With roughly half of the SEC worried about how its quarterbacks will play this season, it is hard to get a good read on how the leaderboard for individual statistics might look by the time the dust settles this fall.

While there is a good deal of talent at the position spread throughout the conference, playing time seems to be in question for players at some of the league’s top programs such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Ole Miss. Even teams that have seemingly found some resolution, like LSU and South Carolina, are a couple of bad plays away from going a different direction with the position.

So, given all of that, we’ll do our best to make some predictions about what the SEC passing leaders might look like for the 2015 season. 

But first, let’s break down the SEC’s best quarterbacks by class before moving into statistical projections:

IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State: By just about any measure, Prescott is the league’s premier returning quarterback. Just as dangerous running the ball as he is throwing it, he will give Mississippi State a chance to win in every game on its schedule in 2015.

ON SOLID GROUND

Brandon Allen, Arkansas: Allen has paid his dues and quietly had a very nice junior season in 2014. His hold on the Razorbacks starting job is very good, and he’ll likely post some solid, if not unspectacular, numbers again in 2015.

Maty Mauk, Mizzou: While the rest of the league seems to be trying out several guys at the position, Missouri has put its faith in Mauk as a second-year starter. Settled into the role for a second season, we could see a very nice year from the Mizzou QB.

READY TO SHINE

Kyle Allen, Texas A&M: Surrounded by one of the league’s strongest receiver supporting cast and playing in the most quarterback-friendly system in the league, expect Allen to put up some big-time numbers in 2015.

Jeremy Johnson, Auburn: He waited his turn behind Nick Marshall, and now it is his time to shine. As long as he doesn’t let the preseason Heisman Trophy talk get into his head, this guy has the right combination of talent, opportunity and surrounding to post one of the better seasons in the league.

Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee: We saw just what Dobbs was capable of during a monster second half of 2014. Now, it is time for the junior to show us he is capable of leading this team from start to finish. If he does so successfully, the numbers he is likely to produce will be tough to top.

Patrick Towles, Kentucky: Towles flashed big-time ability in the early going of 2014. With a full season under his belt, don’t be surprised if that becomes an every-week type of performance in 2015.

2015 PROJECTIONS

Note: These numbers are rounded. I’m not going to pretend to know how to predict the difference in 3,456 passing yards and 3,512 passing yards during the course of a season. We’ll round that to a projection of 3,500 passing yards and call it a day.

Passing TD Leaders (minimum 20)

Prescott 32; K. Allen 30; Johnson 25; Dobbs 22; Towles 22; Mauk 20; B. Allen 20

Rushing TD Leaders (minimum 6)

Prescott 14; Dobbs 10; Johnson 7; Towles 6; Mauk 6

Passing Yardage Leaders (minimum 2,800)

K. Allen 3,800; Prescott 3,400; Johnson 3,300; Dobbs 3,200; Towles 3,000; Mauk 2,900

Rushing Yardage Leaders (minimum 400)

Prescott 1,000; Dobbs 750; Mauk 550; Johnson 500; Towles 400; T. Harris 400