and that’s where Arnold comes in. 

Moving forward, we can finally expect iron to sharpen iron, and it makes for a pretty interesting summer on The Plains.