Who’s going to win the SEC QB competitions?
Some SEC QB positions are safe. They are at Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Ole Miss.
But this leaves 9 others where there is going to be a battle. Here’s what to check out.
THE CERTAINTIES
AUBURN: BO NIX
This is the year. Bo Nix has improved so much under this new offense. He’s focused. He’s having fun. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a dark horse for the Heisman.
FLORIDA: EMORY JONES: Dan Mullen’s pretty much decreed that this will happen after Spring Practice, so we’re stuck with it. Jones has the experience of being behind center (albeit in limited fashion after being beaten out by Kyle Trask (twice) for the starting job). He’s also a good runner, which will please Gators fans looking for the next Tim Tebow. We shouldn’t expect it, though.
GEORGIA: JT DANIELS is going to start for the Dawgs after an explosive end to his inagural season at Sanford Stadium. People will be mentioning him in the Heisman race in December, too.
OLE MISS: MATT CORRAL was a lot of fun for the Rebels last year, throwing for 3,337 yards, 29 TDs, and 14 INTs. Look, we know that he’s capable of utterly boneheaded games (LSU, Arkansas last year, which accounted for ELEVEN of this touchdowns), but he’ll be safe.
MISSOURI: CONNOR BAZELAK had a fine first year on a medium Missouri team, throwing for 2,366 yards, seven TDs and 6 INTS. He was a frosh last year, and showed glimpses of why Eli Drinkwitz is so high on him. He’ll have to be better in the red zone, though.
PRETTY MUCH CERTAINTY
ALABAMA: BRYCE YOUNG. Despite Nick Saban’s stupid and annoying protestations about nothing being finished in the QB competition next, we know that this bright starlet is going to start for the Crimson Tide, and he’s going to rip the college football world apart once his band of new receivers get into rhythm (which might take a couple of games). So Nick, shut up.
ARKANSAS: KJ JEFFERSON. Although there’s meant to be a quarterback battle in Fayetteville, Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman has been fawning over Jefferson’s play so much, that everyone else is obviously stepping back from the sophomore, now that Felipe Franks has gone to the NFL.
THE BATTLES
KENTUCKY: JOEY GATEWOOD vs WILL LEVIS vs BEAU ALLEN: Gatewood came from Auburn hoping to start immediately after his transfer, but ended up sitting on the bench – despite the offense being 122nd in passing and 107th in scoring. Mark Stoops depending on a frisky running game, and Gatewood gives the team possibilities from that point of view. Levis transferred in from Penn State. He was immense from 3rd-and-short, but his arm left a lot to be desired….to put it politely. Beau Allen could do with a year to mature and sit back, because he’s the quarterback of the future.
OUR PICK: GATEWOOD (LEVIS ON SHORT DOWNS)
LSU: MYLES BRENNAN VS MAX JOHNSON:Ed Orgeron’s saying that it’s neck-and-neck between Brennan and Johnson, and we’re inclined to believe him, which is strange because usually what Coach O’s said lately hasn’t been very truthful. Both QBs showed moxie during last season (Brennan’s was cut short by injury). Johnson has six TDs in the final two games of the season (8 total with 1 INT and over 1,000 yards passing), but Johnson – predictably, wasn’t particularly accurate, completing 58% of his passes. A lot of people will expect Coach O to revert to Joe Burrow’s heir (Brennan), but if it’s close, is this good news for LSU football going forward?
OUR PICK: BRENNAN.
MISSISSIPPI STATE: WILL ROGERS VS JACK ABRAHAM Abraham transferred in from Southern Miss with over 7,000 yards and 41 TDs of passing under his belt from his three years at South Miss. Since Mike Leach adores the passing game, he should fit in nicely. Rogers was a delight after taking the reigns from KJ Costello midway through the season, throwing for 1,976 yards and 11 TDs (and 7 INTs) and has apparently been more vocal in practice, according to Leach.
OUR PICK: ROGERS (EXPECT THIS TO CHANGE TO ABRAHAM MIDWAY THROUGH THE SEASON WHEN ROGERS SCREWS UP AND LEACH DUMPS HIM).
SOUTH CAROLINA: LUKE DOTY VS SHANE BROWN VS COLTON GAUTHIER The only reason why you’d put Doty up there is that he threw for 405 yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs, but to be honest, the job’s going to be handing the ball off to Kevin Harris, MarShawn Lloyd and ZaQuandre White, and waiting for good things to happen.
OUR PICK: DOTY
TENNESSEE: HARRISON BAILEY VS HENDON HOOKER VS BRIAN MAURER VS JOE MILTON Nothing that Tennessee comes easy to the Vols. Head coach Josh Heupel dismissed new star Kaidon Salter when he ran into multiple off-season incidences, including an on-campus assault and getting busted for weed. Before that Heupel had enticed two QBs to come play from Virginia Tech and Michigan respectively in Hooker and Milton, to go with the two ‘incumbents’ of Bailey and Maurer. Thankfully for Vols fans, Jarrett Gurantano – hated by the Big Orange faithful – is off the books. All three of them weren’t terrible in Spring Practice. Hooker offers more than the other two simply because of his experience – he’s played 18 games in the last two years (last year in 8 games he threw for 1339 yards and 8 TDs, and rushed for 620 more). Hooker will fit into Heupel’s more up-tempo offense. We don’t know if the move will force Bailey and Maurer to look for other ’employment’, because in an offense like this, will they fit well in an up-tempo scenario where Milton also has good experience?
OUR PICK: HOOKER
TEXAS A&M: HAYNES KING VS ZACH CALZADA King and Calzada look neck-and-neck on this side, with both performing pretty well in the Spring Game. Aggies head coach has said that he’s not worried about the quarterback position. I shouldn’t be either, bearing in mind he’s got a three-headed monster at running back and an offensive line to retool, too.
OUR PICK: KING
VANDERBILT: KEN SEALS VS MIKE WRIGHT: Mike Wright lit up Spring Practice with an 87 yard run to go with a 4-5 yards, 162 yards passing day, which makes you think that it will be a battle with Seals, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards, 12 TDs and 10 INTs in his first year, instead new coach Clark Lea plugging and placing Seals in. Both battled each other for the starting spot in 2020, by the way. What Seals has going in his favor is that he’s not only the incumbent, but he completed nearly 70% of his passes, which was better than you’d expect from an 0-11 Vanderbilt team.
OUR PICK: WRIGHT