There were big winners and big losers among SEC quarterbacks in Week 5. We had our first true benching, which means our first new quarterback has joined the rankings as we near the halfway point of the 2026 regular season.
Wait… already?
Let’s rank every SEC quarterback, 1-16. Check out previous rankings below!
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Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 |
16. KJ Jackson, Arkansas
KJ Jackson doesn’t like playing football on the road. Following his woeful 14-for-34 outing at Utah in Week 2, Jackson struggled mightily against Texas A&M in a 34-7 loss at Kyle Field, completing 13 of his 25 passing attempts for 111 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
It’s clear the game is moving far too fast for Jackson entering Week 6 against a stout Tennessee defense. This could get ugly.
Last Week: 15 (-1)
15. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Marcel Reed completed 13 of his 19 passing attempts for 170 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions to help secure Saturday’s 34-7 win over Arkansas, which has far and away been the worst team in the SEC through 5 weeks. In addition, he rushed for 66 yards and 1 touchdown.
Saturday was without a doubt Reed’s best game of the year thus far. This is not meant as a compliment.
Last Week: 16 (+1)
14. John Mateer, Oklahoma
Last year’s Red River matchup against Texas defined John Mateer’s season. The Washington State transfer posted his first truly terrible game as a Sooner, throwing 3 interceptions to seal a second-straight loss to Texas, 23-6.
This year’s iteration of Texas will be an even tougher test for Mateer and the Sooners. Colin Simmons and the Longhorns’ defensive line is violent and among the best units in America. The outlook doesn’t feel great for Mateer, but it’s a massive opportunity to prove some folks wrong.
Show us something. Anything. With emphasis and above all else, find a way to stop committing backbreaking turnovers.
Last Week: 14 (-)
13. Byrum Brown, Auburn
It’s the same ol’ stuff with Byrum Brown and the Auburn Tigers. Against the best defense they’ve faced yet, Brown was largely ineffective as a passer and once again failed to protect the football, accounting for 3 turnovers in a 24-14 Tigers loss.
I probably sound like a broken record when talking about the Auburn quarterback. Brown is simply not a pocket passer. The USF transfer lacks the decision making and precision to be a pocket passer in the SEC, and it doesn’t help that his offensive line is among the worst in the conference.
The scant success Auburn was able to find Saturday stemmed from Brown’s ability to run the football. He had his best game of the year in this regard, taking 19 carries for 107 yards and 1 touchdown.
I don’t think the fix is as easy as “just let Brown run whenever he wants,” though. A quick reminder, Brown has more rushing attempts (81) than any other SEC quarterback by a wide margin, and more than all but 4 running backs.
Alex Golesh and Co. certainly have their work cut out for them.
Last Week: 12 (-1)
12. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
The result didn’t go South Carolina‘s way, but LaNorris Sellers played perhaps the best game of his 2026 season against Kentucky. A little bit of 2024 Sellers made an appearance, too — his 147 rushing yards are the 2nd most in a single game across his career and the most since November 2024’s win over Clemson.
While he didn’t avoid them entirely, Sellers was able to limit disastrous mistakes to just one. The below fumble is pretty brutal, but the impact is less damning than it looks — Kentucky covered the 4th-and-3 pretty well, and Sellers probably wasn’t going to convert anyway. Still, like I said last week, Sellers is a lock for at least one hand-delivered turnover a game at this point.
Last week: 13 (+1)
11. George MacIntyre, Tennessee
Josh Heupel said Monday that he isn’t naming a starting quarterback for Week 6’s matchup against Arkansas. While I can’t speak for Heupel, I’d wager this is purely tactical — the pick should be obvious.
Faizon Brandon’s talent and athleticism are real, but it’s plain to see that he just is not ready for SEC football. Not yet. Despite not playing like one against Furman, Georgia Tech or Kennesaw State, Faizon Brandon is still very much a true freshman. Tennessee had a decent chance of losing to Auburn had Brandon stayed in the game, and Heupel made the correct decision to pivot to George MacIntyre.
For now, let’s turn the page.
I view MacIntyre as true neutral for this week’s QB rankings. Every QB above him could be seen as a net positive for their team, while those below could be viewed as holding them back through the first 5 weeks of the season. I’m going to pass on taking a firm stance on MacIntyre until defensive coordinators are able to get some film on him, but one thing is certain when considering the redshirt freshman: he wasn’t afraid to throw the football against a good Auburn defense.
