It’s no secret heading into the 2016 season that the SEC lacks accomplished signal callers under center outside of Chad Kelly, Joshua Dobbs and possibly Trevor Knight. While many question marks exist all around the league at the quarterback position, the SEC’s next great gunslinger may come from the school you would least expect in Vanderbilt sophomore Kyle Shurmur.

Shurmur saw action in six games as a true freshman last season but ended the season on a high note against Tennessee, as the freshman threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns against the Vols. After being named the full-time starter by head coach Derek Mason this summer, the Commodores will look to Shurmur to upgrade the offense in Nashville.

During a recent guest segment on the Out of Bounds radio show, ESPN national recruiting director and college football analyst Tom Luginbill threw out Shurmur’s name as one to watch as the SEC’s next best quarterback.

“I’m going to give you a name here, and I don’t know if they’ll be any good around him, but that quarterback at Vanderbilt is a really good player,” Luginbill said on the air. “A really good player. They played him a lot last year because they realized he was better than what they had and I think he’s a guy that can actually build around.”

Being the father of former NFL head coach and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, Kyle’s knowledge of the game combined with the talent of his arm could lead to Vanderbilt finally putting a consistent offense on the field for the Commodores under Mason.

If the defense continues to improve under Mason’s tutelage and Shurmur takes a leap forward this year, Vanderbilt could very well be the surprise team of the league in 2016.