The month of October is nearing a close, and more and more teams are being effectively eliminated from the College Football Playoff with each passing week. The number of SEC teams with 2 or less losses has shrunk from 16 to 9 with 5 Saturdays to go.
While we’ve learned a lot about each SEC program, we’ve also learned a lot about their starting quarterbacks. The synopsis for both is similar: Outside of a few at the top, it’s any given Saturday.
With that said, let’s rank every SEC quarterback, 1-16. As always, check out previous rankings below!
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Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 |
16. Billy Puckett, Mississippi State
Kamario Taylor’s injury was obviously more serious than the Bulldogs initially let on. The Mississippi State star only played a few snaps before exiting Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma, forcing the Bulldogs to once again turn to Parker “Billy” Puckett. Now, Taylor is set to miss the remainder of the 2026 season with a toe injury.
There’s definitely a reason why MSU tried to rush Taylor back into action. Puckett… looked like a backup, to put it nicely.
The Madison, Mississippi native fumbled near the Oklahoma goal line with a chance to take a 7-3 lead and didn’t throw his lone touchdown (which was considerably underthrown, by the way) until the final drive of the game with the Sooners already up 2 possessions. Seven of Mississippi State’s 11 possessions ended with a 3-and-out, turnover or turnover on downs.
Last Week: N/A
15. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Marcel Reed’s 2026 season has featured rough outing after rough outing. The Aggies QB once again started poorly against Alabama, throwing interceptions on his first 2 drives of the game, including a pick-6 to make it 7-0 early. Both were classic Reed interceptions: Inaccurate, telegraphed and devoid of the necessary zip to get past Alabama defensive backs.
Get ready, folks. I’m about to write something kind of positive about Marcel Reed.
The Texas A&M quarterback responded well after these early setbacks. After Alabama missed a field goal, Reed led the Aggies offense on a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive culminating in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mario Craver. Reed and the Aggies drove 75 yards across 11 plays to take the lead on the ensuing drive and entered halftime tied at 17.
The momentum did not last.
Reed once again struggled in the second half, and Alabama ran away with it to hand the Aggies a second straight SEC loss. For the afternoon, Reed finished 14-of-21 for 168 yards, 2 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing) and 3 turnovers (including a lost fumble).
Last Week: 16 (+1)
14. KJ Jackson, Arkansas
KJ Jackson did not play in Week 8 as the Arkansas Razorbacks prepare to face Mizzou. He rises one spot in the rankings as Billy Puckett takes Mississippi State’s place over Kamario Taylor.
Last Week: 15 (+1)
13. Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt
If we were ranking each SEC quarterback based solely off potential, Jared Curtis would be under serious consideration for the No. 1 spot alongside Keelon Russell and Trinidad Chambliss. If you can’t see it, I just don’t know what to tell you. The true freshman’s arm talent is simply unbelievable. He’s liable to throw at least one jaw-dropping pass per week.
Here’s this week’s:
For each of those, however, you’ll get one of these thrown in there, too:
Curtis has let his nerves get the best of him in crucial moments time and time again this season, far and away the most worrying theme of his freshman campaign. The turnovers are obviously a concern as well — only Sam Leavitt and Marcel Reed have thrown as many, and Curtis has the fewest attempts among them.
Again, the potential is there. The consistency? Not as much.
Last Week: 14 (+1)
12. Arch Manning, Texas
I’m not ready to crown Arch Manning for his performance against Ole Miss, even despite a hot start.
Manning’s first half was among his best of the season. He scored 2 touchdowns and dropped a perfect ball in the bucket for Cam Coleman that would have scored touchdown No. 3. Instead, Texas punted on this drive.
Side note: Has any SEC quarterback weathered as many back-breaking drops as Manning this season? I’d wager not.
Seems good, right? Well, the first half isn’t what I’m focused on. I’m focused on the second half, when Manning turned the ball over twice and allowed Ole Miss to crawl back into the game. After posting 171 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half, Manning fared 5-of-11 for 41 yards, 1 rushing touchdown and 2 turnovers in the second.
Texas’ defense covered up a lot of mistakes by holding Trinidad Chambliss to the worst performance of his Ole Miss career. Manning should be commended for doing enough to win — Texas just doesn’t get it done without Manning’s first half — but we also have to be realistic. Manning’s problems are not magically solved because he’s reportedly taken on a new demeanor in practice.
