SEC's quarterback class of 2016 produced quite a mixed bag of results in Year 1
Nothing gives a program’s fan base new hope like a fresh quarterback. It’s the game’s most important position for a reason.
For the recruiting class of 2017 that just signed in February, there were 24 4- and 5-star QBs according to the composite rankings at 247Sports. Seven of them went to SEC schools, with six enrolling early and participating in spring practice.
Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, who was one of the early enrollees, has the best opportunity to start as a true freshman. The Aggies have had a turnstile under center since the departure of Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, so Mond gives coach Kevin Sumlin a chance to finally have some long-term stability.
Even if Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Georgia’s Jake Fromm arrived with a lot of fanfare, neither is expected to start.
In Tuscaloosa, Jalen Hurts is the league’s reigning offensive player of the year. In Athens, while Jacob Eason didn’t enjoy the same level of success as Hurts, he still flashed enough of his 5-star ability to keep the job.
Hurts and Eason were part of 2016’s signal caller haul, when the conference brought in seven of the 21 4- and 5-star field generals available. They were joined by Shea Patterson of Ole Miss, Jarrett Guarantano of Tennessee, Brandon McIlwain and Jake Bentley of South Carolina and Woody Barrett of Auburn.
A year and change later, that group of passers has already experienced some dizzying highs as well as a few cavernous lows.
The aforementioned Hurts took over for Blake Barnett — a 5-star signee himself once upon a time — in the season opener and quickly developed into a dual-threat monster for the Crimson Tide. He was one second away from becoming the first true freshman to win a national title since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holloway in 1985.
With 23 passing touchdowns and 13 more rushing right out of high school, Hurts (below) is a Heisman Trophy candidate this season as a sophomore.
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Even though he was more celebrated at the prep level, Eason went through growing pains as a freshman that Hurts largely managed to avoid. Of the 12 arms in the SEC to qualify, he finished 11th in passer efficiency rating.
Granted, Eason didn’t have nearly as much support. Hurts had airtight protection, an array of skill-position talent and the nation’s premier defense. The Bulldogs played well defensively, but their blocking was poor, their running game was overrated and their receiving corps failed to catch the ball consistently.
Patterson wasn’t supposed to see the field, although an injury to Chad Kelly resulted in the redshirt being pulled off his back.
Throwing for 338 yards and running for an additional 64 in an upset of Texas A&M, Patterson sure looked like a future superstar in his first start. Unfortunately, he wrapped up the schedule with Ls to Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.
Guarantano, on the other hand, did receive the full redshirt treatment in 2016. With Joshua Dobbs now in the NFL — he was drafted ahead of Kelly, which nobody saw coming a year ago — Guarantano is competing for QB1 with rising junior Quinten Dormady. But at this point, Dormady seems to have the upper hand.
Even if Volunteers coach Butch Jones is yet to make a final decision, Guarantano appears headed for clipboard duty.
Nobody could’ve expected what happened with McIlwain and Bentley in Columbia. McIlwain was the prized two-sport recruit, while Bentley was somewhat overlooked on National Signing Day and fitted for a redshirt.
However, McIlwain — along with senior Perry Orth — couldn’t get the offense going. In a desperate move, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp turned to Bentley and happened to catch lightning in a bottle. He’s expected to be one of the best passers in the SEC for 2017. McIlwain, conversely, has already transferred to Cal.
Like McIlwain, Barrett lasted but one season at his original destination. He bolted The Plains for Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
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The Tigers have struggled to throw the ball more often than not the last two campaigns with Jeremy Johnson, Sean White and John Franklin III. Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham showed up in spring ball and impressed, so Barrett (above) bailed.
That’s quite a wide range of results. One offensive player of the year (Hurts) — the first since Georgia tailback Herschel Walker in 1980. One season of lumps (Eason). Two redshirt-pulling emergencies (Patterson and Bentley). One sit-and-watch sitiuation (Guarantano). Two one-and-done transfers (McIlwain and Barrett).
As a result, trying to forecast what we’ll see from this latest crop of quarterbacks is an exercise in futility.
Tagovailoa got press aplenty throughout spring ball and put some wow plays on display in the A-Day Game, but ‘Bama has no reason to move away from Hurts. Only if the latter falls on his face will we hear from the former right away.
Fromm, on the other hand, could indeed make Eason nervous. Needless to say, Eason isn’t riding the kind of wave that Hurts is heading into Year 2. Making matters worse, Eason wasn’t especially sharp in the G-Day Game — 16-of-36 through the air with an interception — while Fromm completed 14-of-23 with no turnovers.
At A&M, Mond only has to beat out a mediocre senior (Jake Hubenak) and a 3-star freshman coming off a redshirt (Nick Starkel).
Danny Etling is the incumbent at LSU, although he recently had minor back surgery. If the injury is enough to limit his effectiveness, 4-star signees Myles Brennan and Lowell Narcisse could enter the mix for coach Ed Orgeron.
Keytaon Thompson, another 4-star newcomer, can be brought along quite slowly at Mississippi State. Nick Fitzgerald still has two years of eligibility remaining. It’s fair to doubt if Mac Jones will ever see the field — 5-of-11 with 2 INTs in the spring game — for the Tide. He needs to supplant both Hurts and Tagovailoa.
But 12 months from now, for all we know, Jones has the Davey O’Brien Award on his mantel and Mond is living the JUCO life.
