With spring practice already underway for some programs in the SEC, it's not a bad time to see where each team's presumed starting quarterback ranks at this point. We'll give this list another shot when training camp begins, and re-rank again as the season progresses.
14. Luke Doty, South Carolina
Class: Sophomore
2020 stats: 43-71 (60.5%), 405 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT; 41 carries, 91 yards
The Gamecocks are an absolute mess going into the 2021 season and their quarterback depth chart was gutted by the departures of Collin Hill and Ryan Hilinski. Doty was being groomed as the quarterback of the future anyway, and the future has arrived. He probably won't have much to work with up front or at receiver and his work late last season wasn't inspiring, so he's got a lot of work to do.
13. Joey Gatewood, Kentucky
Class: Redshirt junior
2020 stats: 17-35 (48.5%), 109 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT; 25 carries, 62 yards
Terry Wilson was not a good quarterback at Kentucky. At any point. And Gatewood couldn't beat him out. In fact, the Wildcats offense regressed with him at the helm. The once highly-sought after Auburn commit is getting his second shot at a starting job, but he really needs to improve all areas of his passing game if he's going to keep it.
12. Ken Seals, Vanderbilt
Class: Sophomore
2020 stats: 162-249 (65%), 1,689 yards, 10 TD, 9 INT
Seals was thrust into a difficult situation with a terrible Vandy team last year and did his best to keep them competitive; he just didn't have much to work with. Unfortunately, that's probably going to be the same case this year. This could be unfairly low for him, but it's tough to rank him higher when the Commodores are so awful.
11. Harrison Bailey, Tennessee
Class: Sophomore
2020 stats: 48-68 (70.5%), 578 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
Bailey was part of the revolving door at quarterback last year for the Vols; he got the start against A&M but was largely ineffective after his first drive and was benched for most of the game. With the change of coaches comes a little more clarity, and Bailey seems like the clear leader for the starting job this season. But with Tennessee being in such a state of disarray, it's hard to see him having a breakout season in 2021. There's just not many weapons at his disposal, so seeing a huge progression is difficult to predict.
10. Will Rogers, Mississippi State
Class: Sophomore
2020 stats: 239-346 (69%), 1,976 yards, 11 TD, 7 INT
Rogers was a bit of a bright spot in an otherwise disastrous 2020 for Mississippi State; with KJ Costello gone, he's the unquestioned starter going into spring ball. He's going to throw for a ton of yards in Mike Leach's offense, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're playing good football. Rogers turned the ball over a lot in 2020, and he'll have to do better in 2021 to move up the list.
9. Emory Jones, Florida
Class: Redshirt junior
2020 stats: 18-32 (56.3%), 2 TD, 1 INT; 32 carries, 217 yards (6.8 YPC), 2 TD
Jones has been around Gainesville a lot longer than most people would expect. He's going to be the guy this year as Dan Mullen tries to go to something closer to a Tim Tebow/Dak Prescott kind of offense as opposed to pass-heavy as they were with Kyle Trask. The problem is that Jones' play has actually regressed over the past couple of seasons, and many of the weapons Trask had last year are gone.
8. KJ Jefferson, Arkansas
Class: Redshirt sophomore
2020 stats: 18-33 (54.5%), 274 yards, 3 TD; 13 carries, 32 yards, 1 TD
This may be generous, considering Arkansas is claiming that Malik Hornsby has a shot at winning the starting job, but Jefferson played well in his lone start last season against Missouri. He's going to have one of the SEC's best receiver corps to work with, so he could be one who surprises this year.
7. Bo Nix, Auburn
Class: Junior
2020 stats: 214-357 (59.9%), 2,415 yards, 12 TD, 7 INT; 108 carries, 388 yards (3.6 YPC), 7 TD
This is not what Auburn expected to get when the former 5-star won the job two years ago. I am not a fan, to be fair, but it's safe to say Tigers fans were not expecting a regression last season. Nix played gunshy, running away from pressure that wasn't there, and his accuracy suffered as a result. His mechanics fell apart. There's no doubting his athletic ability and arm strength, but with his top receivers all gone and a new coach installed, how much can be expected of him in 2021?
6. Haynes King, Texas A&M
Class: Freshman
2020 stats: 2-4, 59 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 5 carries, 43 yards
King may be getting more of a benefit of the doubt than some other guys on this list, but there's no questioning his athletic ability. He's one of the fastest players on the team and he's picked up Jimbo Fisher's offense quickly. He allows A&M to continue to be versatile with its play calls and will have more weapons to work with, in all likelihood, than Kellen Mond did when the Aggies finished in the nation's top four last season.
5. Connor Bazelak, Missouri
Class: Redshirt sophomore
2020 stats: 218-324 (67.3%), 2,366 yards, 7 TD, 6 INT
Bazelak was thrown into the fire last year and responded, putting up solid if not spectacular numbers. There's reason to think that he can continue to improve this season, but he could also be a guy who gets passed up by a couple quarterbacks when we look at this list again later in the year.
4. Bryce Young, Alabama
Class: Sophomore
2020 stats: 13-22 (59%), 156 yards, 1 TD
The top-rated quarterback in the 2020 recruiting class performed well in limited duty last year, and the fact he's going to get to work with all of the nice toys an Alabama quarterback gets to play with boosts him up the list. He does have the ability to run, though it wasn't featured last year, which could add a dimension to the offense. But we'll see what new OC Bill O'Brien decides to with the a Tide offense that decimated opponents last year (with a lot of different starters).
3. Myles Brennan, LSU
Class: Junior
2020 stats: 79-131 (60.3%), 1,112 yards, 11 TD, 3 INT
Brennan was putting up spectacular numbers -- albeit ones that couldn't keep up with LSU's terrible defense -- last season before he got hurt after three games. He's not a certainty to win the starting job, but the offense was clearly better with him at the helm than when Max Johnson and TJ Finley played. He should not only win the job, but be the centerpiece of the offensive rebuild.
2. Matt Corral, Ole Miss
Class: Junior
2020 stats: 231-326 (70.8%), 3,337 yards, 29 TD, 14 INT; 112 carries, 506 yards (4.5 YPC), 4 TD
Corral is a gunslinger. His coach is a gunslinger. Net results: yards. Points. Also interceptions. Corral's biggest problem, outside of streaks of inexplicably bad play, will be finding new receivers he's comfortable with in 2021. His top two targets, by far, in 2020 were Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah, and both are gone.
1. J.T. Daniels, Georgia
Class: Redshirt junior
2020 stats: 80-119 (67.2%), 1,231 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT
You can hear Dawg fans now: "KIrby, why ain't you playin' this boy all year? Wed've won the whole thing!"
And they may have a point. Daniels put up those numbers in just four games. With Daniels at the helm, Georgia's offense went to another level, and he makes them the odds-on favorite to win the SEC East and face off with Alabama or A&M for the conference title.
