It’s not all about stats. I promise.

If I wanted to just say “this SEC quarterback is best because he has the most touchdown passes,” that’d be a pretty boring way to go about it. Sure, it’s part of it. But based on my ranking of Joe Burrow throughout the season, you know that’s not the only stat that I look at.

I’m big on efficiency with yards per attempt, touchdown-to-interception ratio and things like that. Wins are obviously important, too, but I hate just using that argument to judge a quarterback’s performance.

So with one week left in the regular season, I thought it would be interesting to look at some statistical feats for SEC quarterbacks and what they’re likely to accomplish in 2018.

14. Ty Storey, Arkansas

It’s hard to fault Storey too much for struggling against that elite Mississippi State defense, but man, he really didn’t have much of a chance. As much as I like Storey’s intangibles with his ability to keep playing in blowouts, there’s an end-of-season stat that I think is troubling. Storey has yet to throw a touchdown pass in a true SEC road game. That’s not going to make him a clear starter in 2019 by any means.

But on the year, having a positive touchdown-interception ratio is probably the best thing in Storey’s favor. You know, assuming he doesn’t throw 2 more interceptions than touchdowns against Mizzou.

13. Terry Wilson, Kentucky

Here’s the good with Wilson. After going into October with just a touchdown pass in 1 game, he’s thrown for a score in 6 straight. And in the past 4 games, he completed north of 62 percent of his passes. He’ll likely finish his first season as a starter having completed at least 65 percent of his passes with 2,000 yards from scrimmage.

As for the bad? Well, there’s plenty of that, too. Wilson could finish the regular season without 10 touchdown passes without accounting for multiple touchdowns in a game all but once (Florida) this year. Yeah, that’s not great. Wilson, who is still considered a run-first quarterback, has more than 60 rushing yards in a game once since mid-September. Wilson can help himself long-term by balling against free-falling Louisville.

12. Feleipe Franks, Florida

Hey, have you heard that Franks has the most touchdown passes by a Gators quarterback since Tim Tebow? Of course you have. You’ve seen that at the top of Franks’ résumé, too. The pro-Franks crowd will point out that he has a 20-6 touchdown-interception ratio. On the season, Franks could actually finish with a mark similar to Jake Fromm last year (24-7).

What’s the difference? The efficiency. Franks is completing 58 percent of his passes, which isn’t a bad number necessarily. But considering he’s only at 7.4 yards per an attempt in a passing game that doesn’t take a ton of shots 15-20 yards downfield, that’s not great.

What’s the other bad news for Franks? The Emory Jones hype is off and running, and it won’t slow down this offseason.

11. Jake Bentley, South Carolina

It’s been an up-and-down year for Bentley, and against that loaded Clemson defense, it might be a down week for the South Carolina signal-caller. But give Bentley credit for the way he responded after everyone questioned if he should be the starter moving forward. In his past 5 games, he has a 12-3 touchdown-interception ratio with 9.4 yards per attempt.

Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

On the year, Bentley can still improve in touchdowns, interceptions, sacks taken and yards per attempt. I’ve said the word “regression” with Bentley many times this year, but it’s hard to argue with those numbers. Has Bentley risen into the upper echelon of SEC quarterbacks like many thought he would, though? Not yet.

10. Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt

I know some might say I’m not high enough on Shurmur, and that’s a fair point if you look at his cumulative numbers. We’re talking about someone who has 20-plus touchdown passes for the second consecutive season having improved his completion percentage every year of his career. A 20-6 touchdown-interception ratio is rock solid, as is the fact that Shurmur has 3 consecutive games with multiple passing scores.

Why am I not higher on Shurmur? He’s still only at 7.4 yards per attempt, he’s not a running threat and he hasn’t beaten a winning team. Is part of that due to the talent around him? Sure, but lighting up Arkansas and Ole Miss doesn’t necessarily make a guy an elite SEC quarterback.

9. Joe Burrow, LSU

I cooled on Burrow because the numbers were too overwhelmingly against him to argue that he’s one of the top SEC quarterbacks. He did have a career-high 307 passing yards against a woeful Rice defense Saturday, which put him over 2,000 yards for the season. Burrow still has a chance to finish 2018 with over 3,000 yards from scrimmage. Consider this: If Burrow can get 495 yards from scrimmage in the Tigers’ final 2 games, he’ll hit that 3,000 yards. Who was the last LSU player to do that? JaMarcus Russell.

So yeah, not all the cumulative numbers will hurt Burrow.

8. Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State

A great senior day moment for Fitzgerald was probably more of what he (and I) thought 2018 would look like for MSU. Still, Fitzgerald has been significantly better since the LSU meltdown. He has a 10-0 touchdown-interception ratio in his past 4 games, including multiple games with 4 touchdown passes. And after the worst rushing day of his career, he responded with his 7th game of at least 80 rushing yards this year.

With a favorable matchup in the Egg Bowl and a bowl game, Fitzgerald can still improve on his 2017 totals in touchdown passes, yards per attempt, interceptions and rushing yards. That would still be an impressive feat considering how awful he started SEC play.

