With three of the last five Heisman Trophy winners having played quarterback in the SEC — Jayden Daniels, Bryce Young and Joe Burrow — odds are pretty good the league will have a few noteworthy gunslingers this fall.
Here’s a look at where all 16 SEC teams stand at the sport’s most important position.
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(Click here for theACC,Big 12and Big Ten.)
Alabama
Who’s back: Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Dylan Lonergan
Who’s gone: Julian Sayin, Eli Holstein, Tyler Buchner
Who’s new: Austin Mack
The Kalen DeBoer era will begin with Milroe, a Heisman candidate and Nick Saban leftover, attempting to lead a revamped roster (minus 10 NFL Draft picks and 30-plus transfers) back to the College Football Playoff. Milroe (14 career starts) proved more than capable of getting the job done once he was entrusted with the full-time starting job last season. But it will be very interesting to see what DeBoer does with the position. Mack, a four-star 2023 recruit from California, followed DeBoer to Tuscaloosa from Washington. Simpson, a 2022 five-star recruit from Tennessee with 117 career snaps, spent most of the spring taking second-team reps. Sayin, the top-ranked recruit in the 2024 cycle, signed with Alabama but transferred to Ohio State after the coaching change. Holstein transferred to Pitt. Buchner went back to Notre Dame to play lacrosse.
Arkansas
Who’s back: Malachi Singleton
Who’s gone: KJ Jefferson, Jacolby Criswell, Cade Fortin
Who’s new: Taylen Green, Blake Boda, KJ Jackson
Bobby Petrino is back at Arkansas as offensive coordinator, and the Razorbacks have a new starting quarterback with Jefferson, a 38-game starter, off to UCF via the transfer portal. Green, a 2021 three-star recruit from Texas, started 22 games at Boise State and was named the Razorbacks starter by coach Sam Pittman in April. He completed 57.1 percent of his passes last season for 1,752 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions while also rushing for 436 yards and nine scores in leading Boise State to the Mountain West Conference championship. With Criswell transferring back to North Carolina, the backup job will likely go to Singleton, the one holdover from last season and a talented four-star recruit in the 2023 cycle from Georgia. Jackson is a freshman from Mississippi. Boda transferred in from Coastal Carolina after spring practice.
”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.“
Psalms 32:8 NIV 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/41ZHcAHPYX— Taylen Green (@taylengreen17) December 11, 2023
Auburn
Who’s back: Payton Thorne, Holden Geriner, Hank Brown
Who’s gone: Robby Ashford
Who’s new: Walker White
Thorne, a 2023 Michigan State transfer, probably won’t have a long leash if he struggles this season. He completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 1,755 yards, 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for an offense that ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring and last in passing last season. Brown, a three-star prospect in the Class of 2023 who was originally committed to Liberty, looked good in mop-up duty in the bowl game and could be in line to be Thorne’s replacement if he struggles. Ashford, who began his career at Oregon, is off South Carolina via the transfer portal. White, ranked No. 8 among QBs in the 2024 cycle in the 247Sports Composite, is a freshman who could also push for playing time if Thorne struggles.
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Florida
Who’s back: Graham Mertz
Who’s gone: Max Brown, Jack Miller
Who’s new: Clay Millen, DJ Lagway
Billy Napier’s first two seasons in Gainesville have produced an 11-14 record, but don’t blame quarterback play for the Gators’ struggles. Anthony Richardson was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and Mertz, the 2023 Wisconsin transfer who replaced him, completed a league-best 72.9 percent of his passes and threw for 2,903 yards, 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Mertz will begin the 2024 season as the most experienced starting quarterback in the SEC and will have the highest-ranked freshman quarterback in the league backing him up in Lagway. Millen redshirted at Nevada in 2021 and then spent two seasons (with 11 starts) at Colorado State. He completed 72.2 percent of his attempts in 2022, which set a record for a freshman in the FBS.He makes up for the loss of Brown, who started the 2023 season finale against rival Florida State and transferred to Charlotte, as well as Miller, a 2020 four-star recruit who retired from football in January.
Georgia
Who’s back: Carson Beck, Gunner Stockton
Who’s gone: Brock Vandagriff
Who’s new: Jaden Rashada, Ryan Puglisi
Beck led the SEC in passing yards (3,941) last season and completed 72.4 percent of his attempts for 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions and is projected by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler to be the first quarterback taken in next year’s draft. His backup remains undetermined. Rashada, an Arizona State transfer, is an intriguing new addition and could be the Bulldogs quarterback of the future. Stockton, a third-year sophom*ore, played 55 snaps last season and is the top returning in-house option after Vandagriff transferred to Kentucky. Puglisi, a four-star 2024 recruit from Connecticut, is a freshman.
