Hugh Freeze got his quarterback on Saturday.

Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold signed with the Tigers Saturday morning, making things official at the end of his visit. He’s Auburn’s first transfer pickup of the December portal window.

But was does the signing mean for Auburn?

Arnold helps address Auburn’s most glaring transfer portal need. Following the 2024 season, Auburn was set to lose three quarterbacks, leaving just two scholarship players left in the room and no one with starting experience. With 2024 starter Payton Thorne out of eligibility, Arnold could be the Tigers’ answer in 2025.

Signing him also puts Freeze and Auburn halfway to the goal of having four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster in 2025, a goal that would require one more transfer pickup.

Not only does Arnold bring starting experience to Auburn’s quarterback room, but there’s a belief that he still has plenty of potential to unlock. He was a five-star recruit in the 2023 class before spending two years at Oklahoma and is now the highest-rated quarterback to have ever played at Auburn, ranked the No. 8 overall player in the 2023 247Sports composite rankings.

His 2024 season as a starter was up and down, even getting benched briefly for backup Michael Hawkins Jr. Arnold finished the season with 1,421 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions, along with 444 rushing yards and three touchdowns. When bringing up Arnold’s struggles, though, it’s worth pointing out the context of his situation in Norman.

He was without top receivers such as Deion Burks, Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq and others throughout the season and was playing in an offense run by now fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell.

At Auburn, he’ll be throwing to the likes of Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons, Perry Thompson and potentially one or two transfer wide receivers. Assuming the room stays healthier than Oklahoma’s did, Arnold will have much better weapons to work with than he did in Norman.

In the second half of the season, Arnold showed more promise, especially with his legs. The highlight of that resurgence came in Oklahoma’s 24-3 win over Alabama, a game in which Arnold ran for 131 yards, a career high.

His dual threat ability also makes him a fit in Auburn’s offense, opening things up in the RPO game. While Thorne showed mobility at times with Auburn, it was rare that he’d hurt teams on designed runs, something Arnold may be more capable of.

Another thing Arnold did well despite his poor play at times in 2024 was avoiding turnovers, something that haunted Auburn at the beginning of the season. He finished the season with only three interceptions on 246 pass attempts and had a turnover worthy play rate of 2.6%, according to Pro Football Focus. That ranked sixth best among SEC starting quarterbacks, but three spots below Thorne.

The other thing that stands out about Arnold in Auburn’s quarterback room is his youth. Freeze elected not to get a one-and-done graduate transfer out of the portal, as Arnold will be a redshirt sophomore in 2025 with three years of eligibility remaining.

It remains to be seen how that affects the long-term outlook at quarterback for Auburn, but it’s a chance to build some continuity at the position. Putting Arnold around a talented group of receivers that can grow with him could take the offense to another level in the next two seasons.

However, despite all the potential positives Arnold could bring, the move is still a risk for Freeze and Auburn.

Point blank, Freeze needs this decision to work out. After Thorne’s struggles in 2023 and then electing not to get a transfer quarterback in 2024, his future at Auburn could depend on how this next quarterback turns out.

While Arnold was a former five-star and seems to still have unlocked potential, there were other quarterbacks with more experience and past success available.

Freeze and Auburn passed over portal quarterbacks such as Fernando Mendoza, Miller Moss, Maalik Murphy and Darian Mensah, all players with more college success than Arnold.

For better or for worse, though, it’s a risk Freeze was willing to take. Now, it’s on him and his staff to unlock the potential they see in Arnold.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com