It’s been a wild and crazy offseason in SEC country, and it’s only half over. Let’s recap the first half of the offseason by running down the SEC’s biggest storylines since the end of last season:

SEC wins National Signing Day (again): Following a recent trend, the SEC was once again the nation’s top conference on the recruiting trail, amassing three of the top 5 classes, five of the top 10 and 12 of the top 25 classes in the country, according to the 247Sports industry composite rankings. Furthermore, the SEC claimed the top 3 players in the 2015 class (again, according to 247Sports) and six of the top 10, indicating its ability to attract the nation’s top talent to the Southeast.

Dak Prescott bloodied in Panama City Beach: Prescott, the reigning SEC first-team all-conference quarterback, took a spring break trip to Panama City Beach, Fla., with a few teammates back in March when he and his teammates were attacked in a parking lot outside a hip hop concert. There was video footage gathered from the brawl, but no sign of who might have instigated the fight or how. Nevertheless, Prescott and his teammates were seriously bloodied, forcing them to cut their trip short and return to Starkville. Prescott was able to avoid any injuries that might have forced him to miss time during spring ball.

Alabama dismisses Jonathan Taylor: Here’s a story of a second chance gone wrong. Taylor originally began his career at Georgia, but was dismissed after the 2013 season upon being arrested for aggravated assault for striking his then-girlfriend. He spent a year in junior college, then arrived at Alabama this January as a juco transfer, only to be arrested two months later on domestic violence charges. The star defensive tackle was expected to bolster Alabama’s ferocious defensive line this fall and beyond, but it was his physicality away from the field that ultimately landed him outside Nick Saban’s program.

No quarterbacks, big problem: The SEC’s 14 teams closed the book on this spring practice season having made plenty of progress on the field, just not at the quarterback position. Eight of those 14 schools (yes, more than half) have yet to decide on a starting quarterback for the season opener in September, and most teams won’t begin fall camp to determine a starter until August. That’s concerning for a conference hoping to reassert its national dominance this season, and it’s especially concerning for teams who otherwise appear to be championship contenders like Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss, all of which lack leadership at the quarterback position. The lack of experienced, established signal callers in the SEC could be its undoing, and it’s absolutely something fans near and far will monitor throughout the rest of the offseason.

Auburn names Jeremy Johnson its starter: The only team to begin spring ball without a starter and end the spring with one is Auburn, who held a quarterback “competition” throughout the spring only to name expected starter Jeremy Johnson as the team’s quarterback for the season. Johnson started the first half of last year’s game against Arkansas while Nick Marshall served a suspension, and he was terrific in a short amount of time, completing 12 of 16 throws for more than 200 yards in an Auburn victory. His game does not at all mimic Marshall’s — Johnson is a big, strong-armed pocket passer with nice footwork to complement his passing ability — but he’s quickly developing into one of the highest-regarded quarterbacks in a conference depleted at the position.

La’el Collins’ NFL career put on hold: Collins was a near-lock to go in the first round of this year’s NFL draft, and he was expected to go as high as the top 10 by some, meaning big money and high exposure to begin his NFL career. But in the days leading up to the draft, a 29-year-old pregnant woman in Louisiana with whom Collins had shared a romantic relationship was murdered, and Collins had to leave the draft site in Chicago to return home to answer questions from police.

He is not a suspect in the case, but is a person of interest, and as a result NFL teams wanted nothing to do with him throughout the draft (the Aaron Hernandez case sets precedent for NFL general managers). Collins may be completely innocent; after all, this is America where we’re innocent until proven guilty, and Collins has done all the right things thus far in making himself available for questioning, submitting to a paternity test and preparing an alibi. Still, until his name is cleared, he’ll remain an NFL free agent who is now officially unable to enter the supplemental draft and unable to refile for next year’s draft like Bo Jackson once did. If he is cleared, someone is going to get a very talented offensive tackle for a very, very, very cheap price.

Nick Marshall moves to cornerback: Marshall, the quarterback of Auburn’s 2013 SEC championship team and of last year’s eight-win squad, knew he had no future at the position as an undersized talent at the position without enough pocket presence in a traditional pro-style offense. Marshall also knew he was a gifted enough athlete to make it into the league at another position, and after Auburn’s loss in its bowl game in January he moved from quarterback to cornerback in time for the annual Senior Bowl, the start of intense pre-draft scouting from NFL teams. Marshall worked out as a quarterback and a cornerback at the NFL combine in February, and was hoping to catch on somewhere as a corner or at least a special teamer with kick return and kick coverage potential. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars after going undrafted, and will try and follow in the footsteps of fellow former quarterbacks like Antwaan Randle-El and Julian Edelman.

SEC still leads way in NFL draft: Once again, for the eighth year in a row, the SEC led all other conferences with 54 players drafted in this year’s draft, which was comprised of 256 total picks. That means the SEC alone claimed more than one-fifth of the year’s total draftees, including seven in the first round (third in the nation) and 22 on the first two nights of the draft (second in the nation). The SEC made a huge push with 34 more picks in the final four rounds, and that doesn’t even include players like Collins or undrafted All-American Cody Prewitt.