Kentucky
Who’s back: n/a
Who’s gone: Devin Leary, Destin Wade, Kaiya Sheron, Deuce Hogan
Who’s new: Brock Vandagriff, Beau Allen, Gavin Wimsatt, Cutter Boley
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With Leary off to the NFL, the Wildcats completely revamped the QB position this offseason. The new additions are Vandagriff (former five-star recruit who was at Georgia), Allen (an 11-game starter at Tarleton State in 2022), Wimsatt (a 19-game starter at Rutgers) and Boley (the top QB in Kentucky 2024 cycle). Most expect Vandagriff to be the starter for new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, who did well with a similar dual-threat, Taylen Green, at Boise State last season. If Vandagriff struggles, Kentucky has a homegrown insurance policy in Wimsatt, who left Rutgers after losing his starting job to Athan Kaliakmanis this spring. Wimsatt led the Scarlet Knights last season to their first bowl win since 2014 but finished 12th among 13 quarterbacks in the Big Ten in passer rating.
Ready to get to work. #GoBigBlue #BBN pic.twitter.com/bGnUCtaCPe
— Brock 🌊 (@BrockVandagriff) December 6, 2023
LSU
Who’s back: Garrett Nussmeier, Rickie Collins
Who’s gone: Jayden Daniels
Who’s new: AJ Swann, Colin Hurley
Nussmeier’s 395-yard, three-touchdown performance in LSU’s 35-31 win over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl was very much a moment of affirmation that he’s ready to replace Daniels, the 2023 Heisman winner. That didn’t stop Brian Kelly and the Tigers from seeking and finding a veteran via the portal in Swann, who started 12 games in two seasons at Vanderbilt. What happens after the upcoming season is intriguing. Kelly landed a commitment from Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 cycle, and has a loaded class set to arrive in Baton Rouge beginning in December. Hurley, a four-star recruit from Jacksonville, Fla., started classes at LSU in January and will compete with Collins for backup reps this fall.
Mississippi State
Who’s back: Chris Parson
Who’s gone: Will Rogers, Mike Wright
Who’s new: Blake Shapen, Michael Van Buren
With 40-game starter Will Rogers off to Washington and backup Mike Wright headed to Northwestern, Jeff Lebby’s first season in Starkville will begin with Shapen leading the charge. Shapen, a senior who started 23 games at Baylor, has completed 63.7 percent of his attempts for 5,574 yards, 36 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his career. Parson, a redshirt freshman, completed only five passes and threw three interceptions in his only start last season, a 51-10 loss at Texas A&M. Van Buren, a four-star recruit from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, was previously committed to Oregon before flipping to Mississippi State.
Missouri
Who’s back: Brady Cook, Sam Horn
Who’s gone: Gabarri Johnson, Jake Garcia
Who’s new: Drew Pyne, Aidan Glover
Cook completed 66.1 percent of his attempts for 3,317 yards, 21 touchdowns and only six interceptions while running for 319 yards and eight scores in his second full season as the starter. He is well-positioned to accomplish a lot more this fall with a strong group of receivers back. With Garcia (East Carolina) and Johnson (Oregon State) leaving via the portal, Eli Drinkwitz added some much-needed experience behind Cook with the addition of Pyne, who started only once at Arizona State in 2023 but made 10 starts for Notre Dame in 2022. Horn, who also plays baseball for the Tigers, underwent Tommy John surgery in February and will not play next fall. Glover is a freshman from Tennessee.
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Oklahoma
Who’s back: Jackson Arnold
Who’s gone: Dillon Gabriel, Davis Beville
Who’s new: Casey Thompson, Michael Hawkins, Brendan Zurbugg
Arnold, a Class of 2023 five-star from Denton (Texas) Guyer, threw for 361 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in his first college start — a 38-24 loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. It was the official passing of the torch from Gabriel, a first-team All-Big 12 selection who is off to Oregon for his final season. Beville, meanwhile, left for South Carolina, his third college stop. Thompson, a 23-game starter during his time at Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic, will serve as Arnold’s backup. Hawkins and Zurbrugg are true freshmen.
Ole Miss
Who’s back: Jaxson Dart, Walker Howard, Austin Simmons
Who’s gone: Spencer Sanders
Who’s new: AJ Maddox
Dart, a senior, led the Rebels to their first AP Top-10 finish since 2015. He completed 65.1 percent of his attempts for 3,364 yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions and ran for 389 yards and eight scores. His 28 career starts rank third in the league behind Mertz (43) and Thorne (38). Howard, a 2023 LSU transfer, moves into the primary backup role with Sanders gone. Simmons, who also plays baseball for the Rebels, did not play in 2023 as a true freshman. Maddox is a four-star recruit from Hattiesburg, Miss.
