Drew Lock: One of the elder statesmen in the SEC

There are 27 days till college football season, and today we focus on one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC.

Quarterback play is going to be a strength of the SEC for the first time in several years. There are a lot of young guys in this league, making junior Drew Lock one of the elder statesmen of the Southeastern Conference.

Everyone loves potential. And there is so much potential in this year’s crop of signal-callers, but that can be interpreted two different ways. Potential means that these guys are capable of great things, but it also means they haven’t done it. Lock is one of the few quarterbacks in the SEC that has done it. But don’t get it twisted, he has plenty of upside as well. And that leads us to no. 27 on the Southbound and Down College Football Countdown.

Drew Lock has thrown 27 career touchdown passes

Must Read: Alabama took care of business in 2016

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• Alabama vs. Ole Miss: Line, Prediction, TV Channel & Live Stream for SEC Football
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Lock’s 27 career touchdown passes are tied for the most among SEC quarterbacks. Danny Etling has thrown 27 in his time at Purdue and LSU, including 11 last season with the Tigers. And Lock’s 23 touchdown passes in 2016 were tied with Jalen Hurts for the third most in the conference behind Joshua Dobbs and Austin Allen.

11 of the 14 SEC teams will return their starting quarterback from last season. Among the projected starters in the conference, there are five sophomores, three juniors, and three seniors. That’s excluding the Florida, Tennessee, and Texas A&M quarterback battles that are still up for grabs.

Lock has a cannon for an arm. He can make all the throws, which can sometimes be a curse for a young quarterback. With great arm strength comes  the tendency to try to squeeze the ball in to tight windows, which is when the interceptions come.

Southbound and Down: Ranking the SEC Quarterbacks

Earlier this week Southbound and Down ranked the top coaches in the SEC. Today we rank the SEC quarterbacks for every team in the conference.

Missouri had the most dynamic passing attack in the SEC last season. And if the Tigers are going to make some noise in the SEC East this season, it will be because of the arm of Drew Lock.