Final SEC QB Power Rankings: Joshua Dobbs makes one final push

Mercifully, the 2016 regular season has come to a close at the game’s most important position in the SEC. There were a lot more lows than highs.

Only one quarterback from the best conference in America, Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs, managed to put together a passer efficiency rating of 150 or higher. In 2015, there were three. In 2014, four. In 2013, five.

That’s right, Dobbs wrapped up the schedule as the most efficient passer in the league with a mark of 152.6. While the senior leader for the Volunteers did throw more touchdown passes (26) than any other QB, he also tied for the lead — quite dubiously, of course — with Austin Allen of Arkansas in interceptions (12).

Injury robbed us of a full season from Chad Kelly at Ole Miss, although his rating actually dropped a bit from last year (155.9) to this year (147.4) prior to him tearing his ACL. Returning to Oxford failed to elevate his draft stock.

Here are my final quarterback rankings for the 2016 campaign. A true freshman finishes on top, and it’s not the one we expected back at Media Days.

14. Jeremy Johnson/John Franklin III

Last week: unranked

With Sean White unable to play due to a shoulder injury, Johnson and Franklin were overmatched in Auburn’s 30-12 loss to Alabama.

Shuttling in and out of the lineup with no real pattern, they combined to go 6-of-17 passing for 119 yards without a touchdown or an interception. The Tigers never threatened the end zone and had to settle for four Daniel Carlson field goals.

Johnson is out of eligibility. Franklin isn’t the answer. White is limited. Redshirting freshman Woody Barrett might be the guy come 2017.

13. Austin Appleby

Last week: 10

In Florida’s 31-13 defeat at Florida State, Appleby completed 19-of-35 passes for 149 yards without a TD or an INT.

When he decided to pull the trigger, he was generally inaccurate down the field. Too often, he was indecisive in the pocket and didn’t know what to do in the face of the rush. At least half of FSU’s six sacks were Appleby’s fault.

What should be more alarming for Gators fans is the fact that Appleby is still better than Luke Del Rio, who has started more games.

12. Stephen Johnson

Last week: 14

Kentucky upset Louisville on Rivalry Weekend 41-38, and Johnson orchestrated the game-winning field goal drive with a couple of key completions.

Overshadowed by the Cardinals’ Lamar Jackson, who is a dual-threat monster, Johnson connected on 16-of-27 passes for a career-high 338 yards with 3 scores and 1 pick. He’s now averaged 12.2 yards per attempt in his last two outings.

Even though Drew Barker still appears to be the quarterback of the future in Lexington, Johnson will at least make spring practice interesting.

11. Kyle Shurmur

Last week: 13

The Tennessee defense has been a sieve lately. As a result, Shurmur blew away his previous career best with 416 yards passing.

Vanderbilt topping the Volunteers 45-34 was one of the upsets of the year in the SEC, and Shurmur’s 21-of-34 performance included 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. His passer rating of 178.1 was far and away his highest ever.

While he only averaged 6.8 yards per attempt during the regular season, he topped that figure in each of his last three starts.

10. Jake Bentley

Last week: 7

After getting off to a 3-0 start for South Carolina, Bentley dropped two of his final three and got benched Saturday at Clemson.

Even if he had played the game of his life, he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Heisman Trophy candidate Deshaun Watson, who threw 6 TD passes. Bentley was just 7-of-17 for 41 yards with a pick before Brandon McIlwain relieved him.

Bentley has probably never lost a game 56-7 in his life. He’s not ready to go toe-to-toe with such a superior opponent yet.

9. Drew Lock

Last week: 12

Missouri delivered one of the many surprises Saturday in the SEC, knocking off Arkansas 28-24 in Columbia behind Lock’s 268 yards passing.

Although postseason statistics will eventually count, there are only two 3,000-yard passers in the SEC this season. There have been no fewer than four every year going back to 2012. Lock is atop the list with 3,399.

Don’t be fooled by Lock’s strong TD-to-INT ratio of 23-10 since 10 of those scoring passes came in blowouts of Eastern Michigan and Delaware State.

