Well, the first one to raise a red flag for Hugh Freeze’s Jackson Arnold hire was Paul Finebaum. The ESPN analyst said, “Listen, his predecessor at OU did much better leaving.” Given the struggles the Auburn program has had at the quarterback position in recent times, Arnold has already stepped into a hot coal. But at the same time, some analysts strongly believe in Arnold’s turnover in Freeze’s Auburn.

To start with, on Rece and Pete’s podcast, in the list of sleeper QBs for the ‘25 CFB season, Arnold found himself a spot. The quarterback is carrying the burden of a dark past in Brent Venables’ squad after getting sacked 34 times. However, turns out that he is going to break free of the shackles and fly high in Auburn. But what’s so special about the Tigers that would help Arnold to change his luck?

On the August 8th episode of the Jox 94.5 podcast, host Cole Cubelic came up with an interesting take on Arnold. Blaming the quarterbacks is easy, but hardly few goes in the depth to find the reason behind their fumbles. And Cubelic did a detailed study on Arnold. He shared, “Hearing Jackson Arnold is not just being more decisive but being aggressive, attacking. That goes back to Greg [McElroy], what you said about the mindset, he may have been trapped in last year playing for defense-minded coach, he told you at Media days.” 

The 2022 national high school player of the year in Denton, Texas, felt like a fish out of the water in Oklahoma. At the SEC Media Days, Arnold shared that Venables is a “fantastic defensive coach,” but somehow the quarterback was not ready for the challenges that the head coach threw his way. On the very podcast last month, he had hinted, “For an offensive head coach, you think differently from a defensive head coach.” 

Things turned left as inconsistency plagued the wide receiver room and the offensive line. For instance, during their 25-15 loss to Tennessee, Arnold struggled in the first half, going 7-of-16 with 54 passing yards and an interception. 

Cubelic noted, “I am not trying to rip anybody, I’m not trying to drag another coach, but that’s accurate. The mindset of the defensive-minded coach usually he is , ‘Don’t screw this up, don’t make a mistake, don’t hurt a position, don’t turn the ball over here.’ As opposed to now, it’s ‘Attack, attack. Go get it, make this happen, make this throw, make this play, and I imagine Greg, for a quarterback, is a huge relief.” Before his time as Oklahoma’s head coach, Venables was a successful defensive coordinator.

Now that Arnold has found a new home, he will have Freeze’s back, who is an offensive-minded head coach and has placed many quarterbacks in favorable situations. The former Oklahoma quarterback was pressured 132 times, according to Pro Football Focus. Even though Greg McElroy never got the chance to play for an offensive-minded coach, he, too, agreed with Cubelic on chances of Arnold’s glow-up in Auburn. “I think it would be beneficial to have a coach tell you to put the pedal, to keep going as opposed to ‘Hey, pull back a little bit, you’re trying to do too much,’” said the former Alabama quarterback. Meanwhile, a national analyst has set some straight expectations for the quarterback.                     

Analyst lowers the pressure for Jackson Arnold with simple advice 

Arnold is carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. First things first, he has to whitewash his image after hitting a nosedive in Venables’ squad. Secondly, he got to gift Auburn fans with some good memories after the Payton Thorne era. Thorne gave them a hard time. For instance, he has battled with it all his life as he landed in the No.13 slot after throwing only for 84 yards in the Music City Bowl back in 2023. So, the ceiling is already too high for Arnold. That’s when Josh Pate tried to bring down the heat. 

On the On3 podcast, he said, “Jackson Arnold does not have to live up to what he was as a high school recruit. Five-star plus kind of guy for Auburn to be successful,” he said. “My guy just has to lock in and not turn it over.” As simple as it might sound, things were a bit difficult. Back during his first stint at Oklahoma, he did bring some decent numbers to the gridiron: 44 of 69 passes (63.8%) for 563 yards and four touchdowns. Arnold played in seven games in a backup role and got his lone start in the Alamo Bowl. But he did not receive any help as the Sooners’ offense has been a dire mess.

That’s when Josh Pate joked, “How am I supposed to know if you’re a good cook at all when the fridge is full of moldy milk, bread that’s hard as a rock, it’s stale…all we got is like some Gushers and some orange juice?” The only thing Jackson Arnold received was a shaky offensive line, inconsistent pass protection. So what’s the narrative looming for Arnold in 2025?  Steven Lassan shared on That SEC Football podcast, “So I think how good is Jackson Arnold right away, how does he look a lot different than we saw at Oklahoma. That’s the key to the season.” Armed with everything he once went without, Arnold is ready to light up the field.