Each week, Matt Hayes uses his sources around the country to bring you insider knowledge about what’s going on in the SEC ahead of this week’s games.

This is what he’s hearing …

LSU

The LSU staff is “cautiously pumped” about the potential of Ohio State graduate transfer quarterback Joe Burrow. Said one staffer: “Their guy (Dwayne Haskins) will be in the Heisman (Trophy) race. Because I know how good our guy can be. I can’t imagine how good their guy is.”

LSU hasn’t had an All-SEC quarterback since JaMarcus Russell in 2006, a span of 11 years where the Tigers still won 107 games (9.7 wins per season). Burrow has a strong arm and can make every throw, but will work with less talent around him than any other LSU quarterback since Nick Saban’s first season in Baton Rouge in 2000. More than 90 percent of production from LSU’s run game in 2017 is gone. …

Alabama

Alabama will win games with either Tua Taglovailoa or Jalen Hurts playing quarterback. Saban was desperate to keep Hurts not because there’s nothing behind Tagovailoa should he get hurt, but because Saban knows what he has in Hurts: a quarterback who can get him to the national championship game.

While Tagovailoa is clearly the more talented of the two players, there is a sense of the unknown once SEC defenses begin to game plan him after a few games – and how Tagovailoa responds. That’s the underlying issue: How does Tagovailoa react and respond during games, especially on the road. …

South Carolina

An undervalued decision was handed down earlier this week when South Carolina DT Josh Belk was ruled immediately eligible. A Clemson transfer, Belk is a wide body run-stuffer on the interior, and a critical addition for a program that gave up 141 yards rushing per game last year. He’s still not in game shape (he’s about 30 pounds heavy at 350), but the staff thinks it can get quality snaps from him (and two or three other true freshmen DTs) – a good sign with Georgia coming to Columbia next week. Will Muschamp’s biggest problem when he arrived at South Carolina two years ago was the shape and depth of the interior lines. They’re looking more and more like legit SEC lines now. …

Auburn

A month of camp didn’t make Auburn feel much better about its rebuilt offensive line. A year after giving up 36 sacks – a big number for an offense based on zone-read deception – the unit still is searching for an identity.

The staff is sold on the right side (G Mike Horton, T Jack Driscoll), but there are concerns on the left side. LT Prince Tega Wanogho is the most talented lineman on the roster, but he struggled too often last year while using pure strength (he might be the strongest player in college football) and ignoring fundamentals. “With discipline, he can be as good as anyone in the country,” one staffer said. Auburn gave up 10 sacks in last year’s season-opener against Clemson, and 6 in a bowl loss to UCF. Washington had 39 sacks last year, and returns nine starters from a defense that finished No. 5 in scoring defense, and No. 8 in total defense. …

Florida

How bad did Jim McElwain leave things at Florida? One current Gators staffer says Dan Mullen had more talent “across the board” at Mississippi State – a shocking statement considering Florida might be the best state in the nation for skill players (and maybe for Division I players overall), and the state of Mississippi isn’t even in the top 20.

More damaging: McElwain took too many chances on players with character questions. “We walked in here to some guys who literally didn’t want to work,” a staffer said. “There’s nothing magical about it. It’s called working your ass off and playing smart. They weren’t doing either.” …

Georgia

The freshman focus outside of the Georgia program has been QB Justin Fields. Inside the program, however, TB James Cook has become the talk of the freshman class. The brother of former Florida State star Dalvin Cook, James Cook has played so well this fall camp, the staff has been finding ways to get him more involved in the offense.

He’s not as big as starter D’Andre Swift, but one staffer said he has the potential to be a “Sony Michel type player.”