Ranking SEC QB's of 2019
The SEC used to just be a conference centered around defenses and powerful rushing attacks.
Time’s change, however. Sure, it’s still a defense-first conference – that much will never change – but the conference no longer relies purely on the old ground-and-pound offenses that were a staple for decades.
Slowly but surely, the conference has adjusted with the evolution of the modern offensive game. QB’s are spending more and more time in the gun instead of under center, and you see more RPO’s, pre-snap motion and diverse route combinations dedicated to taking advantage of all that speed and athleticism on hand.
As a result, the conference has seen the quality of play from their QB’s increase over the last few years. That won’t change this year. 2019 will feature a very good crop of QB’s from the SEC, led by two Heisman hopefuls.
14. Vandy – Riley Neal (Grad)
It’s a shame Kyle Shurmur couldn’t stick around one more year, because the Dores have a terrific group of skill position players who could really emerge on the national radar this year (RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, WR Kalija Lipscomb and TE Jared Pinkney), so the hope is that Neal, a grad transfer from Ball State, can at least come close to replicating the lost production. As a 4thyear junior last year, he completed just 57.9% of his passes largely against MAC competition, so there’s no realistic cause for optimism he’ll finally emerge as a senior against SEC competition.
There’s some cause for optimism amongst the Razorback faithful, since Hicks, a transfer from SMU, has familiarity and history with Chad Morris. And Hicks’s resume is impressive, as he’s SMU’s all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and total offense. However, feasting against G5 defenses is one thing, doing that against SEC defenses are another thing. Over the last 2 years, Hicks played against 3 P5 opponents (TCU, Michigan, TCU), and completed just 46% of his attempts and averaged 5.8 Y/A with 3 picks. That doesn’t necessarily translate to him slicing and dicing SEC West defenses like Alabama, Auburn, State and LSU. I think he’s an upgrade over what they had last year, but he’s going to be working behind a shaky line and a very young receiving corps. Temper expectations.
12. Mississippi State – Tommy Stevens (Grad) / Keytaon Thompson (JR)
Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to see Stevens in the Bulldogs offense yet since he transferred from Penn State following spring ball, but there’s strong reason to believe he’ll get the starting job once it’s all said and done following summer camp. Thompson (who has thrown for 846 yards (47.6%, 8.1 Y/A) with 8 TD’s and 3 INT’s in his career) has more playing experience than Stevens (304 passing yards (58.5%, 7.4 Y/A), 4/1), but Moorhead has seen both up close and personal extensively, and there’s a reason he went hard after Stevens after seeing Thompson lead the first team offense this spring. Both are good athletes who can perform the running part of Moorhead’s offense, but he’ll undoubtedly go with whichever one can complete passes downfield more consistently.
11. Auburn – Joey Gatewood (rFR) / Bo Nix (FR)
Very rarely does there come a time when an SEC program has a QB battle between two guys with a combined 0 pass attempts in their collegiate career - much less at a blue blood program like Auburn. Alas, this is where Gus Malzahn finds himself, in a year where his seat has arguably never been hotter following a disappointing 8-5 (3-5) season last year.
However, given the talent level of these two (Gatewood ranked as the No. 49 player nationally in 2018 recruiting class and Nix 33 in ’19, considered the No. 1 dual-threat), there’s reason to believe one of the two will be able to lead the offense effectively. There will be growing pains with whoever wins the job, but ultimately, I see Nix winning the job because he appears to be a bit more accurate with more consistent ball placement. Does he do enough for Malzahn to keep his job another year? There’s the question.
10. Kentucky – Terry Wilson (JR)
Wilson had his share of big moments last year as he wound up accounting for 2,436 yards of offense and 15 touchdowns. Without a doubt, he’s a QB you have to account for as a runner as he’s displayed excellent mobility to make plays outside of the pocket. But, as is usually the case with traditional ‘dual-threats’, he struggles at times as a passer. His 67.2% completion percentage from last year is nice, but he’s not asked to make many difficult throws downfield, hence the 1,889 total passing yards and the fact that he’s averaged just 6.6 Y/A in SEC play. The Cats need him to show further progress as a passer this year if they hope to keep contending in the East.
