One of the main areas in which the Auburn Tigers have struggled over the past four or five seasons is the quarterback position, a catalyst for consistent struggles that have plagued their offense in recent years.
From Jackson Arnold to TJ Finley to Payton Thorne to Robby Ashford, the Tigers haven’t experienced solid quarterback play this decade. The last time Auburn had a truly reliable quarterback was probably in 2017 when Jarrett Stidham headlined Auburn’s offense, a year in which the Tigers defeated both Alabama and Georgia and won the SEC West.
New head coach Alex Golesh was asked about how he plans to manage the quarterback room at his introductory press conference on Monday, which is an extremely interesting situation considering the current state of Auburn’s stable of signal-callers.
“I’ve been in situations where you knew going into spring who your one, two and three were. We were in that boat a year ago,” Golesh said. “I’ve been in situations, shoot, more times than I can even think of, where it went all the way through August. I don’t know if you can rush that part of it.
“I do know this – you want to have the best competition we possibly can in a room because if you do, you let these guys compete, give them every opportunity to grow, develop within the base foundation of what you are from a system standpoint, and then you pick the guy that you feel like gives you the best chance to win,” Golesh continued. “There are so many factors that go into that.”
As of right now, Ashton Daniels and freshman Deuce Knight are the two players who fans expect and hope to return next season. Arnold hasn’t been discussed much since being benched in Auburn’s game at Arkansas, but the wide assumption is that he will likely enter the transfer portal once again when the window opens in January.
Daniels sat out the Tigers’ contest against Mercer a few weeks ago to preserve his redshirt, and he said after the loss to Alabama that he intends to return for another year. The Iron Bowl marked his fourth game in the orange and blue, meaning he is eligible to come back for one more season.
On the other hand, while Daniels is undoubtedly a more experienced option, Knight also boasts an enormous upside. He showed great potential against Mercer, recording a historic six touchdowns and leading the Tigers to a blowout win over the Bears. The former five-star is often viewed as the “future” of the program, but some fans are concerned that he may explore other options if he doesn’t start in 2026 as a redshirt freshman.
“There’s talented, talented dudes in that room,” Golesh said. “They have tape, certainly, at this level. We are evaluating it like crazy; we evaluated it coming in. I think the biggest thing we have to figure out right now is the competition part of that. Are you going to add someone else? Are you going to add multiple people?”
Another talking point since Golesh arrived on the Plains was the possibility of Auburn bringing in a quarterback from the transfer portal, which could very well happen in the upcoming portal cycle.
USF starting quarterback Byrum Brown is a popular name that has been thrown around simply due to the relationship that Brown and Golesh had established during their time with the Bulls. Brown is listed as a senior on ESPN, but he only played four games in his freshman campaign. Thus, like Daniels, he is eligible to return for one more year.
Brown has been extremely impressive this season for USF, posting 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns through the air with a 66.3% completion percentage. He also added over 1,000 yards on the ground, totaling 1,008 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 175 carries.
If he eventually enters the portal and Auburn picks him up, the Tigers’ quarterback room could consist of Daniels, Knight, and Brown, which could maybe even rank as Auburn’s most talented stable of quarterbacks in the last few decades.
If Auburn is able to retain Knight, even if Golesh brings in Brown, the Tigers would enter spring with one heck of a quarterback competition. Golesh appears patient with the competition and says it could even spill over into the fall if a clear starter doesn’t emerge over the spring or summer.
“At the end of the day, the competition will take as long as it needs to,” Golesh added. “I think in the perfect world we would love to know in January, but in our situation here we won’t, and we probably won’t until August I would imagine, unless spring ball carries out in such a fashion that you’ll know.”
Competition is important in a locker room – it drives each player to perform at their best day in and day out, and as the saying goes, iron sharpens iron. And at the most important position on the field, a position in which the Tigers have lacked over the past five seasons, a three-way battle throughout spring practice and potentially even fall camp could only benefit Auburn’s offense moving forward.