Check out this ball, under pressure and thrown at the safety between closing windows knowing receiver Mike Matthews will fill the space. Listen to the crowd, too — they were desperate for a chunk play through the air:
The ability to make this type of throw, which Brandon didn’t show he was capable of, forced Auburn to adjust its defense to account for the pass rather than load the box. The Vols QB wasn’t asked to do much, but that simple change helped Tennessee secure the game as DeSean Bishop found new life and rumbled for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Let’s see how MacIntyre looks in Fayetteville against Arkansas.
Last Week: —
10. Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt
Obviously, Jared Curtis did not play in Week 5 against Georgia — and Blaze Berlowitz actually performed fairly well in his stead. That being said, this is Curtis’s team and considering he was a game-time decision, I’m going to assume he’ll be suiting up for Vanderbilt against Ole Miss.
Last Week: 11 (+1)
9. Aaron Philo, Florida
Mizzou shut down Florida running back Jadan Baugh from the jump in Week 5. Baugh rushed for just 13 yards on 12 attempts at an average of 1.1 yards per carry. The rest of Florida’s rushing attack didn’t perform much better — as a collective, the Gators rushed for 42 yards on 25 attempts, good for 1.7 yards per carry.
Mizzou took Jadan Baugh out of the equation and forced Aaron Philo to beat it.
Unfortunately for Philo and Gators fans, Mizzou DC Corey Batoon’s plan worked like a charm, and it exposed a pretty glaring weakness in a Florida offense that looked unstoppable against Ole Miss. While Philo wasn’t the reason Florida lost on Saturday, he didn’t help matters either. Philo is a good quarterback, but great quarterbacks respond in the situations he was put in Week 5.
This is a pretty substantial drop, I know, but Philo failed a test he really needed to pass.
Last Week: 4 (-5)
8. Kenny Minchey, Kentucky
Kenny Minchey is slowly climbing the rankings. As are his Kentucky Wildcats.
Minchey’s offensive line is excellent and he’s had great weapons around him in Kenny Darby and the Wildcats’ 3-headed monster of CJ Baxter, Jo Barnes and Jason Patterson at RB. So far, Will Stein has instilled a confidence that Kentucky’s offense has not had in a long, long time.
Minchey deserves some of the credit for that, too. The Notre Dame transfer delivered in the clutch to secure a comeback win on the road, finishing 28-for-41 for 272 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. A good percentage of that production came in the 2nd half. South Carolina’s secondary is below average, but we saw high-level stuff from Minchey across the final 2 quarters in Columbia.
I still wonder about his arm speed, mobility and drop-backs against the best of the best, but Minchey has proven to be a solid starter with his intelligence, leadership and unteachable ability to make things happen for Kentucky.
Last Week: 10 (+2)
7. Sam Leavitt, LSU
A few positives stood out from Sam Leavitt’s performance against McNeese.
For starters, he played. That itself is a win as he recovers from a minor hamstring injury suffered against Texas A&M. Leavitt completed all but 5 of his 23 passing attempts for 176 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception across 2 quarters of work.
Leavitt did most of it from within a clean pocket, too. Because of his injury, Leavitt did not attempt even one rush on Saturday and was forced to trust his arm like he did last week. LSU head coach Lane Kiffin pointed this out on Monday:
“I think because of the rush and then the injury, when someone starts to come free, he’s not just taking off and running,” Kiffin said, via On3’s Glen West. “He’s saying, okay, now I’m going to step in and throw this one and then take the hit. And there were some examples like that the last two weeks.”
The Arizona State transfer has responded well to his underwhelming outing against Ole Miss. Could we see a better version of Leavitt across the next few weeks?
Last Week: 8 (+1)
6. Arch Manning, Texas
Quarterbacks around the conference are starting to post games that show why they should be considered among the best of the best. Russell did it against Mississippi State. Chambliss did it against LSU, and Simmons did it against Florida. Arch Manning and Texas observed a bye this week, but we haven’t quite seen that type of performance from the Longhorns’ standout this season.
Does that change against a good Oklahoma Sooners defense in Dallas?
