Auburn’s quarterback room is shaken with a portal update. With just days away from the transfer portal, Alex Golesh’s Tigers received the news that their five-star QB is reportedly quitting the program, which left the entire squad gutted.

According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett report, Auburn’s true freshman quarterback Deuce Knight informed Auburn’s staff that he plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. He was Auburn’s five-star recruit of the 2025 class.

Knight played two games for the Tigers this season and made a big impression on his lone start in the 62-17 win over Mercer. In that game, he totaled over 600 yards and 6 touchdowns, including 239 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing 15 of 20 passes. He also rushed for 162 yards for four touchdowns on just nine carries.

He made some massive plays, including a 75-yard rushing touchdown to open the score and a 91-yard pass to wide receiver Malcolm Simmons for a passing touchdown. He also received some big praise from the interim coach, DJ Durkin, at that time.

As a high school prospect, Deuce Knight was ranked the No. 25 overall player and the No. 5-ranked quarterback of his class. He has been committed to Hugh Freeze and the staff at Auburn since December 2024. However, Freeze’s mid-season firing and the Tigers’ 5-7 record, including a 1-7 record against the SEC teams, are considered reasons for his departure.

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He will now be entering the portal when the transfer window opens on January 2. It is important to note that Knight flipped his commitment from Notre Dame to join Auburn at the time, graduating from George County High School in Lucedale, Mississippi.

He also had 25 offers from some of the top Power Five schools, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Miami, Louisville, Oregon, Ole Miss, and more. Five of them are playoff teams this season. It would be interesting to see if the schools are still interested in the five-star quarterback.

Deuce Knight will be joined by three other quarterbacks from the Tigers’ locker room at the portal, forcing Alex Golesh to look for a new transfer portal QB for the 2026 season.

Alex Golesh’s Auburn needs new QBs for 2026

After taking over the Tigers’ head coaching role, Alex Golesh made his stance clear on the quarterback situation. “[My intention with the QBs is] not to blow the room up at all,” said Alex Golesh. “Quite the opposite. My intent is to have everybody here that wants to be here.”

However, in the following weeks, the quarterback room looks scary. It was previously announced that QB Jackson Arnold and Ashton Daniels are planning to enter the transfer portal after playing for the Tigers in 2025.

On the other hand, Payton Thorne is expected to leave the program after the season, exhausting his playing eligibility. This left the new head coach, Alex Golesh, with no option other than to look for a transfer portal quarterback for the 2026 season.

If you take a wider look, it’s the second season for Auburn to make major replacements in the quarterback room. It would be interesting to see how many QBs Auburn plans to bring to the upcoming season and who will emerge as the starting QB for 2026.