Jackson Arnold turned out to be a bust for the Sooners in 2024. He went from being a 5-star QB to a player whose future looked dim. Apart from his own flaws, poor coaching and support also added to the equation that led to Arnold’s downfall. So, he packed his bags and flocked to the transfer portal, deciding to make Oklahoma ancient history for him. At Auburn, Arnold looks like the best solution to help the program get back a semblance of its winning ways. Hugh Freeze, who is still languishing in his 4th year, will have to steer clear of a few things first.

Arnold’s 1,421 passing yards at Oklahoma were the lowest to lead in a season for the Sooners. He had a completion percentage of .626. That’s the lowest in program history for a starter after Trevor Knight’s 56.6%. Being immensely prone to turnovers and struggling to take the ball downfield soured all the hype fans had for him. He did have his highs, though, especially in Oklahoma’s important win over Alabama. Arnold finished brilliantly in that game with 25 carries and 131 yards. But equally troubling was another highlight of his season, when he threw two back-to-back interceptions against Tennessee, after which Brent Venables benched him.

But now, it’s also common knowledge that his fall from stardom was not entirely his fault. Insider Kyle Rush, while appearing on The Next Round, said that the game development for Arnold looks good. But the most pressing matter is to ensure the QB’s confidence.

“Can we help keep Jackson feeling confident and feeling, you know, good about the system and good about his play? That’s the key to me. All the athletic ability pieces are there. But can you protect him and help his confidence stay at a level where he can go out there and produce? I think that’s gonna be the number one battle this year,” Rush noted.

Arnold should be rattled by the way his freshman season turned out. Except for a few brief highs, 2024 was a bad dream for the QB. A shockingly weak and battered WR room could do nothing to aid him in the field, and Ben Arbuckle arrived a little too late to save his face in the season. The Sooners had everything go wrong for them, except the defense, though they had obviously planned for the best by getting someone like Arnold onto the roster. How he manages his past and how he incorporates the learnings from it into this season will be his ultimate test.

“If that happens, I think he can be a really good quarterback. I think he looks a lot like he’s got a lot of, like, Bo Nix, I guess, look to his game,” Rush added. The famed Oregon QB had a brilliant start as a freshman at Auburn, pitching in 2,549 yards and 16 TDs while also earning the SEC Freshman of the Year Award. But before we set out expectations for Arnold, Hugh Freeze is once again reminded of the cloudy air that still blurs the QB’s true potential.

Jackson Arnold’s fears loom over his CFB career once again

The same Jackson Arnold from Guyer High, who passed for more than 7,000 yards in his junior and senior years, dropped to 1,984 yards in his two CFB seasons. In 2024, Arnold was filling in for the huge void left behind by Dillon Gabriel. Did Arnold have the potential to succeed Gabriel? By all means. But in reality, he was able to very minutely display his 5-star status last year. The way his career has turned out is still not convincing experts about what his future could turn out to be. It could either stupefy all his critics because he has the physical prowess and the training to be magical on the field. Or, he can also attract more fire if he fails to live up to expectations.

“The quarterback—Jackson Arnold—is a day one upgrade, which is kind of what we all have felt ever since he’s gotten here. After everything we heard from spring, the room as a whole is a day one upgrade. And surprise, surprise—you hear a superlative about Eric Singleton Jr. I’m just—I just don’t know that we’re prepared for what this kid could be. I don’t know that we truly understand how really good this kid is,” Rush said in a May 26 episode of The Barn. He went off the high praise an anonymous coach had for Arnold, who said, “Watch out here—they finally have a quarterback who can run Freeze’s system.”

Like we said before, Arnold is probably the best thing to happen to Hugh Freeze and Auburn. He has the potential to take Auburn to its winning glory from the past, and this also seems like his year to do so. But there is still some unpredictability about his prowess in fans’ hearts, which is why they’re hesitating to fully believe Arnold is the guy. All he needs to do is hold his own and focus on what makes him whole.