The SEC is in danger of not having a quarterback get drafted for the first time in 19 years.

At this time last year, arguably the greatest outgoing class of SEC quarterbacks ever prepped for the NFL Draft:

  • Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, a Heisman Trophy winner, became a first-round pick.
  • Alabama’s AJ McCarron, winner of two national championships as a starter, went in the fifth round.
  • Georgia’s Aaron Murray, the most decorated quarterback in school history, also got selected in the fifth round.
  • Zach Mettenberger finally filled his potential at LSU and put together a good senior season, earning a sixth-round pick.
  • South Carolina’s Connor Shaw, one of the greatest Gamecocks players of the Steve Spurrier era, went undrafted, but signed with the Cleveland Browns and started a game by the end of the year.
  • Longtime Missouri standout James Franklin failed to make the final roster as an undrafted free agent with the Detroit Lions.
  • Speaking of James Franklin, the former Vanderbilt coach went out with successful senior quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, who never got an NFL shot, but nonetheless represented a major loss.

Fast forward to this year. No conference quarterback declared for the draft early, and only five SEC quarterbacks are on the radar at all (six if you count Auburn’s Nick Marshall, who has dedicated himself to converting back to cornerback):

  1. Alabama QB Blake Sims
  2. Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace
  3. Georgia QB Hutson Mason
  4. South Carolina QB Dylan Thompson
  5. Tennessee QB Justin Worley

Sims participated in the Senior Bowl, with some scouts reacting violently (to paraphrase one, how the heck did Alabama win the SEC with that guy at quarterback?). Other than above-average athleticism, Sims is a late-round project at best, measured less than 6-foot. Layered with faulty mechanics, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the first-team All-SEC selection slip to undrafted free agent status.

Said NFL Network analyst Charles Davis, according to AL.com: “I can’t see where anyone would draft him as a quarterback. I don’t know that he has a distinguishing trait that says move him to running back and we can get something out of him there.

“I hope this comes off the right way … I’m so proud of the kid and what he’s done at Alabama and how he has persevered, and what a great year he had the last year. I’m kind of happy he came here and said, ‘I’m going to be a quarterback’ because he’s being true to himself and this might be the last time he ever does this. And what a great way for him to go out and do it.

“I just don’t see a future for him (at quarterback). But I’m glad he’s going to get to play quarterback (at the Senior Bowl) because I’m not sure there’s another position for him frankly. So why not go play quarterback, do what you do best? An Alabama kid finishing in Mobile and he gets to go out to the applause and a little adulation? He’s earned that, he deserves it.”

Wallace, battling an ankle injury, got invited to a lesser showcase game, but wasn’t able to participate. CBS Sports currently projects him to go undrafted, along with Mason.

Thompson and Worley would do well to get a training camp invite with an NFL team.

Two years after the SEC won seven consecutive national championships, only one team finished in the first eight of the final AP poll (Alabama, No. 4) and an SEC team didn’t play for the national title for the first time since 2005.

With quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota, Trevone Boykin, Connor Cook, Bryce Petty, Cardale Jones and Jameis Winston leading the other top teams in 2014, it’s no wonder the SEC didn’t match its recent success.