If Hugh Freeze keeps his job, these QBs would be great targets if they enter the portal

Every week, the Auburn Tigers' quarterback problem becomes more and more apparent. Payton Thorne can't help throwing interceptions and backup Hank Brown isn't any better. Third-string quarterback Holden Geriner has only attempted two passes in his entire career.

Who's to blame for the problem at hand? Sure, the players kind of are because they aren't performing as well as they could. However, head coach Hugh Freeze should take almost all of the blame.

Freeze refused to look for a quarterback from the transfer portal last offseason despite lacking a developed QB on his roster. Now, Freeze is stuck with three quarterbacks who don't have much experience and aren't that talented at the collegiate level.

So, this offseason, Freeze has to learn from his mistakes and look to the portal for answers at the quarterback position. Here are a few players who would make incredible transfer pickups if they were to enter the portal this offseason:

Liberty's junior quarterback Kaidon Salter has led the Flames to a 17-1 record over the last two seasons including a win in the Conference-USA Championship game and an appearance in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl against the Oregon Ducks.

Over four years for the Flames, Salter has earned an astonishing 4,950 passing yards, 1,557 rushing yards, 62 total touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions. Salter has one more season of eligibility remaining and while loyalty to Liberty may come into the play, the value of playing for a Power Conference team may be just too tempting.

Jackson Arnold is young and relatively inexperienced but he was one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks coming out of high school in 2023. While Arnold has been benched since being named the starting QB for the Oklahoma Sooners this season, the young quarterback has the exact skillset the Tigers are in need of.

Over his 10 appearances at the collegiate level (most coming as Dillon Gabriel's backup), Arnold has amassed 1,101 passing yards, 254 rushing yards, and 14 total touchdowns.

Arnold's dual-threat capabilities and apparent knowledge of the game make him a great candidate to fill the gaping hole that Auburn currently has at quarterback.

Matthew Sluka has already announced that he won't be with the UNLV Rebels so the only destination that makes sense is the transfer portal. Sluka led the Rebels to a 3-0 start for their 2024 season and has earned quite an impressive resume over his five years in college football.

With 6,214 yards, 65 touchdowns, and just 16 interceptions, Sluka not only has a better TD-INT ratio than any of the Auburn quarterbacks, but he has more experience than almost all of them combined. Plus, Sluka could definitely find a few more NIL deals at Auburn than he could in Vegas.

The Texas A&M Aggies have had a slight quarterback problem of their own, despite being No. 24 in the country. The Aggies have flipped between quarterbacks Conner Weigman and Marcel Reed over the last five games but have, seemingly, landed on Reed as the go-to guy.

Weigman won't want to stay on the bench and the sophomore quarterback may be itching to find a new place, and team, to call home. While Weigman doesn't have a lengthy resume to his name, the young QB has over 2,000 yards and nearly 20 touchdowns in his stat book.

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