sec quarterback roulette
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
THE TOUCHDOWN SEC CORRESPONDENT
With Spring games behind us, we are now officially in the territory of quarterbacks battling it out for the starting jobs on week one.
Some battles are clearer cut than others, but the SEC finds itself in a fascinating position this year.
While the typically dominant teams continue to be considered favourites – not just for the SEC Championship, but also the National Championship – this year those same teams are in the process of replacing quarterbacks who have moved on to the NFL.
But not every team has as a clear cut succession plan in place, which leaves some serious question marks over the positions across the SEC. In the last article we looked at the precarious situations that Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU find themselves in.
Let’s have a look at another four teams who have question marks over which quarterback will lead them into the new season. So here are some more battles to keep an eye on over the summer and into fall camps……
Thorne in the Tigers side
Auburn, AL
The appointment of Hugh Freeze as the head coach at Auburn is either going to be complete genius or abject failure. Welcome to Auburn!
Bryan Harsin’s time on the Plains was the latter and gave Auburn fans little to be optimistic about. However bringing Freeze back to the SEC has got the Tigers faithful very excited.
But life in Auburn rarely goes according to plan, and the news that last seasons starting quarterback TJ Finley had decided to transfer seemed to be the first wrinkle during Freeze’s short tenure.
With Finley not keen on hanging around for the fight, this leaves Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner as incumbent quarterback’s, neither of whom seemed to fit the Freeze blueprint.
Freeze and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery hadn’t been shy about their quest for a quarterback more suitable to their scheme which is why Finley probably decided to jump ship. Rumours were rife that Auburn were courting Coastal’s Grayson McCall or NC State’s Devin Leary, however neither were enticed sufficiently to transfer to the Tigers.
However Auburn got their man last week when Michigan State’s Payton Thorne transferred in. The benefit for Freeze is that Thorne has multiple years playing experience for the Spartan’s while still having two years eligibility remaining.
The 6’2″, 210-pound Illinois native played 29 college games, completing 61% of his passes for 6,493 yards and 49 touchdowns.
So this is exactly what Freeze and Auburn needs to kick things off and could be a marriage of great convenience for Thorne and the Tigers.
Fall camp should be fun, so watch this space!
#WarDamnEagle
Leary to replace Levis at Kentucky
Lexington, KY
The world and his uncle had words to say about Kentucky’s ex-quarterback, Will Levis over the last couple of weeks. However Levis’ issues have nothing to do with Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops, who has to find a replacement for the Tennessee Titans latest quarterback.
Whatever you think of Will Levis, he was a very good quarterback in the SEC. So Mark Stoops had a job on his hands to replace his quarterback and continue the Wildcats’ upwards trajectory.
Stoops did what he did when he recruited Levis – he looked to the transfer portal. Levis moved from Penn State to Kentucky when he was unable to beat out Sean Clifford for the starting job in Happy Valley.
Despite other SEC attention in Devin Leary, Stoops had identified the NC State QB as the successor to Levis, and got his man.
Leary joins the quarterback room in Lexington alongside third-year sophomore Deuce Hogan, redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron and true freshman Destin Wade. This is Leary’s final year of eligibility.
Leary played four years and was starting quarterback for two years at NC State, finishing his career with the Wolfpack completing 60.2% of his passes for 6,807 yards, 62 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. As a redshirt sophomore, he was named a finalist for the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually to the nation’s top quarterback, after setting an NC State single-season record with 35 touchdowns through the air to go along with 3,433 yards and a .657 completion percentage. Per ESPN, Leary was the highest ranked player to enter this years transfer portal.
Meaning that Leary is the overwhelming favourite to land the starting QB job in Lexington.
#GoWildcats
Two's company in Tennessee
Knoxville, TN
If Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is to build on last year’s excellent season, then the Vols have to find a replacement for the fantastic Hendon Hooker.
Of course the Vols had to replace Hooker earlier than anticipated towards the end of last season when the Vols QB1 tore his ACL against South Carolina in November.
