David Pollack played in the SEC and played at the highest level in the SEC, as an All-American linebacker at Georgia from 2001-04.
So the now college football analyst knows what greatness is all about in a conference stuffed with all-time greats. As the 2026 season gets ready to kick off in just over a month, Pollack provided his 2 cents Thursday afternoon on the top 5 quarterbacks in college football during his podcast, See Ball Get Ball.
Pollack wasn’t trying to be an SEC homer in his selections. But when the dust settled, he had 2 SEC quarterbacks as the best of the best signal-callers in the sport this year. At No. 2, Pollack went with Texas‘s Arch Manning, who didn’t quite fulfill the lofty expectations set for him last fall but comes back with a vengeance and a loaded supporting cast.
“Unbelievable arm talent, laser quick release, bro,” Pollack said. “We’ve seen the dual threat. Now, we’re going to see Arch Manning with less pressure than a year ago. This is his best supporting cast he’s had, and it ain’t close.”
And what about No. 1? What about the guy who Pollack believes is the best quarterback in the country, who also happens to play in the SEC?
That would be Ole Miss‘s Trinidad Chambliss, who nearly willed the Rebels to the national championship game last season.
“Numero uno, man. It’s Trinidad Chambliss. He is a point guard, man. The ball is out. Elite dual threat, running the football at a high level. Playoff experience,” Pollack said. “But the improv to go with all of that. The ability to extend plays and make that extra it factor. The extra thing that he can do that other people can’t do. That’s why I have Trinidad Chambliss (at No. 1).”
Here is Pollack’s full top 5 list of quarterbacks:
With Pollack putting 2 SEC quarterbacks at the very top of his elite 5 this season, that SEC championship battle is setting up to be even more chaotic than usual. Here is what the Kalshi market sees right now for those teams with the best odds to take it all in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