Last Week: 13 (+1)
11. George MacIntyre, Tennessee
The stat sheet from George MacIntyre’s Week 8 performance against South Carolina is a deception. Do not believe its lies.
As anyone who watched Saturday’s game knows, MacIntyre had 3 touchdowns and 101 passing yards called back by officials due to penalties. All 3 of these penalties were correct calls, but two of them — an illegal shift and illegal man downfield by way of a misaligned receiver — had zero effect on the actual play. MacIntyre’s 3rd touchdown was called back by a hold on tackle David Sanders, which allowed MacIntyre a few precious extra moments to deliver the ball in the pocket.
“It was one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played in,” MacIntyre said postgame.
MacIntyre was accurate and unafraid to let it rip, completing 16 of his 23 passing attempts. He continues to boast a strong pocket presence and gets the ball out quick, a sign he’s progressing in his understanding of the position. If Tennessee lined up correctly on his called-back touchdowns, MacIntyre would have finished above 200 yards with 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions in a road win.
This line of thinking gets Tennessee nowhere, though.
Despite all the frustrations described above, Tennessee held a 7-point lead with a 4th and 1 standing in the way of a likely victory. MacIntyre proceeded to botch Josh Heupel’s play call, failing to hand the ball off to a Tennessee tight end. A few plays later, after the Gamecocks tied things up, MacIntyre coughed up the football, setting USC up for the game-winning field goal.
Last week: 11 (-)
10. Byrum Brown, Auburn
Byrum Brown’s weekend against LSU was largely negative, and backup quarterback Tristan Ti’a looked solid in relief as the game got out of hand in the second half.
Brown’s lack of mobility in the pocket was the main story of Auburn‘s offensive woes on Saturday. The Auburn quarterback continues to be immensely sackable, sitting at 29 sacks taken on the season — just over 4 per game! The Tigers got to Brown 6 times on Saturday while holding him to under 200 yards of total offense.
Last Week: 9 (-1)
9. Tramell Jones Jr, Florida
Tramell Jones, for obvious reasons, was the toughest QB to place this week.
Florida observed a bye this past Saturday as the Gators prepare to face Georgia. In his limited snaps this season, Jones has looked calm and composed. He beat the same Texas defense on the road that handed Trinidad Chambliss his worst performance of the year on Saturday — in his first career start!
Glenn Schumann will have had 2 weeks to properly scout Jones ahead of Saturday’s Cocktail Party in Atlanta. The way he played against Georgia in mind, I think it would be a massive mistake for Jon Sumrall to pick Aaron Philo in this spot.
Last Week: 10 (+1)
8. John Mateer, Oklahoma
I’m fascinated by the answer John Mateer gave to a question asking about his turnaround performance against Mississippi State.
After posting an efficient 300 yards of total offense with 2 touchdowns in a 23-15 win over Mississippi State, Mateer told reporters postgame that he attributes his performance to a powerful moment in his hotel room earlier in the week.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and something told me, ‘forgive yourself,'” Mateer said. “Real powerful stuff.”
Now, it’s important to realize Mateer just carved up a Mississippi State secondary that is far and away the worst performing unit in the SEC this season. Whether this marks a turning point for Mateer remains to be seen. However, it’s been obvious from Week 2 that Mateer’s struggles are largely mental. It’s interesting, then, that this performance came when it did.
Last Week: 12 (+4)
7. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
On play sums up LaNorris Sellers’ performance in a win over No. 11 Tennessee:
What Sellers lacks in accuracy, he makes up for in creativity and overwhelming athleticism, as shown above. The South Carolina quarterback put up over 300 yards of total offense and accounted for 3 touchdowns to hand South Carolina its best win of the season.
Sellers’ intensity has been turned up a few notches ever since Shane Beamer upped Cutter Woods’ practice reps following South Carolina’s loss to Alabama. He currently leads all SEC QBs in rushing yards (507) and has a combined 17 touchdowns on the season, and he’s thrown 7 touchdowns to 1 interception across the past 3 games. If Will Stein’s ballsy 2-point call goes the other way, South Carolina would be 3-0 across these 3 matchups.
Get ready for November South Carolina, folks.