Joe Milton III was the answer back then and still appears to be so. Milton transferred from Michigan into Knoxville in 2020 so has a year under his belt already. But yet Milton has seen limited playing time in the Vols’ offense going into his sixth year of playing college ball.
Milton had a fairly miserable time at Michigan where he was turnover prone and did not thrive in a misfiring Wolverines offense. However Heupel has the reputation as a quarterback whisperer and Milton was open to make the leap if the Vols were willing to take a chance on him.
Milton showed his abilities in the Orange Bowl against Clemson. In the Orange vs Orange game in which the Vols beat Clemson 31-14, Milton completed 19 of his 28 attempts (67.9 percent) for 251 yards and three touchdowns. Which was enough to calm the nerves and get Vols coaching staff and Vol nation relaxed.
But outside of Milton there is cause for great optimism in Knoxville. Assuming that Milton is the presumptive starter, the Vols have wunderkind Nico Iamaleava waiting in the wings. At 6-6 and 200 pounds with long arms and a quick release Iamaleava is already considered a top tier NFL Draft prospect. So with Milton measuring in at 6-5 and 245 pounds and an impressively strong arm, Tennessee has two of the most athletic quarterbacks in the SEC if not college football. Meaning the Vols fall camp is shaping up to be a doozie of a contest.
These are exciting times in Knoxville.
#GoVols
Is Mertz the answer?
Gainesville, fl
It would be remiss to talk of the quarterback situations across the SEC without talking about the position at Florida.
Gator head coach, Billy Napier has not had the smoothest of starts in Gainesville thus far. This has not been helped by his inability to find a starting quarterback able to transform the fortunes of the program. And yes, I include Antony Richardson. Yes – he of the #5 overall pick in the NFL Draft. It remains to be seen whether Napier didn’t know how to get the best out of Richardson or if the Indianapolis Colts have severely overpaid for their franchise quarterback.
Irrespective of this divergence of opinions, a replacement for Richardson is required. But again, like Tennessee we already know who the incumbent QB1 is to be at Florida. Well we think we know.
If twelve months ago I was to suggest that Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz would be the starting quarterback at Florida, I am sure you would have questioned my sanity. But here we are and Mertz has indeed transferred to Gainesville.
Which to be honest is an interesting move for both Mertz and the Gators.
Gators fans have become accustomed to dynamic, exciting, swashbuckling quarterbacks during their history. Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow all won the Heisman as Florida Gators and hold legendary status in Gainesville.
Mertz doesn’t easily fit into the swashbuckling category.
Truth is that Mertz can only be considered a stop gap during a time when the Gators QB situation is in something of a crisis. Jaden Rashada moved onto Arizona State after a quite shambolic situation where the Florida NIL collective ended badly. Florida also withdrew a scholarship offer to Jalen Kitna who was swiftly dismissed from the program. The same fate fell to Marcus Stokes who was a four star recruit but who had his scholarship revoked after inappropriate videos emerged on the the internet.
So to say that the Gators program is in something of a crisis might be an understatement.
Mertz will play this season wearing the #15 jersey which was Tebow’s number. Big shoes to fill for Mertz. Being sacked 5 times in Florida’s Spring game won’t have helped calm nerves in the Swamp.
However, Mertz comes with significant experience during his playing time in Wisconsin. In 34 games for the Badgers, Mertz threw for 5,405 yards with 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. Despite these stats, it didn’t really work out for Mertz at Wisconsin – a team that was not fulfilling its potential.
So the million dollar questions is whether Napier can get more out of Mertz than Paul Cryst did at Camp Randall. Florida also has Jack Miller who transferred in from Ohio State a year ago. Injuries held him back and Gators fans really haven’t seen what they have in Miller.
If we had a report card to write at this juncture for the Gators it would read “work to do, must do better”.
These are troubling times to be a Gator fan.
#GoGators
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
A GLASWEGIAN LIVING IN LONDON, GEORGE IS A COLLEGE FOOTBALL FAN WHO FOLLOWS THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE. HE PROVIDES CFB CONTENT FOR THE TOUCHDOWN AND IS ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST.