Given his choice of any quarterback in the SEC to build his offense around for the 2017 season, SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy did not hesitate to pick Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald.

Following his breakout sophomore season, in which he racked up a combined 37 touchdowns, Fitzgerald is being picked by many this offseason as the conference’s best quarterback heading into 2017. That’s quite the compliment considering the uptick of talent around the league at the QB position and the fact that the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year is returning for his sophomore season.

During his Wednesday appearance on the Cole Cubelic Show, here’s what McElroy had to say about Fitzgerald when asked who he would pick if given the opportunity to select any quarterback to build his team around in 2017.

“Any quarterback? I’m taking Nick Fitzgerald from Mississippi State,” McElroy said on the air. “If I could have anybody. Right now, in today’s day and age of college football, it’s just easier to craft an offense around a guy that can both run and throw it — and Fitzgerald can do that.”

While McElroy is clearly high on the junior from MSU, he admits Fitzgerald has some room to grow as a player.

“I do think it’s imperative for him to learn how to play the position in a way that isn’t so high-risk, high-reward,” McElroy said. “He needs to occasionally understand that dumping it off to his running back underneath for a six-yard gain is a positive play. It doesn’t have to be a deep ball every time he throws the football. I do think his athleticism and his ceiling is as high as anyone in the league.

“I’ve been a big fan of his for a few years, dating back to when Dak Prescott was the starter and going to practice and being enamored with his skillset. He would be my No. 1 for sure. I just think his explosive capability, if you put him into an offense, with a bevy of talented playmakers around him, I think he would be the most successful.”

While the former Crimson Tide quarterback’s selection of Fitzgerald over Jalen Hurts may be tough for Alabama fans to swallow, McElroy points out that the MSU quarterback would have been helped by having the talent around him that Hurts did last season.

“Obviously, Jalen Hurts was in a position where he was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year last year. If you put Nick Fitzgerald in Jalen Hurts’ shoes, how would he have fared? I think he would have fared quite well,” McElroy concluded.