It’s tough to win in any league without a good quarterback, and the Southeastern Conference is no exception. Even teams with established starters hit the recruiting trail hard in search of a quarterback that can beat teams running or throwing the football.

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Here are the SEC’s top five dual-threat quarterback signees for 2016 — including the top three in the country (rankings based on 247Sports.com composite rankings).

No. 1. JARRETT GUARANTANO, Tennessee

The skinny: Having Joshua Dobbs entrenched as the starter and a few highly touted underclassmen already on the roster didn’t stop the Volunteers from landing Guarantano, the nation’s top-ranked dual-threat quarterback.

He starred at Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J., but had both his senior (foot) and junior seasons (wrist) shortened by injury.

He has good size (6-4, 201), a live arm and has been clocked at 4.65 in the 40-yard dash. It would take some seriously bad luck with injuries for Tennessee for him to avoid a redshirt in 2016, but he figures to be part of a wide-open quarterback derby in the spring of 2017.

No. 2. BRANDON MCILWAIN, South Carolina

The skinny: McIlwain committed to the Gamecocks during the Steve Spurrier era and saw it through when Will Muschamp was named as his full-time replacement. He passed for 2,018 yards and 17 scores as a junior at Council Rock North (Newtown, Pa.) last season, and enrolled early at South Carolina last month.

He’s also an elite baseball prospect who is off to a fast start for the Gamecocks’ baseball program.

Both coaching staffs say he’s football-first, however, and he’ll be in the mix trying to win the starting quarterback job when spring football begins.

He’s young and a little raw, but has all of the physical tools to see game action in 2016 — and is a decent candidate to win the job outright.

No. 3. JALEN HURTS, ALABAMA

The skinny: Like McIlwain, Hurts is an early enrollee. Unlike McIlwain, he’s already practiced with his college team. Hurts, with his blend of speed and athleticism, was one of the players who emulated Clemson’s Deshaun Watson for the Crimson Tide scout team before the national championship game last month.

“Jalen did a really, really good job,” coach Nick Saban told al.com. “He’s very athletic, and I think that was a real plus for our team to have him there for a few days to be able to have that kind of quickness for us to try to react to.”

That sort of praise bodes well for his future, but with Cooper Bateman, last year’s backup, former five-star recruit Blake Barnett and David Cornwell ahead of him, Hurts likely is heading for a redshirt this fall.

No. 6. WOODY BARRETT, AUBURN

The skinny: Barrett is a strong-armed, athletic quarterback who has the sort of physical gifts that coach Gus Malzahn likes in his quarterbacks. Malzahn has called the quarterback race “wide open,” so Barrett will have the chance to make his mark when he arrives on campus this summer.

Of course, Jeremy Johnson, Sean White, Tyler Queen and JUCO transfer John Franklin III will have already battled for the job in spring ball before then.

Because he’ll be a bit behind in a five-horse race, it will be quite a story if Barrett avoids a redshirt this fall.

No. 25. LINDSEY SCOTT, LSU

The skinny: Scott was electrifying at Zachary (La.) High, passing for 3,040 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for 1,963 yards and 28 more scores. He wasn’t offered a scholarship until late in the process, but when Feleipe Franks flipped to Florida, coach Les Miles and his staff quickly warmed up to the in-state product.

“We need to have competition from the back side of the position group to push and I think that he will. I think Lindsey Scott will do exactly that,” Miles told ESPN.com. “I think certainly if he has skills that are different and better, then the ability to add them to that group is just what we need.”

He’s not a big guy (5-11, 205), but the two-time Louisiana High School Player of the Year is explosive with the ball in his hands. He won’t be on campus until the summer, however, and would have to considered a long shot to earn playing time in 2016.