Southbound and Down: Ranking the SEC Quarterbacks
By Matt Green
Earlier this week Southbound and Down ranked the top coaches in the SEC. Today we rank the top quarterbacks in Southeastern Conference.
Quarterback play in the SEC was not strong last year. Only two SEC quarterbacks were returning starters coming into last season. Those two were Chad Kelly and Joshua Dobbs, and they were two of the best the SEC had to offer.
One of the SEC’s other top QB’s was Texas A&M’s Trevor Knight, who was a graduate transfer from Oklahoma last season. But the SEC will be without all three of those players this season.
Dobbs and Kelly were no. 1 and 2 in the SEC in QB Rating last season, while Knight was no. 11.
This year’s crop of SEC quarterbacks includes 11 returning starters, and that doesn’t include two other teams who have guys that did start at least one game last season, as well as a couple of teams that might have their starter beaten out this season.
Tennessee is the only team in the SEC that doesn’t have a quarterback on their roster that’s ever started a game.
This is Southbound and Down’s list of the top quarterbacks for the 2017 season.
14. Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt
Shurmur started every game for the Commodores in 2016. He threw for 9 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing just 54.4 percent of his passes.
13. Jarrett Guarantano, Tennessee
Tennessee’s QB job is still up for grabs. Junior Quinten Dormady is the Vols’ leading returning passer, but he attempted just 17 passes last season. Guarantano was the no. 1 dual threat quarterback coming out of high school and will ultimately win the job.
13. Jake Hubenak, Texas A&M
Hubenak started three games for the Aggies last season. In those three games, Texas A&M went 1-2 while Hubenak threw for 683 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, while completing 60.5 percent of his passes.
11. Luke Del Rio, Florida
Del Rio might be the SEC quarterback most likely to lose his job. In six starts last season he couldn’t have been more mediocre, throwing 8 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. It will be interesting to see if either of the redshirt freshmen Feleipe Franks or Kyle Trask can beat out the incumbent Del Rio.
10. Stephen Johnson, Kentucky
Johnson started nine games for the Wildcats last season and threw 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He also ran for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns.
9. Danny Etling, LSU
Etling might be LSU’s starting quarterback by default. He started 10 of the Tigers’ 12 games last year. Brandon Harris, who started the other two games, has since transferred to North Carolina. Last season Etling threw for 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. True freshman Lowell Narcisse is likely the top candidate to take Etling’s job.
8. Jake Bentley, South Carolina
Bentley could be the biggest sleeper in the SEC. Even though he was supposed to be a high school senior last year, he ended up starting seven games for the Gamecocks, throwing 9 touchdowns and 4 interceptions while completing 65.8 percent of his passes.
7. Drew Lock, Missouri
Lock is your typical gunslinger. He threw for 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2016. And while he only completed 54.6 percent of his passes, he led all SEC quarterbacks with 3,399 passing yards in 2016.
6. Jarrett Stidham, Auburn
Sean White was decent last season, but was just too vanilla for Auburn’s offense. Stidham has a lot of expectations surrounding him after leaving Baylor for JUCO. He was the no. 2 dual-threat QB coming out of high school. As a freshman at Baylor he started just three games and threw for 12 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
5. Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State
Quick trivia question: Who led the SEC in rushing touchdowns in 2016? If you answered Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, you’d be correct. Fitzgerald is the most underrated player in the SEC. He rushed for 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. But he also threw for 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
4. Shea Patterson, Ole Miss
After staring just three games in 2016, Patterson showed why he was the top dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school. I’m not saying Patterson is the next Johnny Football, but he definitely flashed some Manziel-esque moves last season. He’ll be fun to watch in 2017.
3. Jacob Eason, Georgia
Eason showed signs of being the next big thing as a freshman, but then at other times he looked like, well, a freshman. His final numbers in 2016 were 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions while completing just 55.1 percent of his passes. But expect him to take another step in 2017 and show why he was the no. 1 quarterback in the country coming out of high school.
2. Austin Allen, Arkansas
Allen is just solid. You know what you’re getting from the junior quarterback. He was second in the SEC in touchdown passes (25) and third in QB rating (146.0) in 2016.
1. Jalen Hurts, Alabama
Despite Saban’s reign on the SEC, Hurts is Alabama’s first quarterback to win SEC offensive player of the year. Hurts is the most dynamic athlete in the SEC, but he can still improve as a passer. He threw for 23 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, while rushing for 954 yards and 13 touchdowns.