9. Ole Miss – Matt Corral (rFR)
Corral only saw time in 4 games last year, thus enabling him to take a redshirt and preserve another year of eligibility. And while his numbers were solid (239 passing yards (72.7%, 10.8 Y/A), 2/1, 83 rushing yards, 2 TD’s), we must remember much of his production came in the blowout win against ULM.
We still haven’t gotten a good look at him in the new Rich Rod offense (spring games are rather vanilla), but given Corral’s skill set – excellent velocity, quick release, mobile – and the fact that Rodriguez is a terrific offensive mind, he could be in store for a good year. He’ll have a good rushing attack to balance him out with, but he’s working with a young receiving corps and offensive line.
8. Tennessee – Jarrett Guarantano (rJR)
I admit, I didn’t have high hopes for Guarantano last year following a less than impressive freshman year in 2017. I should’ve given more consideration to the tumultuous surroundings of Butch Jones’s final year, however, because Guarantano was pretty solid in Jeremy Pruitt’s first year – a year that seemed centered on getting back to fundamentals and setting a new foundation.
Guarantano (1,907 passing yards (62.2%, 7.8 Y/A), 12/3) was solid last year (despite poor protection) and did a nice job taking care of the football, showing pretty good accuracy and ball placement. I think new coordinator and noted QB guru Jim Chaney will be able to help Guarantano take further strides developmentally this year.
7. Mizzou – Kelly Bryant (Grad)
The Tigers beat out quite a few teams for the services of Bryant, a grad transfer from Clemson, this offseason. After a solid 2017 campaign as the full-time starter (2,802 passing yards (65.8%, 7.0 Y/A), 13/8, 665 rushing yards, 11 TD’s) he was (understandably) beaten out by generational talent Trevor Lawrence, which is how he finds himself in CoMo.
It’ll be interesting to see how second year OC Derek Dooley molds the offense around him after trying to incorporate more pro-style tendencies last year with Drew Lock (2ndround, Denver). Bryant has a nice arm and has clearly shown he can make plays with his feet while leading a dynamic offense, so it’d be foolish not to capitalize on his natural strengths as a dual-threat. Fortunately for him, he’ll have a nice safety valve at TE in Albert Okwuegbunam, a good stable of tailbacks led by Larry Rountree and an above average OL.
6. LSU – Joe Burrow (SR)
Burrow’s stock has consistently risen this offseason after a solid campaign last year (2,894 passing yards (57.8%, 7.6 Y/A) 16/5, 399 rushing yards, 7 TD’s), his first as a full-time starter after transferring in from Ohio State. Granted, I’m higher on him now than I was at this time last year – and I do think he’s an upper half of the SEC starter – but I do have some concerns about his ability to win games with his arm if LSU falls behind (namely to Alabama).
With that said, while he doesn’t have all-world arm talent, he’s a smart, savvy QB with strong leadership skills and he takes care of the football. Pair him with a talented group of skill position players and an improved offensive line – and yet another elite defense – and you’ll likely see the Tigers competing for an Access Bowl for the second consecutive year.
5. South Carolina – Jake Bentley (SR)
Bentley stepped into the starting role midway through his freshman season of 2016 and has been firmly entrenched ever since, going 19-13 in that span with 7,385 passing yards (62.8%, 7.6 Y/A) with 54 TD’s and 30 picks. Solid numbers, indeed, and he should end his career as the best QB in program history (statistically).
However, he’s been one of the more frustrating QB’s for me to study because one week he’ll look really good and the next week he’ll inexplicably look awful. This will be a big year for him to prove critics wrong, who point out his 0-7 record against top-25 teams the last two years. He’s been a solid QB who can win the games he’s supposed to win, but he hasn’t been able to knock off the heavyweights. If South Carolina is going to get over the hump, they need Bentley to lead them there.
