Texas, Georgia and Alabama were picked 1-2-3 in the Southeastern Conference preseason voting this past week despite possessing quarterbacks who have combined for one league start.
LSU, South Carolina and Florida, who were next in line on the forecast front, return quarterbacks who are more tested within the league, which has those programs believing they are just as capable of challenging for a conference championship and a spot in the 12-team playoff.
“Experience in this league at the quarterback position is the most important thing.” LSU coach Brian Kelly said in Atlanta at SEC media days.
Experience is coming in many different forms this season among SEC quarterbacks, with LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, Florida’s DJ Lagway, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed and Taylen Green of Arkansas returning to their respective programs after starting most or all of last season. Mississippi State’s Blake Shapen also returns after sustaining a fractured shoulder blade in the fifth game.
Nussmeier threw for a whopping 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns a year ago for Kelly’s Tigers after replacing 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
“I can’t overstate how important his development was last year,” Kelly said. “We all saw it. The development of Jayden Daniels from year one to year two was astronomical — if that word even suits it. It was incredible, and Garrett Nussmeier will have a similar jump. It’s because you go on the road and it’s sold out. You play teams that are so well-coached and balanced and have great players that you have no choice but to learn, develop, and get better, or you’re going to be left by the side.
“Can you come into this league and play as freshmen? Absolutely, but there will be those moments where you look like a freshman and look like a first-year player.”
Nussmeier led LSU to thrilling victories over South Carolina and Ole Miss, but the 9-4 season included a 42-13 home loss to Alabama in which he was intercepted twice and a 27-16 defeat at Florida in which he was sacked seven times. He would finish the season with a league-high 12 interceptions.
“There is no hiding from the turnovers,” Nussmeier said. “I think it’s more of an understanding of the way I am as a player and that there are going to be some interceptions. The ones I need to eliminate are the ones where I’m trying to do too much.”
Nussmeier was voted Friday as the SEC’s second-team selection, trailing Sellers and ranking just ahead of Arch Manning of Texas.
Sellers completed 196 of 299 passes (65.6%) for 2,534 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the 9-4 Gamecocks. He also rushed for 674 yards and 4.2 yards per carry, which included his 20-yard touchdown run with 1:08 remaining that was the difference in a 17-14 win at Clemson.
South Carolina’s success this year will be largely dependent on Sellers and his decision-making when plays start to break down.
“It’s a fine line, but that’s what makes him so good,” Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said. “I’ve never told him not to run or anything. He is a smart guy and knows when to get down and try to avoid contact. He’ll be even better at that this year for sure. It’s one of those things you try not to over-coach.
“I’m not a quarterback guru, but I was in college with Michael Vick and I coached at Oklahoma when Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts were there. Being around those guys who are weapons with their feet is what you want, especially in this league with the defenses we play.”
Returning SEC quarterbacks who have largely or entirely been backups to this point include Manning, Austin Simmons of Ole Miss, Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Georgia’s Gunner Stockton. Simpson will compete in upcoming weeks with former Washington transfer Austin Mack and five-star freshman Keelon Russell to guide Kalen DeBoer’s second Crimson Tide team.
Stockton has yet to start an SEC game but was thrust into action at halftime of last December’s conference championship win over Texas, while Manning’s two starts last season for an injured Quinn Ewers transpired at home against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State.
Of the top eight quarterbacks in the 2023 signing class, Manning is the only one who hasn’t transferred at least once.
“That never really crossed my mind,” Manning said. “I knew Texas was the place I wanted to be. It was the city I wanted to be in, and it was where I could get a great education. I had friends there. I was still developing and growing as a football player and as a person, so I’ve never really wanted to leave.
“If there was somewhere else I wanted to be, I would have gone.”
Then there are the SEC quarterbacks who have notable experience but at other schools, with that NCAA transfer portal contingent including Oklahoma’s John Mateer (Washington State), Auburn’s Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), Missouri’s Beau Pribula (Penn State), Kentucky’s Zach Calzada (Texas A&M, Auburn and Incarnate Word) and Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar (Appalachian State). Mateer, Arnold, Calzada, Pribula and Aguilar have combined for 123 career appearances, though Aguilar still has to beat out redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre in preseason camp, while Pribula will face Sam Horn for the right to be Mizzou’s starter.
This year’s SEC champ could be determined by which quarterback takes that biggest jump from a year ago, which should make for an entertaining ride from Labor Day weekend until early December.
“There are a lot of good quarterbacks in the SEC right now,” Lagway said. “It’s just great to see, and it’s great to be able to compete against some of them and to watch them further their careers and stuff like that down the road. I’m excited for all of them.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.