5-Star QB Deuce Knight Flips Commitment from Notre Dame to Auburn After Visit

Five-star quarterback Deuce Knight committed to Auburn on Wednesday after initially pledging his future to Notre Dame.

Knight is the No. 5 quarterback and No. 29 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings for the 2025 class. He moves the Tigers up to third in the site's composite team rankings.

The decommitment is a tough blow for Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish have struggled to find a lasting solution at quarterback since Marcus Freeman took over as head coach. Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner split starting duties in 2022 before Freeman turned to the transfer portal to land Sam Hartman and then Riley Leonard.

Notre Dame still has true freshman CJ Carr, the No. 6 QB in the 2024 class. But landing Knight would've allowed Freeman and his staff to hedge their bets and increase their odds of having a major difference-maker under center for a few years.

Considering he wears the No. 2 jersey, is a dual-threat quarterback, and will attend Auburn, the comparisons between Knight and Cam Newton will be inescapable. That's of course setting the bar almost impossibly high because Newton was a revelation in his lone season with the Tigers.

It's not hard to see why fans are at least excited about the idea of Knight in a Hugh Freeze offense.

Per MaxPreps, the southpaw has thrown for 4,052 yards and 33 touchdowns and run for another 966 yards and 22 scores as a varsity player at George County High School in Mississippi.

"Should be viewed as a potential lottery ticket in the 2025 cycle with a monster payout," 247Sports' Andrew Ivins wrote in his scouting report from August 2023. "Has proven to be a rather streaky player at times under the lights, but the good is really good, and the raw traits separate him from a lot of his peers. Built for a modern spread attack that wants to move its quarterback around and get them involved in the run game while also looking to generate explosive plays through the air."

Auburn went 6-7 in Freeze's first season and things are trending in the same direction in 2024 amid a 2-3 start. Looking at the Tigers' incoming recruiting class, the future is looking up, though.