4. Texas A&M – Kellen Mond (JR)
Mond was considered the No. 3 dual-threat QB in the 2017 recruiting class, and his athleticism alone warranted such a loft recruiting ranking. In terms of throwing the ball, he was still raw, and he likely should’ve taken a redshirt in what became Kevin Sumlin’s final season. Turmoil forced him onto the field, and he wound up barely completing 50% of his passes with 6 picks against just 8 touchdowns.
He really blossomed under the tutelage of Jimbo Fisher as a sophomore last year, however, combining for 3,581 yards of offense and 31 TD’s, and he saw his completion percentage and yards per attempt increase (51.5% to 57.3 and 6.1 to 7.5). Fisher has proven to be able to both develop QB’s and mold offenses around the strengths of his signal callers, and after a very good first year with Mond, I expect further development in 2019.
3. Florida – Feleipe Franks (rJR)
Franks, the No. 54 prospect nationally in the 2016 recruiting class, was abysmal in his first year as a starter in 2017, the final year under Jim McElwain. In comes Dan Mullen, who, in my opinion, is about as good of a QB developer as there is in the college game, and *poof*, Franks looks like an All-SEC caliber QB.
Franks combined for 2,807 yards of offense and 31 touchdowns last year with 2 fewer INT’s (6 from 8) on 93 more attempts (322 from 229). Franks still has a way to go with his mechanics and reads (still just a 56.8% passer for his career), but at 6-6/240 with impressive athleticism and Mullen as his mentor, the future looks bright for the junior signal caller.
2. Georgia – Jake Fromm (JR)
Fromm signed with Georgia in 2017 despite the presence of Jacob Eason, a top-5 recruit from 2016 who started for the Dawgs as a true freshman. And Eason wasn’t too bad, either, throwing for 2,430 yards with a respectable 16/8 TD to INT ratio. Safe to say, it took some balls for Fromm to sign with Georgia at that time.
Eason got hurt early in 2017 and Fromm took over, quite literally never looking back, leading the Dawgs to their first SEC title since 2005 and a berth in the National Championship Game. Fromm has been nothing short of brilliant the past two years, throwing for 5,376 yards (64.9%, 9.0 Y/A) and 54 TD’s (against just 13 picks) and going 23-5 as a starter.
He won’t have OC Jim Chaney’s guidance to fall back on this year (who left for Tennessee), but he appears comfortable with new OC James Coley, who was Co-OC last year. Fromm should contend for the Heisman this year.
1. Alabama – Tua Tagovailoa (JR)
Simply put, I think Tagovailoa is the second best QB in the country (behind Lawrence) and the best QB prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft. Tagovailoa made a name for himself by coming off the bench in the National Championship Game as a true freshman when his team was down 13-0, and throwing 3 touchdowns passes, including the game winner in OT, to lead his team to a huge victory over Georgia, 26-23.
All he did to follow that up was produce one of (if not the) greatest passing seasons an SEC QB has ever produced, throwing for 3,966 yards (69%, 11.2 Y/A) with 43 touchdowns and just 6 picks, leading his team to a conference title and a berth in the title game.
He has more than enough velocity on throws to all three levels while also showing excellent anticipation, timing and touch. Critics of his, however, will point out the durability concerns and say he didn’t play well in the postseason.
First of all, there are some durability concerns, because it seems like he’s always nicked up, but fortunately it never seems to be anything serious. But the collection of injuries he accumulated throughout the season no doubt affected his level of play against Georgia and Clemson late in the season (combined for 459 passing yards (54%, 7.7 Y/A) with 4 picks).
Assuming he can get – and stay – healthy this year, you can once again expect him to put up astronomical numbers while leading his team back to the playoffs. There’s also a good chance he finds himself in New York again as a Heisman Finalist.
Rick Stavig is the founder and publisher of Southeastern Scouting, and also provides football analysis to Saturday Down South. Email questions and comments to rgstavig@sescouting.com and follow him on twitter @rickstavig.
