Southeastern Conference teams must replace a two-time national champion, a Heisman Trophy winner and several potential first-round draft picks at quarterback.
There’s still plenty of star power in the SEC heading into next season, just not much of it at football’s most important position. The expectations, of course, remain the same for a conference that has won 14 of the past 20 national titles.
Stetson Bennett led Georgia to back-to-back College Football Playoff crowns the past two seasons, and Bryce Young departed Alabama with the 2021 Heisman Trophy in tow and as the presumed No. 1 pick of the NFL draft, which starts Thursday night in Kansas City, Missouri. Anthony Richardson (Florida), Will Levis (Kentucky) and Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) could join Young in being picked Thursday, which could be the most fruitful first round ever for SEC quarterbacks.
The league has never had more than two quarterbacks picked in the opening round. The most recent occurrence was in 2020, when LSU’s Joe Burrow went first to the Cincinnati Bengals and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa went fifth to the Miami Dolphins. (Jalen Hurts, who had transferred from Alabama to Oklahoma for his final college season, was a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles.)
And while Young could become the eighth SEC quarterback to go No. 1 overall since 1998, when Tennessee’s Peyton Manning started the run, the league didn’t have any first-round selections at the position from 2015 to 2019.
Although the SEC’s production of highly rated pro football prospects only adds to its powerhouse status, the departing quarterbacks leave behind some uncertainty and questions even with spring practices complete.
There are a handful of established returning quarterbacks, including Jayden Daniels (LSU), KJ Jefferson (Arkansas), Spencer Rattler (South Carolina) and Will Rogers (Mississippi State). And at Tennessee, veteran Joe Milton III showed his potential for the No. 1 role as Orange Bowl MVP with Hooker out injured, though the Volunteers also had early enrollee Nico Iamaleava — the No. 2 overall recruit in 247Sports.com’s rankings for the most recent signing cycle — on hand for spring drills.
Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are the front-runners to replace Young at Alabama, though both had some miscues in the Crimson Tide’s A-Day spring game, and early enrollees Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan were four-star recruits who went through spring work as well.
An intriguing development is Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner’s decision this week to enter the NCAA transfer portal. Alabama’s offseason moves included hiring Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator from Notre Dame, where he recruited Buchner to join the Fighting Irish in the 2021 signing cycle.
Meanwhile at Georgia, Carson Beck, Bennett’s backup the past two seasons, appears to be leading Brock Vandagriff in the race for the starting job, though there was no official announcement after the Bulldogs’ G-Day spring game on April 15.
Vanderbilt seems set with AJ Swann, while Auburn’s Robby Ashford, Missouri’s Brady Cook and Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman are among those trying to fend off competition.
Other teams are likely to plug in transfers either atop the depth chart — that’s the case with Devin Leary (North Carolina State) at Kentucky and Graham Mertz (Wisconsin) at Florida — or at least in the mix, with more additions and subractions still possible to shake things up.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has a returning starter in Jaxson Dart, but he also brought in challengers. Spencer Sanders was a four-year starter at Oklahoma State and Walker Howard was a top recruit at LSU last year but didn’t play much.
“Competition’s always good,” Dart said. “For me, I see myself as trying to develop to be a first-round draft pick, so I just try to keep getting better each and every day. And it’s good to have guys like that push you. We compete day in and day out, so it’s fun being in a room like that.”
Kiffin got his wish to upgrade the position overall.
“The idea in the offseason was to improve that room, make it competitive, bring guys in,” he said. “It’s not just being competitive for that first spot like everybody thinks. It just makes you a better room.”
AP photo by Michael Woods / Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin talks with quarterback Jaxson Dart during the Rebels’ game at Arkansas this past November.Talent everywhere
Looking beyond quarterback, here are 14 SEC players to watch (one for each team) in 2023.
Alabama: Kool-Aid McKinstry is the latest star in head coach Nick Saban’s secondary after playing key roles in his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa. He’s an All-SEC first-team cornerback whose 15 pass breakups led the Tide last season, when he ranked second nationally with a 15.8-yard average on punt returns. He is projected as a first-round draft pick next year if he turns pro.
Arkansas: Raheim Sanders rushed for 1,443 yards last season, which ranks fourth in program history, and the 6-foot-2, 237-pound running back also scored 10 touchdowns and caught 28 passes. Sanders’ 6.5 yards per carry was the Razorbacks’ best rushing average since Felix Jones set the school record at 9.0 in 2007.
Auburn: Jarquez Hunter excelled as Tank Bigsby’s backup the past two seasons and now figures to be the Tigers’ lead running back. The 5-foot-10, 210-pounder has run for 1,268 yards and 10 touchdowns over the past two seasons while averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
Florida: Cam’Ron Jackson was the starting nose tackle at Memphis last season and had 41 tackles. The 6-foot-6, 355-pound defensive lineman appeared in 34 games over the past three years.
Georgia: Brock Bowers won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end in 2022, when he was also a finalist for the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder has racked up 119 catches for 1,824 yards and 20 touchdowns through his first two seasons.
Kentucky: Barion Brown had 50 catches for 628 yards last season, setting freshman records within the program in both cases, and he also averaged 27.5 yards per kick return.
Mississippi State: Lideatrick Griffin is a three-year contributor for the Bulldogs. The receiver lined up in the slot during the spring and could be featured in the new offense as the program transitions away from the late Mike Leach’s Air Raid scheme. Griffin had 40 catches for 502 yards last season and averaged a nation-leading 32.3 yards per kick return.
Missouri: Wide receiver Luther Burden, a five-star recruit for the 2022 signing cycle, had a solid all-around debut season with 10 starts and 45 catches. He also ran for two touchdowns and scored on a punt return.
Ole Miss: Quinshon Judkins set the single-season rushing record and led the SEC with 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman, while Dart said the running back’s ability to catch passes has improved in the offseason and Kiffin likened his potential progression in terms of versatility to former Southern California star Reggie Bush.
South Carolina: Dakereon Joyner is back for a sixth season with the Gamecocks, and this spring he worked at running back, a position depleted by the top two rushers from last season transferring. Joyner (6-1, 216) has played quarterback, receiver and even a little tight end during his time in Columbia.
Tennessee: Bru McCoy had 52 catches for 667 yards and four scores last season, but his production could jump significantly with the departure of Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman at receiver.
Texas A&M: Defensive lineman Walter Nolen was the Aggies’ top recruit in a star-studded 2022 class and had a strong freshman season, starting four games and making 29 tackles with 2.5 for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Vanderbilt: Senior safety De’Rickey Wright has started 16 games over the past two years and is coming off easily his best season, with 55 tackles and three interceptions in 2022.