7. Jarrett Guarantano, Tennessee

Man, I hope Guarantano is able to finish the season and play for the Vols’ bowl eligibility. Priority No. 1 moving forward will be improving the offensive line play so that he’s not in harms’ way every time he drops back. Guarantano has indeed shown that he’s the quarterback of the future. The 8.2 yards per attempt is an improvement, as is the 11-2 touchdown-interception ratio. Guarantano can still finish with 2,000 passing yards and potentially a 6-1 touchdown-interception ratio if he plays this week.

He might not ever lead a high-powered attack, but Guarantano’s emergence in Tyson Helton’s offense is one of the most optimistic things for the Vols moving forward.

6. Kellen Mond, Texas A&M

I think it’s impressive that for someone who averaged 6.1 yards per attempt on 52 percent accuracy a year ago, Mond just had his 11th consecutive game with at least 180 passing yards. Nobody else in the SEC can claim that. That’s what a year with Jimbo Fisher will do. Fisher doesn’t deserve all the credit for Mond’s Year 2 rise though. His decision-making as a whole hasn’t been perfect, but it’s at least significantly better than it was a year ago.

Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

While Mond still takes too many sacks, he’s been way more efficient than he was last year (he’s up to 7.9 yards per attempt). At 3,025 yards from scrimmage, Mond could easily finish 2018 with 3,500 yards, which would be the highest total for an A&M player since some guy named Johnny Manziel.

5. Jarrett Stidham, Auburn

Since Stidham had that horrendous game against Tennessee, his numbers are solid:

  • 199 passing yards/game
  • 5-0 TD-INT ratio
  • 7.6 yards per attempt
  • 3-1 record

I’ve gone back and forth on Stidham this year with how much of his disappointing season is related to him and how much is a result of Gus Malzahn’s system. I tend to think it’s more of the latter, though Stidham isn’t entirely off the hook. He’s going to likely finish with fewer touchdown passes, yards per attempt, passing yards and wins than he did last year. Still, I’d be stunned if he returned for his senior season. Get ready for the fascinating conversation that is Stidham’s draft stock.

4. Jordan Ta’amu, Ole Miss

What’s a catch? I don’t know, but I do know that even without A.J. Brown’s overturned touchdown grab and a victory, Ta’amu still showed why he’s an elite SEC signal-caller. He had his sixth consecutive game of at least 360 total yards, and did so without starting Ole Miss running back Scottie Phillips. The interceptions were costly, but keep in mind that was Ta’amu’s first game with a pick in over a month. That’s amazing for someone who averages 36 pass attempts per contest.

Ta’amu on the year is already over 4,000 yards from scrimmage in just 11 games. He’s second in FBS in passing yards and he’s fifth in yards per attempt. The red zone issues and lack of wins against quality foes are why Ta’amu isn’t even higher on this list, but there are still few guys in the SEC I’d rather have running my offense. By the way, Ta’amu is 446 passing yards in the Egg Bowl from setting the SEC’s single-season passing record. Just sayin’.

3. Drew Lock, Mizzou

Lock has simply been a different quarterback with Emanuel Hall back in the lineup. After 1 TD pass in his first 4 SEC games — basically all without Hall — Lock has multiple touchdown passes in 3 consecutive games since his go-target returned. Again, there was pretty much zero chance Lock was going to repeat his record-setting performance from a year ago, but with Arkansas and a bowl game left — if he plays — Lock can still finish his senior season with 30 touchdown passes and 3,500 passing yards. That’s not too shabby at all.

2. Jake Fromm, Georgia

All the excitement on Saturday was about Justin Fields, but let’s not forget that Fromm is closing in on a pretty impressive statistical season. With at least 3 games left, Fromm is on pace for improvements in passing touchdowns, passing yards, yards per attempt (sixth in the country) and sacks taken. He completed at least 65 percent of his passes in 9 of 11 games this year — he did so in 7 of 15 games last year — all while averaging 9.5 yards per attempt.

Fromm has a chance to enter his junior season with 50 touchdown passes following 2 trips to the SEC Championship. Any notion of him being a game manager should be long gone in my book.

1. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

Tagovailoa hasn’t had many “pad the stats” games lately, but he got one Saturday. At least he did in the third quarter. Tagovailoa is back up to 12.1 yards per attempt, which means he’s still in position to break Baker Mayfield’s record of 11.5. That was also the southpaw’s sixth game of the year with 3 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions. That’s pretty good.

The cumulative numbers aren’t going to do Tagovailoa’s 2018 performance justice because without basically an entire season of fourth quarters, he’s probably not going to break Lock’s single-season record of 44 passing touchdowns (Tagovailoa needs 14 touchdown passes the rest of the way to do that). And yardage-wise, Tagovailoa is only sitting at No. 17 nationally with 2,865 yards, though that’ll climb with at least 3 games left.

Will we remember Tagovailoa’s 2018 season as the best ever for an SEC quarterback, though? Time will tell, but I’m having a tough time arguing against that.