Week 6 was a little chaotic when it comes to SEC quarterback rankings. Some players made huge jumps from last week, while other plummeted after posting performances they’re going to want back.
Let’s rank every SEC quarterback, 1-16, entering the back half of the regular season. As always, check out previous rankings below!
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Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 |
16. KJ Jackson, Arkansas
Will KJ Jackson and the Arkansas Razorbacks pick up another win this season? It feels like last Saturday at Razorback Stadium was as good of an opportunity as they’ll have the remainder of the way. Ultimately, Tennessee’s George MacIntyre made plays to win the game and Jackson did not.
Jackson had some good moments. He led a 10-play, 63-yard touchdown drive that ended with a precision pass Jaden Platt, giving Arkansas a brief 14-10 lead. The remaining 4 drives? 3-and-out. Field goal. 3-and-out. 3-and-out. Ballgame.
Jackson finished 15-for-27 for 155 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 lost fumble.
Last Week: 16 (-)
15. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Marcel Reed is consistently becoming the toughest QB in the SEC to write about. At this point, I just feel bad. Mike Elko continuing to wheel Reed out there as he struggles to get anything going downfield against SEC defenses just isn’t fun to watch — especially considering the success Reed has had in the past.
Elko noted postgame that he doesn’t think benching Reed would fix Texas A&M’s problems. A reminder: Reed has thrown for 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions against SEC competition this season, all while averaging less than 175 passing yards per game.
Is Elko necessarily wrong? Maybe not! Brady Hart looked rough in his brief appearances this season, and at least Reed can still threaten a defense with his legs. Whatever the Aggies choose to do, it might not make much of a difference. I have a feeling we’ll keep beating this drum until the end of the regular season.
Last Week: 15 (-)
14. Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt
Jared Curtis, barring injury, will very likely be Vanderbilt’s quarterback to finish out this season. Blaze Berlowitz is dealing with a broken collarbone and will miss time, paving the way for the true freshman to continue his development.
A few things have been made abundantly clear about Curtis and Vanderbilt across the past few weeks. Diego Pavia’s impact on the program was not overstated — the Commodores are back to being among the worst teams in the SEC.
That said, it’s obvious Curtis is still a few years away. Curtis uncorks few throws a game that just blow you away — such as this one — but his processing and consistency are other stories entirely. The 5-star talent will get there, but it won’t be this season.
Last Week: 10 (-4)
13. Byrum Brown, Auburn
Byrum Brown did not play in Week 6 as the Auburn Tigers prepare to face off against a Georgia team that looks like a world-beater. The Bulldogs were mostly able to limit Keeon Russell’s ability to scramble on Saturday — how will Brown fare in Week 7?
I’ll start the O/U at 4.5 sacks.
Last Week: 13 (-)
12. George MacIntyre, Tennessee
One play from George MacIntyre’s first career start stands out. First, let’s set the scene.
Tennessee’s defense is on the brink of exhaustion. Arkansas came out of the locker room with its hair on fire, scoring a touchdown on its first and second drives of the second half. What was once a 7-0 Tennessee lead is now a 14-7 Arkansas lead, and now Tennessee is facing a crucial 3rd-and-7 in Arkansas territory. If the Vols don’t answer right now, Arkansas receives the ball with around 18 minutes remaining and a chance to go up 2 possessions.
Gotta have it.
Feeling the blitz and the pressure, MacIntyre maneuvers past a Razorbacks defender, keeps his eyes downfield and rifles a perfect pass to Braylon Staley to move the chains.
That’s a winning play, folks. Tennessee stopped Arkansas’s scoring run with a field goal to end this drive, which more importantly gave Jim Knowles’ defense time to breathe. MacIntyre, with the help of star RB DeSean Bishop, then led 2 touchdown drives in the 4th quarter to close out Tennessee’s win on the road.