Last Week: 7 (+1)
5. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Gunner Stockton attempted 30 passes for the first time all season against Vanderbilt, totaling 295 yards with 3 passing touchdowns and a 78% completion rate. Georgia hasn’t played any elite teams yet, but the Bulldogs’ offense is absolutely humming with Stockton under center.
The improvement from 2025 to 2026 is noticeable, but the big test is still to come. Last year, Stockton fared 13-for-20 for 130 yards and 1 touchdown in a 24-21 loss to Alabama. Can he take the necessary step this year in Tuscaloosa?
Last Week: 5 (-)
4. Austin Simmons, Mizzou
So far, Austin Simmons has been the most impressive transfer quarterback in the SEC.
Through 5 weeks, Simmons is the only SEC starter without an interception and the nation’s leader in passes attempted without an interception, 4 attempts ahead of Miami’s Darian Mensah. The new Mizzou QB posted his best game yet on Saturday, slicing and dicing the Florida Gators secondary for 340 yards and 2 touchdowns on 23-of-30 passing.
Simmons isn’t taking a horizontal approach to pad his 9.4 yards per attempt (4th highest in the SEC), either. I’ve seen him make throws all over the field in every game he’s played this season except for that strange Week 3 outing against Troy. Simmons’ zip is up there with the best in the country, and you wouldn’t guess he makes as many tight-window throws as he does for a QB with 0 interceptions across 137 attempts.
Simmons has been impressive, no doubt. A certain trend is becoming worrying, though.
Like a diesel engine in the cold, Simmons takes some time to get going. The Tigers have scored 2 first-quarter touchdowns all season and both came against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Week 1. Since then, they’ve scored a grand total of 3 points across the first 15 minutes of action against Kansas, Troy, Mississippi State and Florida. You could argue a slow start lost Mizzou the game to MSU a few weeks ago, and the Tigers surely can’t afford to twiddle their thumbs against Texas or Georgia in a month.
Last Week: 6 (+2)
3. Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State
If you ignore the turnovers, Kamario Taylor posted some good numbers against a solid Alabama defense. Taylor completed 19 of his 34 passing attempts for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns despite the fact Mississippi State‘s running backs combined for just 44 yards rushing across 24 attempts.
“Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”
Decent stats aside, Taylor’s Week 5 outing against the Crimson Tide was objectively a bit of a letdown. The MSU star entered Saturday’s matchup having committed just 3 turnovers through 4 games. He promptly gifted Alabama 14 points with a fumble and pick-6 on MSU’s first 2 drives, then threw another interception following an Alabama touchdown to open the second half, leading to another Alabama touchdown to put the Tide up 3 possessions. Ballgame.
Losing Fluff Bothwell 1 play into the game didn’t help and Taylor wasn’t 100%, ending the day in a boot on the sidelines. Still, these are nothing but excuses — the fact of the matter is Taylor didn’t deliver on the big stage. A perfectly timed bye week is just what the doctor ordered heading into Week 7 at LSU.
How will Taylor respond?
Last Week: 2 (-1)
2. Keelon Russell, Alabama
Keelon Russell laced NFL throw after NFL throw while leading Alabama to a 56-23 win over Mississippi State in Starkville. Kamario Taylor may have entered the weekend with all the hype in the world, but all eyes are on Russell entering Week 6.
Here’s the most notable of Russell’s NFL throws from Saturday — a back-shoulder beauty from hash to hash, 40 yards downfield.
While watching this play I found myself thinking, “how good is Austin Mack if Alabama’s QB battle was close, as reported this offseason?”
The Alabama sophomore has been on a tear ever since the weather delay against Florida State, steadily improving with each passing week. Across his past 3 games, Russell completed 60 of his 79 passes for 970 yards and 10 touchdowns with 106 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. I don’t care who he’s playing, that’s absurd for a guy 5 starts into his college career.
There’s an argument to be made that Russell is still too low. If he keeps this level of production going against Georgia and Tennessee, it’ll be hard to disagree.
Last Week: 3 (+1)
1. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
Keelon Russell wants this spot from Chambliss, but there is no way the Ole Miss QB is dropping a spot during a bye week. Gunner Stockton is fresh off a fantastic outing against Vanderbilt — how will Chambliss fare in Week 6?
Last Week: 1 (-)
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Ethan Stone is a Saturday Down South News Editor and an advocate for the return of the Seattle Supersonics.