8. Danny Etling

Last week: 9

On a day when Derrius Guice set LSU’s single-game rushing record, Etling also enjoyed his most prolific outing as a Tiger.

In a 54-39 win at Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night, the Purdue transfer was 20-of-28 for 324 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Believe it or not, Etling hadn’t thrown for a TD since Oct. 22 against Ole Miss.

While he’s incapable of winning games with his arm alone, Etling can be effective if his ground game forces safeties down into the box.

7. Trevor Knight

Last week: unranked

Thought to still be sidelined with a shoulder injury, Knight surprised a lot of people by getting the start on Senior Day in College Station.

Already an inaccurate passer, even with a healthy shoulder, Knight was only 14-of-30 through the air in that loss to the Bayou Bengals, although he did throw 3 TDs without an INT. Understandably, he didn’t try to run it much.

When Texas A&M was undefeated, Knight was actually No. 1 on this list for a few weeks. But in the end, his flaws got exposed.

6. Jacob Eason

Last week: 5

Believe it or not, of the 12 quarterbacks in the SEC that qualify, Eason finished the schedule ranked dead last in passer efficiency rating.

The freshman wasn’t particularly effective in a 28-27 loss to Georgia Tech between the hedges, throwing for just 139 yards with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. It was Eason’s first multi-INT game of the year.

His offensive line failed him this season, as did his receiving corps. Still, Eason has more than enough room to improve.

5. Shea Patterson

Last week: 6

In the aftermath of Kelly’s injury, Patterson thrilled the nation with an upset of Texas A&M after pulling off his redshirt.

Unfortunately, he lost his next two starts, including a 55-20 embarrassment to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. Still, blame that one on the Ole Miss defense. Patterson was a respectable 27-of-48 for 320 yards with 2 scores and 2 picks.

The future is bright for this young gunslinger. It’s a shame that the Rebels won’t go bowling and will miss out on all those extra practices.

4. Nick Fitzgerald

Last week: 4

Fitzgerald did his thing Saturday against Ole Miss, throwing for 109 yards, running for 258 more and accounting for 5 total touchdowns.

His legs are ahead of his arm at this point, as he finished the regular season ranked third in the SEC in rushing with 1,243 yards. Fitzgerald is only a 54.6-percent passer, although his TD-to-INT ratio of 21-to-10 is promising.

Mississippi State still needs more of a traditional running game and another receiving threat to help Fitzgerald grow.

3. Austin Allen

Last week: 2

Stumbling a bit down the stretch, Allen wraps up the regular season rated fourth in the conference in passer efficiency rating.

In that head-scratching loss at Mizzou, he topped 300 yards passing for the fourth time in 2016 with 348. But he threw 2 interceptions, which brings his total up to 10 in his last seven games. Allen seemed to hit a wall this year.

All in all, it was a fabulous first season for Allen as the starter in Fayetteville. Arkansas could certainly protect him better, though.

2. Joshua Dobbs

Last week: 3

While Dobbs was upset in his final regular-season game by in-state rival Vanderbilt, Tennessee’s defense was to blame.

He completed a career-high 31 passes on 34 attempts (91.2 percent) for 340 yards with 2 scores and 0 picks, plus he sprinkled in 53 yards rushing on 13 carries. In the month of November, Dobbs had a TD-to-INT ratio of 11-to-1.

A completion percentage of 63.3 and yards-per-attempt average of 8.3 in 2016 were both significant improvements for Dobbs from a year ago.

1. Jalen Hurts

Last week: 1

Atop my rankings for the last month of the season or so, what Hurts has done as a true freshman is nothing short of stunning.

He made some mistakes in the Iron Bowl victory over Auburn, including a pair of interceptions and a few botched exchanges, but Hurts still threw for 286 yards, ran for 37 more and was responsible for 3 total TDs.

The native Texan is a big reason why Alabama appears to be scarier than ever offensively. Not that the Crimson Tide needed it, naturally.

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John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.