Was it perfect? Absolutely not. MacIntyre definitely let it fly on Saturday, but he also struggled to protect the football, throwing 2 interceptions and losing a fumble. Was there enough to build on? Sure. MacIntyre should start in Week 7 against Alabama.
Last week: 11 (-1)
11. Arch Manning, Texas
No more excuses for Arch Manning. The Texas starter, outside of a magnificent 4th quarter against Ohio State, has underwhelmed time and time again this season.
Don’t point to the stats. Look at when the stats took place. Both of Manning’s interceptions on the evening were complete head-scratchers — especially his final INT that led to Oklahoma’s game-winning field goal.
Pause the below video before the snap. Oklahoma is overloading the right side of Texas’s offensive line. Manning, for some reason, is looking left until it’s too late, then he panics and throws a duck to an obviously covered Cam Coleman. Look folks, I’m just a dude typing away behind a keyboard and he’s the guy trying to navigate Oklahoma’s defense in real-time, but this is an abject disaster from start to finish in crunch time:
Last Week: 6 (-5)
10. John Mateer, Oklahoma
John Mateer made the most impressive throw of his 2026 season on Saturday. The Sooners starter laced a perfect back-shoulder ball to Isaiah Sategna, setting the stage for Tate Sandell’s 47-yard game-winner.
The rest of Mateer’s outing was not particularly pretty, but it also wasn’t disastrous. That was the difference. Arch Manning committed 2 turnovers — John Mateer committed 0. For the day, Mateer finished 18-for-26 for 155 yards.
Last Week: 14 (+4)
9. Aaron Philo, Florida
If you look at the numbers, Aaron Philo is still one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC. Numbers, famously, can deceive.
The Florida starter sits 6th in the SEC in total QBR, 2nd in completion percentage (70.5%) and 4th in yards per attempt (9). On the flip side, Philo is 8th in yards per game and 10th in passing touchdowns.
What does that sound like to you?
The Gators offense has been figured out, it appears. Mizzou exposed Florida by stacking the box and forcing Philo to beat it, and it worked like a charm. I said last week that it was a test Philo couldn’t fail, and he didn’t do much to help his case against South Carolina.
Philo is the guy some fans thought Gunner Stockton was preseason. He’s not a bad quarterback, but it’s getting tougher and tougher to believe he’s one that will go out and win you the game when the cards are down, either. The fact of the matter is Philo’s per-game QBR has dropped with each passing SEC matchup, and Florida looks worse and worse with each passing week. The Gators need a shot of energy. Could it be Tramell Jones?
Last Week: 9 (-)
8. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
After its loss to Alabama in Week 4, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer challenged his starting quarterback.
“After the Alabama game, in front of the team, I told him, ‘Cutter (Woods) is gonna get some first-team reps, and you need to play better.’ I did. I challenged everybody, not just LaNorris… you gotta hold him accountable,” Beamer recalled after South Carolina’s win over Florida. “He responded against Kentucky and I thought he was a freaking dude today.”
You can say that again.
Beamer’s message appears to have lit a fire under Sellers — he was good against Kentucky and flat-out great against the Gators. The Gamecocks QB accounted for 5 touchdowns and just under 300 yards of total offense to secure South Carolina’s first SEC win of the year, a 38-19 smackdown of No. 16 Florida in The Swamp.
Now comes the all-important question: Is this sustainable? Has a switch been flipped, or is this just a flash in the pan? Regardless, this jump in the rankings was well-earned.
Last Week: 12 (+4)
7. Sam Leavitt, LSU
Sam Leavitt is the only FBS quarterback who has thrown at least 1 interception in every game his team has played this season. He also did this, which, in fairness, wound up not directly costing LSU because Kentucky’s kicker had a bit of a moment:
Turnovers have defined the LSU quarterback’s season to this point. Take away his inability to protect the football and Leavitt has performed like a top 5 quarterback in the league. His 1,496 passing yards rank 2nd in the SEC, and his 7 rushing touchdowns lead SEC quarterbacks by a considerable margin. He’s fairly accurate, too — Leavitt ranks 5th in the SEC in completion percentage at 67.6 across 173 attempts.
