The SEC’s most important position is suddenly its biggest strength
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The most important position on the field, and the most important access point to the SEC reclaiming its perch atop college football.
If there truly will be an SEC revival after the Big Ten’s three-season streak of national championships with three different teams, it will begin and end with elite quarterback play.
Fortunately for the SEC, 2026 could be the deepest at the position in years. From Arch Manning to AJ Hill, we give you the great, the good and the unknown of the quarterback position in the SEC.
1. Arch Manning, Texas
Said he played “pissed off” for the first half of last season, and then the offense started having fun and began playing better as a unit over the final six games of the season. OK, I’ll buy it. That, and the addition of dynamic transfer WR Cam Coleman, misused for two seasons under whatever Hugh Freeze was calling that Auburn offense.
2. Sam Leavitt, LSU
The positive: Leavitt’s development under elite OC/QB coach Charlie Weis Jr. The negative: How will the surgically repaired foot (Lisfranc injury) hold up? There’s so much drama surrounding all things LSU and new coach Lane Kiffin — and to a lesser extent, Leavitt’s huge NIL deal — every game will be scrutinized and polarized.
3. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Way undervalued player, leader and winner. What more do you want? He competed 70% of his passes, had a TD/INT ratio of 24/5, and had 10 rush TDs. In his first season as a starter. Don’t be shocked if he has a monster season.
4. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
There’s a lot to like, beginning and ending with his escapability and playmaking off-schedule. Forget about forcing him into something he’s not; let him create. One big concern: Which Reed do you get? The one who played brilliantly in a road win over Notre Dame, or the one who had five turnovers (four INTs, one fumble) in the last two games of the season — Texas A&M’s only two losses (Texas, Miami).
5. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
By the end of last season, he was the most dangerous player in the SEC. There will be a drop-off without Kiffin and Weis, but how significant? A talented team rallied around Chambliss in 2025. Can a different team do it again?
6. Byrum Brown, Auburn
USF transfer will be a big problem for SEC defenses. Against Florida in Week 2 last year — when the Gators’ defense was healthy and nasty — Brown had 329 total yards (66 rush), and led a huge upset. But the USF offensive line in 2025 was light years ahead of the Auburn offensive line — which will have four new transfer starters in 2026.
7. John Mateer, Oklahoma
What looked like a breakout season in 2025 was sidetracked in late September by a thumb injury, and Mateer never really got it back. Five starters return on the offensive line. Better protection, better results.
8. Keelon Russell, Alabama
A talented thrower who will compete with Austin Mack for the starting job. Both probably should’ve played more last season — but couldn’t because Alabama wasn’t putting away teams early. If you’re a believer in coach Kalen DeBoer and OC Ryan Grubb’s quarterback development over the years at Alabama and Washington (and why wouldn’t you be?), this could get real interesting, real quick with Russell’s obvious skills.
9. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
Imagine being new OC/QB coach Kendal Briles. The development of uber-talented Sellers — and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer’s job — is in your hands. Beamer’s disastrous hire of Mike Shula as OC/QB coach in 2025 could eventually be his undoing at South Carolina.
10. Austin Simmons, Missouri
You want motivation? Is Simmons’ career destined to become a footnote of Chambliss’ emergence in 2025, or does he finally play to his five-star potential and become an elite dual threat player? For some reason, this feels a whole lot like Kelly Bryant in 2019.
11. George MacIntyre, Tennessee
If it’s not former five-star MacIntyre, it’s current five-star freshman Faizon Brandon. Considering Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s history of developing the position, one of the two (or both) will eventually produce. And maybe at a high level.
12. Aaron Philo, Florida
New Florida coach Jon Sumrall got OC Buster Faulkner to leave Georgia Tech, and Faulkner got Philo to leave Atlanta and follow him to Gainesville. Everyone got what he wanted, and holdover QB Tramell Jones may still win the job. Then what?
13. Kenny Minchey, Kentucky
Lost the quarterback competition at Notre Dame, and never got on the field for significant minutes. The best thing Minchey has going for him: new Kentucky coach Will Stein’s track record with quarterbacks. Since 2020, Frank Harris (UTSA), Bo Nix (Oregon), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon) and Dante Moore (Oregon) have a combined TD/INT ratio of 176/40 — or an average of 28 TDs and six INTs a season.
14. Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State
This is based on all of two games in 2025, both ugly losses where Taylor had a handful of wow plays. There’s a lot to like about his dynamic ability, but he must become a more accurate, consistent thrower.
15. Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt
The No. 1 quarterback recruit in 2026, he’ll learn on the job with a rebuilt Vanderbilt offense. That’s a difficult spot for a young player against a conference full of fast, athletic defensive linemen, and defensive coordinators who can create confusion with combo coverages.
16. AJ Hill, Arkansas
Another likely first-year starter who arrived in Fayetteville from Memphis with coach Ryan Silverfield. A former consensus four-star recruit and top-five player at his position, Hill redshirted last season and will have to beat out sophomore KJ Jackson.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SEC QB rankings: Arch Manning to Trinidad Chambliss, league is loaded under center
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos