Jackson Arnold came to Auburn with big hopes, but the dream unraveled fast. After an inconsistent year, midseason benching, and a 5-7 run, the former five-star quarterback is reportedly hitting the transfer portal. Now, instead of leading Auburn’s future, Arnold might be looking for a better shot somewhere else.

“BREAKING: Auburn QB Jackson Arnold is expected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, @_JHokanson reports,” On3 stated on X.

As per On3’s Justin Hokanson report, Jackson Arnold is likely to enter the transfer portal. Following discussions about their futures with new head coach Alex Golesh and his staff, Arnold was encouraged to consider other options. If Arnold makes the move, it will be his second time entering the portal.

Arnold began the 2025 season leading Auburn to a 3-0 start and a No. 22 ranking. And he ended his year with 1,309 passing yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions, with 311 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. However, his game struggled big time in losses against Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Missouri, which forced the Tigers to use Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight.

Those struggles continued against Arkansas, where Arnold was benched for Ashton Daniels after throwing a critical interception. He did see some action against Kentucky, while Daniels threw for 123 yards and completed 15 of 31 passes. But after that, the 21-year-old didn’t see the ground against Vanderbilt and Alabama, and later recorded three rushes for 53 yards and a touchdown. These inconsistencies make it evident that Auburn will not take chances anymore.

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But it wasn’t all Arnold’s fault, as offensive line troubles were a major issue, too. They struggled to protect their quarterback this season, allowing 42 sacks. The outcome? Just like Arnold, even Daniels showed inconsistencies as he went 0-2 as a starter, and to protect his redshirt status, Deuce Knight played in the Mercer game and recorded six touchdowns against Mercer. This leaves the Tigers with a major quarterback uncertainty, as Daniels’ return is unsure and Knight still has four years of eligibility, but even he might look out for better options after the Tigers’ falling out.

For now, Golesh and Auburn are keeping their eye on USF quarterback Byrum Brown, who could be their real shot if he follows Golesh to Auburn. But with Arnold’s move, Hugh Freeze’s old habit of blaming quarterbacks comes up again, but this time it’s not hitting Arnold directly as it did to the Tigers’ former quarterback Payton Thorne.

Hugh Freeze gets real

Jackson Arnold became a major problem in Hugh Freeze’s downfall, and he didn’t think twice before pointing it out. During his 1-on-1 interview with Justin Hokanson, he made his stance clear on the team’s future and his take on Arnold’s situation.

“It makes me sick that I didn’t deliver a product for the Auburn faithful,” Hugh Freeze said. “It doesn’t help to say that we were close because nobody really cares about that. We were, though.”

Now that Freeze talked about what actually went wrong, Jackson Arnold’s name started popping up. As the Oklahoma transfer was expected to elevate the offense, but instead their head coach got fired, their playoff hopes ended, and after three wins, they had to face seven losses in nine games. But despite the dip, Freeze isn’t blaming Arnold completely.

“This is not a beat-up Jackson deal,” Hugh Freeze said. “It’s never always the quarterback. There are other factors.”

Well, the problems were evident: his missed touchdown pass to the wide-open Cam Coleman during the Oklahoma game or his eight drops against Missouri made things worse for them.

“It didn’t work out to the level that he nor I both expected for him and our team,” Freeze added. “And that’s why I’m sitting here.”

Now that Auburn is moving ahead with new head coach Alex Golesh, let’s wait and see how he fixes the quarterback inconsistency on his team.