Until he proves he can limit the costly turnovers — which wound up being the difference on Saturday, by the way — Leavitt will stay among the middle of the pack.
Last Week: 7 (-)
6. Kenny Minchey, Kentucky
It’s hard not to root for Kenny Minchey after watching the run he’s been on the past few weeks. The Notre Dame transfer doesn’t have the strongest arm in the conference, and he won’t wow you with his athleticism, but he sure does know how to win.
Kentucky casually faced and beat one of the best 5 defenses in college football Saturday evening in Lexington. He called his own number and walked in for the game-winning 2-point conversion in overtime, and he didn’t turn the ball over while completing 23 of his 36 passing attempt for 246 yards and 1 rushing touchdown.
Slow and steady wins the race. Can Minchey and the Wildcats keep it rolling Saturday at Oklahoma?
Last Week: 8 (+2)
5. Austin Simmons, Mizzou
Remember last week when I mentioned that Austin Simmons and the Mizzou Tigers have started games slow this season? Well folks, despite winning 27-6, Mizzou once again failed to score in the first quarter and Simmons posted perhaps his worst 1Q performance to date.
Simmons’s high-end talent has been well established, but his struggles to start games are genuinely concerning at this point. The Ole Miss transfer threw his first interception of the season on the Tigers’ opening drive, a ball that was tipped at the line and deflected into the arms of an Aggie defender. Across his 3 drives to start this one, Simmons fared 4-for-8 for 17 yards and 1 interception.
Last Week: 4 (-1)
4. Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State
Kamario Taylor did not play in Week 6 as Mississippi State prepares for LSU off a bye week. Taylor’s status for Week 7 is up in the air, too — it appears the foot injury he suffered against Alabama was more serious than anticipated.
Last Week: 3 (-1)
3. Keelon Russell, Alabama
Keelon Russell is a great QB as it currently stands. Imagine what he’ll be next season or the year after.
Yes, Alabama lost. Yes, Russell finished with 185 passing yards. Still, a no-call pass interference — egregious in every sense of the word — stood in the way of a 20-20 ballgame with under 5 minutes remaining. That’s assuming Russell doesn’t lead Alabama into the end zone on what ended up being the Crimson Tide’s final drive, too.
Georgia proved Saturday night that the way to make Russell less effective is by pressuring him early and often. Russell has been excellent out of structure this season, but you can’t exactly call his style ‘surgical’ through 6 weeks. The Alabama QB took 4 sacks on Saturday, and that’s while he was doing stuff like this all evening.
How is Georgia supposed to defend against that? Trinidad Chambliss is the only other SEC QB who has a chance at making that play in that spot. That’s some good company.
Last Week: 2 (-1)
2. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Speaking of surgical, how about Georgia‘s Gunner Stockton?
I’ve been saying it since Week 1: Stockton is among the most overlooked and underappreciated quarterbacks in all of college football, and he proved why on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. After rallying on the road to beat Tennessee last year, Stockton got it done in crunch time against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. He completed 18 of his 22 passing attempts for 249 yards while accounting for 2 touchdowns and 1 turnover.
The Throw of the Game, though? There are a few options, but my pick is his final completion that put Alabama to bed.
Last Week: 5 (+3)
1. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
It was another day at the office for Trinidad Chambliss vs. Vanderbilt. The Ole Miss star completed 66% of his passes for 213 yards while accounting for 4 touchdowns and 1 interception in a 52-17 rout of Vanderbilt.
There are some great quarterbacks on this list. I have a hard time believing Chambliss is going to move from this No. 1 spot this season. The next few weeks against Mizzou and at Texas feature an uptick in competition — time to sit back and watch Chambliss do his thing.
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.
