Look around the Southeastern Conference鈥檚 media days 鈥 which is to say look around a tasting menu of the college football season to come and focus on the quarterbacks.
Eleven of the SEC鈥檚 16 teams are bringing their quarterbacks to Atlanta for this week鈥檚 media event, making the signal-callers the most represented position among player attendees.
The SEC QB contingent includes five of the top nine Heisman Trophy candidates in terms of preseason betting odds. Six media days representatives are returning starters.
Are those the kind of quarterback stats that will matter once games kick off in six-ish weeks? Not at all. But the SEC鈥檚 quarterback dynamics 鈥 and how Missouri鈥檚 QB battle fits into them 鈥 are a compelling canvas for what鈥檚 to come in 2025.
Does SEC experience matter? Do transitions to new starters progress better with a transfer or a successor who鈥檚 waited his turn? The multiplicity of paths to starting jobs in this conference is what will be fruitful to follow.
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Grabbing, by far, the most media attention this week has been Texas quarterback Arch Manning. No surprise there. He wasn鈥檛 the starter for his first two seasons with the Longhorns, but that doesn鈥檛 mean he wasn鈥檛 tailed by the spotlight.
With 95 passing attempts in 12 career appearances, he鈥檚 not quite an unknown, but Manning is hardly an experienced college quarterback either. Yet that鈥檚 done little to slow the hype train that has him as the betting favorite for the Heisman.
Arguably the main basis for why Louisiana State quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is second in the odds, however, is that he鈥檚 experienced. Like Manning, he waited his turn. And after 2023 Heisman winner Jayden Daniels moved on to the NFL, Nussmeier took over in the Bayou.
His debut season as a starter was uneven. Nussmeier led the SEC in completions but also interceptions. He posted 4,052 passing yards for 29 touchdowns and 12 picks. LSU coach Brian Kelly was adamant Tuesday that it鈥檚 that kind of season that sets up Nussmeier to be one of the best in the nation this year.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 underestimate how important the development was,鈥 Kelly said. 鈥淚 think we all, you all saw it. Jayden Daniels鈥 development in Year 1 to Year 2 was astronomical 鈥 if that word even suits it. It was incredible. Garrett Nussmeier will have a similar jump. It鈥檚 because you go on the ground and it鈥檚 sold out, you play teams that are so well-coached and so balanced and have great players that you have no choice but to learn, develop and get better or you鈥檙e going to be left by the side.
鈥淪o that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 confident that experience, in this league, at the quarterback position is the most important thing. Could you come in and play as a freshman? Absolutely. But there will be those moments where you look like a freshman. You look like a first-year player. Garrett will tell you that, and he wasn鈥檛 a true freshman.鈥
Kelly鈥檚 philosophy ought to mean good tidings for the likes of South Carolina and Florida, which will start redshirt sophomore LaNorris Sellers and true sophomore D.J. Lagway, respectively. Maybe even Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, who transferred from the Plains after a disappointing season at Oklahoma.
He鈥檚 a unique intra-SEC quarterback transfer. Arnold played a bit in 2023, the Sooners鈥 last season in the Big 12. Then he struggled in 2024 behind the conference鈥檚 worst offensive line, taking a beating and at one point getting benched for a true freshman.
鈥淣ow it was just a matter of, man, let鈥檚 give this guy a restart and let him regain his swagger and confidence,鈥 Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said.
Does SEC experience count as helpful when it鈥檚 requiring a quarterback to undergo a mental reset?
Some coaches would seemingly like to have more experience at quarterback than they do. Take Georgia鈥檚 Kirby Smart, for example. He鈥檚 been one of the best coaches in college football, but his Bulldogs will look quite a bit different in 2025: 54% of the roster is made up of first- and second-year players, comprising the youngest UGA team of his career.
鈥淭here is a youthful exuberance,鈥 Smart said. 鈥淭hat can be both positive and negative. ... It鈥檚 their first time getting a chance to start. It鈥檚 their first time being a major player in the rotation. There鈥檚 good and bad about both. We鈥檝e got to manage that. We鈥檝e got to be patient with them, and we鈥檝e got to get them better.鈥
The almost-wishful nature of those words go for his entire team but fits quarterback Gunner Stockton, who鈥檚 entering his fourth season overall but first as a starter. Can Georgia afford to be patient with a starting QB?
Then there鈥檚 the matter of the five programs that didn鈥檛 bring any quarterbacks to Atlanta: Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Missouri. Are they just less confident in the position?
Kentucky鈥檚 Zach Calzada transferred in from Incarnate Word but via Texas A&M and Auburn, so he has SEC experience. Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed was their signal-caller of choice at times last season. There鈥檚 some upside to both.
The other three programs that left their quarterbacks at home have ongoing battles at the position. Mizzou is down to Beau Pribula and Sam Horn, neither of whom have all that much experience. Alabama is down to Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell.
And all of them are probably feeling better than Tennessee right about now, which is moving on from Nico Iamaleava鈥檚 messy spring exit with the kind of spin from coach Josh Heupel that just can鈥檛 come off as confident.
鈥淚t鈥檚 never about who鈥檚 not in your building but about who is in your building,鈥 Heupel said.
In 2025, the SEC will show whether it鈥檚 about the experience in your building, too.
Mizzou football offensive coordinator Kirby Moore speaks with the media on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, as the team goes through spring practices. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)
