Hugh Freeze Reveals Plans for Auburn Tigers' Backup QB

AUBURN, Ala.- With Jackson Arnold as the clear starter for the Auburn Tigers, the question remains who will be the backup on the depth chart?

The Tigers completely overhauled their quarterback room in 2025, starting with Arnold. However, they always signed five-star freshman Deuce Knight, and Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels was a two-year starter.

Head coach Hugh Freeze was hesitant to give a sure answer when asked what his plans were for backing up Arnold, but he left the door open for a role for both Knight and Daniels.

"Probably situational. Ashton has a ton of experience with plus one runs at quarterback and obviously throwing the football,” said Freeze on Wednesday. He put up some really, really good numbersrushing-wiseg wise in a good league. I think you have to look at that a little differently."

Daniels rushed for 669 yards last year at Stanford, and he tied the team's single-game record for rushing by a quarterback with 129 against NC State.

Knight, the true freshman, is the future of the Auburn Tigers, but Freeze wants to make sure he's ready before seeing live action. Knight showed in high school that he is able to push the ball downfield using both his arms and his legs. He passed for 2,256 yards and 25 passing touchdowns while also rushing for 484 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, according to MaxPreps.

"I don’t really want to throw Deuce out there and call quarterback runs," Freeze said. "Not that he can’t do it, but you want him to be ready for all that. You look at certain roles or certain situations, and I think there’s two different deals going on. If I need somebody to go in and throw a vertical route, Deuce may be the better option there. So I think everything is situational there.”

Obviously, Tiger fans hope the situation doesn’t come down to this. Freeze has confidence in Jackson Arnold, and is ensuring Arnold has confidence in himself. But it is also important to plan for every scenario and be ahead of the curve, rather than being unprepared and throwing someone to the wolves if it comes down to it. 

Ideally, Arnold leads the team to a winning season, and Knight gets his feet wet in mop-up duty as the Tigers prepare for the future.