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It’s tricky.

Do you reward the guy who lit up the Group of 5 defense and punish the guy who played against actual competition? Ranking quarterbacks is certainly a week-to-week process, but it shouldn’t be based strictly on that because not everyone faces the same competition.

For example, Jalen Hurts played against Florida State at a neutral site. Drew Lock got Missouri State at home. It’s not fair to make sweeping generalizations about how they stack up as quarterbacks based entirely on that.

So keep that in mind when you’re arguing about these quarterback rankings:

14. Kellen Mond, Texas A&M

Lost in the shuffle of the Aggies’ epic collapse at UCLA was the fact that Nick Starkel could miss the rest of 2017 after having ankle surgery. That means it’s up to Mond to lead the way. That’s a troubling thought after seeing the way the true freshman struggled in the fourth quarter. He completed just 3 of 17 passes for 27 yards, and appeared overwhelmed by the speed of the game. It ain’t getting any slower in SEC play. Perhaps with a couple more starts under his belt, Mond will look more prepared to lead the A&M offense.

13. Feleipe Franks/Malik Zaire, Florida

In Florida’s defense, a lot of SEC quarterbacks would’ve struggled mightily against Michigan’s defense. But Franks and Zaire got that first-hand experience in Dallas. They couldn’t lead a single touchdown drive against the Wolverines, who sacked the Florida quarterbacks six times. Franks’ day was finished when he coughed up a fumble on a scramble to get a first down. He’s still the guy going forward, but nothing from the Florida quarterbacks on Saturday made Gator fans breathe any easier than last year.

12. Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt

Now that was the Vanderbilt passing game that was missing for most of last season. Shurmur torched Middle Tennessee State for 296 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 28-6 victory on the road.

Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Commodores had to be excited about the way that Shurmur stretched the field. Middle Tennessee loaded the box and dared Vanderbilt to throw it, which didn’t work out so well. If that can happen against SEC defenses, Vanderbilt could be a much more dangerous team.

11. Danny Etling, LSU

Etling’s handoff form looked solid Saturday night. Ok, he did more than hand the ball off to LSU’s tailbacks, but not much. With LSU’s defense shutting out BYU, Etling wasn’t in too many must-throw situations, though he did complete 14 of his 17 attempts. Matt Canada will continue to put Etling in favorable position to succeed in this offense. It’s just not an offense built around the quarterback position.

10. Quinten Dormady, Tennessee

For a while, it was ugly. It didn’t look like Dormady would be the guy who could lead a comeback victory against a quality foe. But that was exactly what he did. Dormady helped the Vols come back and pull out a wild double overtime win against Georgia Tech. Jarrett Guarantano didn’t even see the field, which says a lot about the confidence Butch Jones has in Dormady to be the guy. There are still questions about whether he can make all the throws, but he has a talented group of wideouts (even without the injured Jauan Jennings) who should be able to help him out.

9. Jake Fromm, Georgia

Welcome to the big time, rook. When Jacob Eason went down in the first quarter, the true freshman stepped in and led the Bulldogs to a comfortable victory against Appalachian State. He didn’t stuff the stat sheet (10 of 15 for 143 yards, 1 TD pass), but he made all the plays the Bulldogs needed him to in order to prevent any whiff of an upset.

With Eason out for the foreseeable future, Fromm will get his chance to take over the offense. First up, a trip to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. Welcome to the big time, indeed.

8. Stephen Johnson, Kentucky

Let’s be clear. Johnson and the Kentucky offense weren’t in midseason form against Southern Mississippi. Completing 11 passes for 176 yards against a Group of 5 team doesn’t usually warrant a higher spot on this list. But credit Johnson for not making that back-breaking mistake. The Wildcats could’ve easily suffered their second consecutive loss to the Golden Eagles. Johnson will have to be more of a playmaker with his arm to prevent better teams from loading the box.

7. Shea Patterson, Ole Miss

So apparently this Patterson kid can play. Who knew? Jokes aside, the Ole Miss sophomore looked impressive in a 20-point victory against South Alabama. Granted, it came against a mostly new South Alabama defense that looked different than the one that knocked off Mississippi State in last year’s opening weekend. Still, Patterson’s 429 passing yards and four scores were exactly what Ole Miss fans wanted to see. A.J. Brown, who set an Ole Miss record with 233 receiving yards, looked every bit like a go-to receiver. Patterson could be climbing this list in a hurry.

6. Jarrett Stidham, Auburn

What did we learn from Stidham’s highly-anticipated Auburn debut? Not a ton. The Tigers weren’t about to open up the playbook against Georgia Southern, and the numbers showed it. Stidham completed 14 of 24 passes for 185 yards in Auburn’s blowout victory. Sure, the Tigers needed their quarterback to produce without Kamryn Pettway and the late injury to Kerryon Johnson wasn’t ideal, but next Saturday against Clemson will be the real measuring stick for Stidham.

5. Drew Lock, Missouri

Yowza. Save some touchdowns for the rest of the season. Lock set Missouri records with 521 passing yards and seven touchdown passes in a shootout victory against Missouri State. He earned Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week honor after dicing up the Missouri State secondary all afternoon.

But it was still only Missouri State. I already broke down what was preventing Lock from joining the elite level of SEC quarterbacks. Until he can put up video game numbers against legitimate competition, Lock won’t be able to crack one of the top spots.

4. Jake Bentley, South Carolina

All that offseason hype about Bentley was confirmed Saturday. He led the Gamecocks to a victory that they probably wouldn’t have gotten last year. He threw three touchdown passes in a 35-28 win against N.C. State, and none was more impressive than this dime to Deebo Samuel.

After seeing some of the throws Bentley made, it’s no wonder South Carolina fans are so fired up about this kid. Considering the poise he showed, perhaps I should stop calling him “kid.”

3. Austin Allen, Arkansas

That wasn’t exactly the start Arkansas fans hoped to see from the passing game. Florida A&M is a team that guys like Allen usually light up. His 135 passing yards won’t get him on any Heisman Trophy ballot, but did the Razorbacks really unleash him? His passes were mostly short, high-percentage throws. The good news is that Allen completed 73.7 percent of his throws and he was only sacked once. And if the ground game dominates like that, why expose their best offensive weapon if they don’t have to? There are bigger games ahead for Allen.

2. Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State

Did Fitzgerald need to do a ton to roll past Charleston Southern? No, but he still put up 239 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in a 49-0 victory. That was after he sat for most of the second half. That was a welcome sight for a team that didn’t have many blowouts last year. Fitzgerald needs to have a few laughers like he had on Saturday to be preserved for the entire season.

1. Jalen Hurts, Alabama

You’re right. He didn’t look like the SEC’s best quarterback on Saturday. Half of his yards came on one long touchdown pass to a wide open Calvin Ridley. The intermediate passing game and the rushing lanes weren’t there for Hurts. But no SEC quarterback faced a Week 1 defense with speed like Florida State. Hurts wasn’t the star of the show by any means, but he also didn’t make that big mistake. Sometimes, the great quarterbacks are asked simply not to lose the game for his team, which Hurts didn’t. That won’t be the case all season for the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.