The #1 need for 2025 is obviously at the QB position. The room gets a total makeover with the departure of all 4 signal callers. Don’tcha just love the state of college football? Last year at this time, U Free rolled the dice with Perton Thurnz again, and decided he would be much improved with a second year in the system. He wasn’t, and Freeze pretty much put himself firmly on the hot seat for the upcoming season.
This time, we know what that room will look like early on. Freeze has said he will always carry 4 QB’s, so look for one more from the portal, which I expect may come from a Group of 5 program. So, what do we have headed into 2025?
Deuce Knight 6’5” 205 5* High School QB. Senior Stats:
9 Games 100/165 61% 2,082 yards 24 TD
Rushing: 74 carries for 450 yards and 9 TD’s
Ashton Daniels 6’2” 215 Transfer from Stanford with two full seasons of starts at QB. Last year’s stats:
170/271 63% 1,700 yards 10 TD 12 INT
Rushing: 148 carries for 669 yards and 3 TD’s
Jackson Arnold 6’1” 211 Transfer from Oklahoma. This past season’s stats:
154/246 63% 1,421 yards 12 TD 3 INT
Rushing: 150 carries for 444 yards and 3 TD’s
The only thing that I take as positives from this group, are that there’s a ton of experience at the Power 5 level, and they all fit the Freeze mold at quarterback, with their ability to run. Otherwise, it’s a little underwhelming for me. Obviously, there are hopes that Deuce Knight will be our future under center, but as a true freshman, you wouldn’t expect that much of a contribution, much less starting. However, I also wouldn’t be surprised if he did step in right away, because the other two don’t blow me away at all.
Daniels, a lot of experience, and clearly athletic. His numbers in the passing game aren’t very impressive, but it could be the result of playing for a crappy program.
Arnold, a ton of hype out of high school. Decent stats overall, but famously, or infamously benched by the Tennessee game. Came back later, but didn’t light up the scoreboard.
At the end of the day, it looks like Freeze decided not to get caught with his pants down (again) and jumped on these guys early to make sure we had the room covered. What I see, outside of Dooce, is a lot of potential. A ton of could be, might be. A lot of excuses as to why these guys were limited at Stanford and Okie. Maybe they’re legit excuses, and we’ve got ourselves a couple of bad asses who really elevate this program. I hope so. Maybe there’s not a Cam Ward in this class, and this is the best we can do. Freeze had better hope one of these guys is the bizzomb, because his career at AU probably depends on it.
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