Last Week: 8 (+1)
6. Austin Simmons, Mizzou
Austin Simmons did not play in Week 8 as the Tigers prepare to face off against Arkansas. The Razorbacks passing defense has fared well this season, sitting 7th in the SEC with 213 yards allowed per game. Only Utah’s Devon Dampier and Tennessee’s George MacIntyre have eclipsed 200 passing yards in a win over Arkansas this season.
Last Week: 6 (-)
5. Keelon Russell, Alabama
Keelon Russell responded well to his brutal outing against a stout Tennessee defense. The Alabama quarterback threw for 311 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in a 31-20 win over Texas A&M.
Per usual, Russell’s stats alone don’t tell the full story here. That’s because Alabama’s run game was practically non-existent. The Crimson Tide finished the afternoon with 68 rushing yards, and 20 of those yards came from Russell himself. Seeing as Alabama didn’t have a proper run game established and entered halftime tied, Russell’s 2nd half was among his most impressive feats of the season.
Last Week: 4 (-1)
4. Sam Leavitt, LSU
Sam Leavitt is a night-and-day different quarterback compared to the guy who threw 3 interceptions against Louisiana Tech and struggled in a road loss to Ole Miss in September.
I mentioned this stat in this week’s winners and losers, but it’s worth mentioning again. Across his first 3 games, Leavitt was 57-of-93 for 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Since injuring his hamstring early against Texas A&M, Leavitt has completed 123 of his 163 passing attempts with 14 passing touchdowns and 3 interceptions (5 games).
Saturday was Leavitt’s best performance as a Tiger. He led LSU to a second straight win thanks to 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing) as well as 441 total yards of offense. Leavitt took just 1 sack and did not turn the ball over in a 38-17 stomping of a good Auburn team.
Paying attention yet?
Last Week: 7 (+3)
3. Kenny Minchey, Kentucky
If you want to gauge someone’s knowledge of SEC football, just ask them their opinion of Kenny Minchey.
The Kentucky quarterback ranks 5th in passing yards, 6th in passing touchdowns and 10th in passing yards per game. He’s not much of an athlete and while he can use his legs, he’s sitting at just 38 rushing yards on the season. And as I’ve gone over several times already in past rankings, Minchey doesn’t have the elite arm strength you’d expect from a top 3 quarterback in the conference.
So, if anyone tells you he’s simply the benefactor of Will Stein’s system, you know you’re clear to stop taking their opinion seriously.
Minchey posted another efficient outing against Vanderbilt, accounting for 2 touchdowns and a little over 200 yards of total offense to lead Kentucky to a 7-1 record. The Notre Dame transfer hasn’t thrown an interception in nearly 2 months and has led the Wildcats to 6 straight wins thanks to his elite processing and pinpoint accuracy, especially within 30 yards.
While the Wildcats’ start to the 2026 season has been admirable, there’s still plenty of work to do. Minchey is set to lead the Kentucky offense against a November schedule that includes games at Tennessee, at Mizzou, vs. Florida and vs. Louisville.
Last Week: 3 (-)
2. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Gunner Stockton did not play in Week 8 as Georgia prepares for this weekend’s Cocktail Party in Atlanta. Sam Leavitt demolished Auburn’s secondary on Saturday — can Stockton do the same?
Last Week: 2 (-)
1. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
As I wrote (Ole Miss fans may prefer the term, “jinxed”) last week, you can pencil in at least one off week for every good college quarterback. Chambliss’ came in Week 8 against a stout Texas defense. The Ole Miss QB definitely wants this one back.
Texas set the tone immediately. The Longhorns sent Chambliss running for his life on the 3rd play of the game, leading to a throwaway and an early-drive punt.
Texas never sacked Chambliss on Saturday — partially because the Longhorns didn’t have Colin Simmons and partially because it’s just flat-out tough to do — but he was consistently pressured, which led to a good chunk of rushed throws. Other times, Chambliss had a perfectly clean pocket and still couldn’t get it done, as was the case with this brutal INT just before the half.
Want to know why he’s still No. 1?
After an awful first 30 minutes, Chambliss responded well in the second half. He drove the Rebels offense 80 yards across 10 plays with zero incompletions on his first drive and tied the game with this perfect back shoulder floater to Horatio Fields at the start of the 4th:
Ultimately, Ole Miss couldn’t get it done, and Chambliss’ awful first half is a big part of the reason why. How will he respond when Auburn comes to town on Halloween?
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.
