As AL.com continues its series highlighting key players and coaches ahead of Auburn football’s 2025 season, quarterback Jackson Arnold will be under the biggest microscope in all of college football.

The former five-star recruit transferred to Auburn after spending two seasons at Oklahoma. Serving as the starter for the most of the 2024 season, Arnold threw for 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions in 10 games.

Despite adding 444 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, Arnold was benched during the season and the Sooners offensive coordinator was fired.

Now transitioning to the plains, Arnold is embracing the fresh start and has a staff that still believes in his talents.

“I feel like I fit very well,” Arnold said back in April. “That was one of the things coach Freeze told me out of the portal, too, he knows what we did in high school and in college and our schemes, my scheme has always been very similar to what Coach Freeze runs. I know what he expects out of the RPO system, and just his system in general.”

During the senior bowl, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said Arnold’s arrival would make for a perfect fit in the Tigers offense.

“If you go back to his high school days, you don’t get to become the Gatorade Player of the Year without a great skill set,” Freeze said at Senior Bowl practice Wednesday. “And when I see the way, he functions with the fundamentals of that position with what we want to do. It’s a pretty natural fit.”

Looking at the history quarterbacks who’s had immediate success after transferring schools, Arnold can join elite company if things pan out at Auburn.

Auburn has had legendary signal callers transfer in and do great things for the program. Cam Newton and Nick Marshall did not start their college careers at Auburn. Both players would go on to lead the Tigers to conference titles and national championship appearances.

Newton’s magical season with the Tigers saw him capture Auburn’s only national championship and the Heisman trophy award. Since then, five transfer quarterbacks would go on to win the prestigious award at their new school.

Cam Ward, Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel Jalen Hurts and Micheal Penix Jr. finished as Heisman finalist after testing the portal, further proving how successful transfer portal quarterbacks has been in recent years.

Arnold will have a returning core of young receivers to throw to in Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson. The Tigers also added transfers Eric Singleton Jr. and Horatio Fields.

“I try to be a perfectionist. My expectations for myself are always high,” Arnold said. “But I don’t feel like there’s added pressure on me to come in and fix things. I just want to come in and just do my thing and do what I know I can do.”

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3 or email him at [email protected].