Auburn football has its potential starting quarterback of 2025. The Tigers and head coach Hugh Freeze reeled in former Stanford starter Ashton Daniels through the transfer portal Monday.
Daniels confirmed the move to Auburn through Hayes Fawcett of On3.com. The former QB1 in Palo Alto will have one year left, but also a remaining redshirt season. This means Freeze and the Tigers could have Daniels for two seasons.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Daniels brings 3,986 career passing yards and 21 touchdowns in tow. He's arriving to Auburn as Payton Thorne completed his senior season. Thorne delivered 2,713 yards, 21 touchdown throws, nine interceptions and completed 62.8% of his passes.
Daniels, however, never took the full QB reins in Palo Alto. He split playing time behind center with Justin Lamson the last two seasons. Stanford head coach Troy Taylor opted to roll with a two-QB system for his Cardinal teams. Stanford never surpassed three wins in the two years Daniels took snaps.
What former Stanford QB is walking into at Auburn
Daniels is leaving The Farm having led all three Cardinal wins in 2024. However, Daniels settled for 1,700 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He also threw three interceptions twice in a year — against Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson and versus San Jose State in the Bill Walsh Game. Daniels, though, did toss three touchdowns in the 38-35 upset of No. 19 Louisville on Nov. 16.
The native of Buford, Georgia didn't just play for Taylor in the Bay Area. He's one of the final recruits from David Shaw. Daniels committed to Stanford in the 2022 class, Shaw's final one as Stanford head coach.
Auburn is aiming to lift itself out of the disappointing 5-7 mark of this past season. Only Kentucky and Mississippi State delivered worse records among Southeastern Conference teams. Auburn's 2-6 SEC mark tied for the third-worst with Oklahoma.
Daniels will soon join four-star Auburn commit Deuce Knight as the new QBs on the 2025 roster. Knight signed with Auburn Dec. 4.
Freeze, meanwhile, will look to next season to get out of the current seven-loss hump in Auburn. Including falling to Alabama in the 2024 Iron Bowl. He's yet to scale past seven losses in a season since taking over in the 2023 campaign.