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SEC Football

SEC East’s future buoyed by young, emerging quarterbacks

Ethan Levine

By Ethan Levine

Published:

Let’s cut right to the chase — the SEC East is bad this year. Really bad. There’s no hiding the division’s mediocrity, and there’s certainly no way to look past it.

Every team in the East has multiple losses, and the division’s two leaders — Missouri and Georgia — each have a loss to a team with a losing record. Six of the SEC West’s seven teams have already clinched bowl eligibility, while the East has as many as four teams in jeopardy of missing out on the postseason party. The East is just one win over the West all season, and that win came from a ranked Georgia team against the West’s last-place squad, the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Any way you look at it, the East comes out looking really bad. But, the East is also rebuilding.

Every team in the division has a young quarterback around which that program’s future revolves. Some of those quarterbacks have gotten their shot this season, while others are patiently waiting their turn.

One thing is certain, and that is the success of those quarterbacks will be the greatest determinant of the East’s success in the coming years. If two or three of the East’s young quarterbacks emerge as supreme talents, those teams will have the opportunity to quickly rise to the SEC’s top tier, which in turn will help validate a division lacking success and even a single star quarterback in 2014.

Let’s take a look at each East team’s future under center, and try and determine which signal callers have the brightest futures ahead of them.

Unproven QBs

7. Connor Mitch (South Carolina)
6. Georgia (Jacob Park)

Georgia and South Carolina both felt they had a chance to contend for an SEC championship this season, and as a result both turned to fifth-year seniors starting for the first time under center in Hutson Mason and Dylan Thompson. Thompson has played well, but the Gamecocks defense has held the team back. Mason has struggled, and is lucky Georgia has the rushing attack it does to carry the offense. Neither team appears to have a chance at a conference title this year, meaning both are behind the rest of the division in the rebuilding process.

Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier will surround their young quarterbacks with more talent than any other team in the East, but those young quarterbacks won’t get their first real taste of the SEC until next season. Mitch is a former four-star recruit (according to 247 Sports), but he struggled to earn the team’s backup quarterback job outright, forcing us to wonder how much faith Spurrier has in the redshirt freshman. Park, on the other hand, is a true freshman and a former five-star recruit taking his redshirt this season, although it’s no guarantee he’ll be the team’s opening-day starter next year either.

Mitch and Park are the favorites to win the jobs, however, and on a pair of offenses loaded with talent both will have every opportunity to contend in the SEC East. It seems strange to think the Bulldogs and Gamecocks might have the two least experienced quarterbacks in the division next year, but those same quarterbacks will be among the most talented despite their lack of experience. If Mitch and Park can develop quickly, Georgia and South Carolina could be back near the top of the national polls faster than many expect.

Getting their feet wet

5. Johnny McCrary (Vanderbilt)
4. Treon Harris (Florida)

Vanderbilt’s offense has taken major strides since turning to McCrary as the starting quarterback prior to a Week 9 loss to Missouri. The Commodores swapped quarterbacks like trading cards early in the season, but since sticking with McCrary the Dores are averaging 28 points per game after averaging just 17 points per game through their first seven games of the year. The freshman threw for five touchdowns without an interception in a win over Old Dominion last week, and although the Monarchs are not the most formidable of opponents McCrary did set a school record for touchdowns on the same team that lost 37-7 at home to Temple earlier this year.

If McCrary continues to develop, Vanderbilt really can grow into a productive offense in the SEC. He’s surrounded by a number of other athletic freshmen, like tailback Ralph Webb and wideout C.J. Duncan, and by the second half of next season those three players could lead Vanderbilt back into bowl contention. It’s tough to look past the Commodores’ struggles this year, but those struggles in 2014 could translate into wins in 2015 as McCrary matures and improves.

Harris has less game experience than McCrary this season, but certainly more upside. The freshman has only attempted 24 passes for his career, but he’s completed more than 63 percent of those throws for 290 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He’s had to do all that amid inconsistent reps and a storm of criticism that has clouded Florida’s season for weeks, which is as difficult as it sounds.

Beginning next year, Harris will be the man at the center of the Florida offense. He has the individual talent in a top-tier program (historically speaking) to elevate himself into one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. Unfortunately, we have no clue who Harris’ head coach will be next year or what kind of offense he’ll be operating, so it’s tough to rank him higher among the young quarterbacks in the SEC. However, with the valuable experience he’s gaining this year, he could take the SEC by storm in 2015.

Make or Break in 2015

3. Maty Mauk (Missouri)
2. Patrick Towles (Kentucky)
1. Joshua Dobbs (Tennessee)

Now we turn to three sophomores with starting experience who need to deliver next year in order to cash in on their opportunities this year.

Mauk had the most experience of any quarterback on this list prior to the start of the season, most of it coming in four starts as James Franklin’s injury replacement under center. This season has been a disaster for Mauk, who has thrown for just 110 yards per game in five SEC games with just two touchdowns compared to five interceptions during that span. He showed in 2013 he is capable of managing a winning team, but he’s yet to prove he’s capable of turning a team into a winner. Nevertheless, Missouri is in the driver’s seat to win the SEC East once again, which should buy him more time to figure out SEC defenses. If he doesn’t show obvious improvements beginning next year, however, he could have a short leash.

Towles managed a few series as a true freshman on Kentucky’s 2-10 train wreck of a team in 2012, then redshirted last season. This year, in his first opportunity as a starter on a somewhat productive team, he’s shown flashes of brilliance but has also proven he’s far from a finished product. He’s on pace to throw for just shy of 3,000 yards, and aside form one bad three-interception performance against Florida he’s thrown just two picks in eight other games this season. Towles is absolutely one of the best game managers in the conference, and on an offense loaded with freshmen talents at the skill positions, he could emerge as a dominant passer by the end of next season.

Tennessee looks like a completely different team with Dobbs under center, outscoring Alabama after Dobbs entered that game two weeks ago (although UT still lost 34-20) and then beating South Carolina in Columbia to improve to 4-5 on the year. Dobbs was unstoppable against South Carolina, amassing 367 yards of offense and five total touchdowns in the victory. He got his feet wet in the SEC last season, but this is the first time he’s been the undisputed starter in the Vols’ offense. In two weeks’ time Dobbs has transformed Tennessee from a frustrating mess into a bowl contender, and he’ll have three more games to grow and develop before the regular season comes to a close. If Dobbs continues on the path he’s on now, he can certainly be the best quarterback in the division as early as next season.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.

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