Shout out to A Football Show for inspiring this fine piece of journalism today. On Monday’s show, Braden and Zach talked a little SEC football, as Braden implored us to stop for a moment to pause and consider how good the quarterback play was in the SEC last season. So, go on ahead and do that. Just stop and take a look around the state of the quarterback position in the SEC in 2022. Look at it. Look at it real good. It was historically good. It was insanely good. Obviously, I haven’t been alive for every SEC season, so it’s hard for me to go back in time and truly understand the context of dudes playing in the 30s. But, in all my years of fandom, this kind of group comes few and far between.
At the top, you have three guys who figure to be first round draft picks in this year’s NFL Draft. Alabama’s Bryce Young looks like the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if he ends up being the #1 overall pick after a prolific and accomplished career in Tuscaloosa. Outside of him, you have more project quarterbacks in Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. Both have their issues, but someone is going to fall in love with their physical traits. Hell, you might even have a fourth first rounder from the SEC if there’s a run on quarterbacks and someone desperately wants the services of Hendon Hooker. Hooker led the SEC in completion percentage and QBR in 2022.
Georgia’s Stetson Bennett was a Heisman finalist, deservedly so or not. He also has a future in the NFL, though he won’t get the pomp and circumstance that the guys mentioned above will. The Georgia Bulldogs have won back-to-back National Championships with Bennett at the helm, and he led the SEC in passing yards in 2022 with 4,127. Mississippi State’s Will Rogers led the league in passing touchdowns with 35. Jayden Daniels had LSU right in the thick of the College Football Playoff hunt right up until that first weekend in December. While the season didn’t go the way Arkansas fans had hoped, they still had a stud in KJ Jefferson, who had the best QBR of his career in 2022. Do what you will with Jaxson Dart and Spencer Rattler, but I’d say their respective programs ended the season overall happy about their seasons. Missouri, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, and Auburn were the only teams that felt a little unsettled at the position come season’s end.
So, of this bunch, you have three elite college football quarterbacks in Bennett, Hooker, and Young. You have six guys with NFL futures (seven if you don’t sleep on Rogers). And, all in all, it’s 10 deep with teams that probably felt pretty steady at the quarterback position throughout 2022. On A Football Show, Braden said it was the best class since 2013, but honestly, I’m scratching my head trying to remember a year in my lifetime when the quarterbacks were this deep in the SEC.
So, how does it stack up to next season? Rogers is back at Mississippi State. He’s probably the class of the conference if you were to put a gun to my head right now here in February. Dart, Jefferson, and Rattler are back at their respective schools. Devin Leary transfers to Kentucky from NC State. Graham Mertz transfers to Florida from Wisconsin. Joe Milton takes over at Tennessee. There will likely be battles at Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn. There’s some intriguing moves here, but it’s a clear step down from 2022. And, in case you haven’t figured it out by the fact that I’m writing about SEC quarterbacks in February, no, the 2023 season cannot get here quick enough. Perspective, folks. Perspective.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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