Auburn to sit Ashton Daniels vs. Mercer to preserve redshirt

Auburn will hold off on burning Ashton Daniels’ redshirt.

Interim head coach DJ Durkin confirmed Monday that Daniels will not start against Mercer on Nov. 22, opting to preserve the veteran quarterback’s redshirt eligibility and extend his college career into 2026.

Daniels’ fourth regular-season appearance will come against Alabama. If Auburn qualifies for a bowl game, he can still play, as postseason games do not affect redshirt eligibility.

“I feel you have a great responsibility as a head coach to do what is best for your football team and your program at all times. That’s what you’re hired to do. That’s what you need to do. I also feel you have a great responsibility to the young men and coach and their families to do what is best for them,” Durkin said.

“Anytime you can thread that needle where those two things align together, obviously that’s the best and what makes it work, and I think in this case we had that. I think the best thing for Ashton is to be able to preserve his redshirt year and be able to come back and play another year.

“I think it’s tremendous for this program and also for him. He has great football ahead of him, and so we are going to do that. He will not play in this game so that he can keep that redshirt year.”

The Tigers will instead turn to either Jackson Arnold or true freshman Deuce Knight to lead the offense in the season finale. Durkin said both will compete throughout the week of practice and both are expected to play.

Durkin said the decision was made with Daniels’ and Auburn’s long-term future in mind. Daniels has appeared in three games this season, one game below the maximum allowed to maintain redshirt status. Starting against Mercer would have capped that opportunity and eliminated the ability to play in the Iron Bowl and still return next season.

Daniels, who transferred to Auburn from Stanford last offseason, was amazing last Saturday at Vanderbilt. Daniels racked up 442 total yards and four total touchdowns. He guided Auburn’s offense to 563 yards and 38 points. It was the most total yards for the Tigers against an SEC opponent since 2019 and most against a ranked SEC opponent since 2016.

Arnold, a junior, has started eight games this season but struggled with sacks allowed and an inability to push the ball downfield. Knight, a five-star freshman, has flashed athleticism and arm strength in practice, but has not played outside of snaps at the end of a blowout win over Ball State.

The plan solidifies Daniels’ goal to return to Auburn next season and compete for the starting quarterback position in his final year of eligibility.