South Carolina
Who’s back: LaNorris Sellers
Who’s gone: Spencer Rattler, Luke Doty, Tanner Bailey, Colten Gauthier
Who’s new: Davis Beville, Robby Ashford, Dante Reno
Coach Shane Beamer told his team coming out of the spring that Sellers would be the starting quarterback as long as he continued to live up to expectations throughout the summer and fall. Sellers, a one-time Syracuse commit, played 21 snaps last season as a true freshman. He scored on a 36-yard run against Vanderbilt and threw two touchdown passes against Furman. Beamer brought in Beville (one start) from Oklahoma and Ashford (10 starts) from Auburn to compete for the job. Reno, a three-star recruit from Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, is the son of Yale coach Tony Reno and was an Under Armour All-American. Doty, a fifth-year senior who has seen time at quarterback and wide receiver, is now listed as an athlete on the roster.
Tennessee
Who’s back: Nico Iamaleava, Gaston Moore, Navy Shuler
Who’s gone: Joe Milton III
Who’s new: Jake Merklinger
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Iamaleava, the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the 2023 cycle, made his first career start in Tennessee’s 35-0 Citrus Bowl win over Iowa and was an efficient 12 of 19 for 151 yards with a combined four touchdowns (one passing, three rushing). The Volunteers, though, lack experience behind their talented young quarterback. Moore, a 2020 walk-on, has taken 45 snaps in his career, while Shuler, another walk-on and the son of Volunteers great Heath Shuler, has played 10 snaps. Merklinger, a four-star recruit from Savannah, Ga., has been on campus since January and has an opportunity to claim backup duties. The good news: More talent is on the way. George MacIntyre, the No. 3-ranked quarterback in the 2025 cycle from Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy, has been committed to the Vols since Jan. 22.
Texas
Who’s back: Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning, Cole Lourd
Who’s gone: Maalik Murphy, Charles Wright
Who’s new: Trey Owens
There were only four SEC quarterbacks who had a better rating than Ewers last season: Daniels, Milroe, Beck and Dart. The No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 cycle has thrown for 5,656 yards, 37 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions in his two seasons at Texas. Ewers’ backup, Manning, the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 cycle, looked pretty good in Texas’ spring game in April, throwing for 355 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. With Murphy off to Duke via the transfer portal, Owens, the four-star freshman from Cypress (Texas) Cy-Fair, will compete with Lourd, a senior, for third-team reps.
Texas A&M
Who’s back: Conner Weigman, Marcel Reed, Jaylen Henderson
Who’s gone: Max Johnson
Who’s new: n/a
Weigman projects to be the Week 1 starter against Notre Dame as he returns from a season-ending foot injury. Coach Mike Elko, though, hasn’t officially named Weigman (eight career starts) as QB1 yet. Elko has only said the redshirt sophom*ore, a former five-star recruit, earned the right to enter spring camp as the top option. Henderson, a junior, started four games last season, completing 67.9 percent of his attempts for 715 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Reed, a sophom*ore, came off the bench in the bowl loss to Oklahoma State and completed 20-of-33 attempts for 361 yards and an interception.
Vanderbilt
Who’s back: Drew Dickey
Who’s gone: Walter Taylor, Ken Seals, AJ Swann
Who’s new: Nate Johnson, Diego Pavia, Blaze Berlowitz, Jeremy St.-Hilaire, Whit Muschamp
Clark Lea has a bunch of new faces at quarterback, with one important addition set to arrive this summer in Pavia, who played for new Commodores offensive coordinator Tim Beck the previous two seasons at New Mexico State. The 6-foot native of Albuquerque, N.M., developed from an unranked recruit into a two-year starter who threw for 2,973 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions and ran for 925 yards and seven scores in 2023. He’ll compete with Johnson, a Utah transfer who played in seven games and made three starts last season as a redshirt freshman for the Utes. The three QBs who attempted a pass last season have found new homes —Swann (LSU), Seals (TCU) and Taylor (Colorado). The two incoming freshmen, St.-Hilaire and Muschamp, competed for rival high schools in Chattanooga, Tenn. Muschamp is the son of former Florida and South Carolina coach Will Muschamp.
(Photos of Nico Iamaleava, Blake Shapen, Graham Mertz: Jeremy Reper, Scott Sewell, Kim Klement / USA Today)
