Something resembling actual SEC football kicked off this past Saturday, as South Carolina held its annual Garnet-Black Spring Game.

Florida followed with its Orange & Blue Debut last night. It featured the highly anticipated battle at quarterback between redshirt freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask, who are both attempting to unseat incumbent Luke Del Rio.

Today features a quartet of spring affairs, starting with the Grove Bowl at Ole Miss and finishing with the Maroon-White Game at Mississippi State. In between are the Texas A&M Spring Game — the Aggies don’t have a fancy name for theirs — and A-Day at Auburn. For pigskin junkies, it’ll almost feel like an autumn Saturday.

All four programs are looking up at defending champion Alabama in the West. The Crimson Tide will no doubt be most everyone’s pick to win the division again in 2017, too. It remains to be seen if another legitimate contender can emerge.

Here’s what I’ll be looking for while watching the Rebels, Aggies, Tigers and Bulldogs wrap up spring practice.

OLE MISS

For the first time in quite a while, coach Hugh Freeze shook up his coaching staff and brought in some fresh blood.

Out is Dan Werner — he’s now an analyst at ‘Bama, of all places — at offensive coordinator. In is Phil Longo, who is a disciple of the Air Raid system and has cut his teeth at a handful of smaller schools across the country.

The Rebels have been grossly unbalanced in recent years, as they haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher in the backfield since Dexter McCluster in 2009. Eugene Brazley ran for just 261 yards a year ago, but nobody on the current roster had more. While the out-of-eligibility Akeem Judd was a good back, he was never a great one.

One way or another, the scheme will revolve around rising sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson and his 5-star ability. He can’t be the entire offense by himself, though. That approach was sometimes reckless with the departed Chad Kelly.

Tailback Jordan Wilkins returns after being ruled academically ineligible for 2016. Longo needs to get him consistent carries.

TEXAS A&M

With defensive end Myles Garrett possibly the top pick in the NFL Draft, it’s safe to say that the Aggies rushed the passer well last season.

In addition to Garrett and his 8.5 sacks off the edge — that total would’ve been much higher had he actually been healthy all year long — fellow D-end Daeshon Hall tied for second on the squad with 4.5 of his own.

Of the eight defenders in College Station who registered multiple sacks in 2016, half of them are gone. After Garrett and Hall, linebackers Claude George (3.5) and Shaan Washington (2.5) were part of the senior class. Career backup pass rushers like Jarrett Johnson (4.5) and Qualen Cunningham (1.0) need to emerge from the shadows.

Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Jarrett Johnson (40) in action during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Kyle Field. The Aggies defeat the Volunteers 45-38 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not like Johnson (above) and Cunningham are inexperienced. As a matter of fact, they’re both rising seniors. But they’ve never been asked to bring the heat snap after snap, series after series and week after week.

Replacing a once-in-a-decade freak like Garrett isn’t going to happen. We know that. A&M still has to generate pressure, though.

AUBURN

Sometimes we go out of our way to ignore the game’s most important position because there’s more to football than quarterbacks.

Nevertheless, the arrival of Jarrett Stidham — he was awfully good as a freshman at Baylor in 2015 — from the JUCO ranks is impossible to ignore. He may be the most important newcomer in the entire conference this year.

Since Gus Malzahn returned to The Plains as head coach, he’s made lemonade with Nick Marshall. He’s been frustrated with Jeremy Johnson. He’s gotten by with Sean White. He’s banged a square peg into a round hole with John Franklin III. Stidham can deliver the ball from the pocket in ways that the aforementioned passers simply can’t.

Even if Malzahn tends to prefer a more mobile QB, Stidhan only ran for 70 yards in 10 games wearing a Bears jersey. In order to get the most out of Stidham’s arm, Malzahn needs a longer list of route concepts and protection packages.

That being said, Malzahn should still be able to operate at a blinding pace. That was the norm for Stidham in Waco.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Arguably more than any other team in the league, the Bulldogs live and die by the play of a do-it-all quarterback.

Rising junior Nick Fitzgerald rode quite the roller coaster as a first-year starter last year, with some dizzying highs and some cavernous lows. But when he’s feeling it, he’s seemingly impossible to stop with his dual-threat skills.

Yes, Fitzgerald needs to be more effective throwing the ball. That’s not all on him, though. The ground game must improve. The offensive line has to step it up a notch. Most of all, the receiving corps can’t be so inconsistent. MSU dropped passes — even leading receiver Fred Ross, who’s off to the NFL — with regularity.

With Ross moving out of Starkville, Donald Gray is presumably the primary threat now in the passing game. His average of 17.3 yards per catch a season ago suggests a penchant for big plays, although being the No. 1 option is a different role.

Beyond Gray, there are plenty of openings for youngsters hungry for more playing time. Secure hands would be a welcome sight for Fitzgerald.

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.