In a conference that routinely has the most talented players at most skill positions, quarterback typically has been the SEC’s biggest weakness.
Since 2011, four out of eight wide receivers taken in the top 10 of the NFL draft came out of the SEC, and the conference has had one of the top three pass rushers taken in each one of those seasons (six total, no other conference has more than three).
For all the first-round picks the SEC has produced in the past five years, nearly 30 percent, only one has been a quarterback, Cam Newton (2011).
The SEC is expected to dominate the first round again, but once again, without the help of a quarterback.
As of right now, Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott looks like he might be the only SEC QB taken at all in the 2016 NFL draft.
Brandon Allen, however, certainly is making a late push.
Look, to suggest Allen, the No. 448 ranked prospect according to CBSSports.com, is on his way to being a first-rounder would be somewhat insane, but with three games left, he has time to make some noise in a weak quarterback draft class.
He certainly banged the drums loudly last week in a 53-52 win over Ole Miss, outdueling Chad Kelly along the way.
How about BA! Watch all 6 right here, plus @BrandonAllen_10's gutsy 2-point conversion:https://t.co/QR4XF701DS https://t.co/JHEvk03fgP
— Razorback Broadcast (@RSNmediaHD) November 8, 2015
Allen finished 33-for-45 for 442 yards and six touchdowns.
“I can’t say enough about our quarterback,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema told reporters afterward. “Gladiator through and through.”
Allen leads the SEC in yards per attempt (9.2 yards/attempt, tied for ninth in the FBS) and has the second-best TD-to-INT ratio for quarterbacks with more than 300 passing attempts (21/5), behind only Prescott (18/1).
Among his most underrated qualities, none might be more valuable than his refusal to take sacks.
Among SEC starting QBs, only Georgia’s Greyson Lambert has been sacked less (five compared to Allen’s nine), and Lambert has thrown nearly 100 fewer passes.
Ryan Mallet, the most recent Arkansas quarterback drafted (third round, 2011) no longer has an NFL team, but in a league always looking for strong pocket-passers, Allen may be the SEC’s best shot at getting drafted in April.
