I’ll admit that I do have a rooting interest.

I root for everyone to stay healthy because football is best when everyone is at full strength. Is that unrealistic? Of course. Soon, we’ll have fall camp with the smattering of season-ending injuries. It’s inevitable.

Obviously not all injuries are created equal. An injury to the starting quarterback, however, can feel like a death sentence, no matter how serious it is.

In 2021, 9 of 14 SEC teams started multiple quarterbacks. Bryce Young, KJ Jefferson, Will Levis, Will Rogers and Matt Corral were the only quarterbacks in the conference who didn’t miss a start. Four of those guys are back, and needless to say, they’re extremely important to their respective teams. I think all of those teams would take a step back if they had to replace their starting quarterbacks.

However, these 4 SEC teams would be set up best to roll with the punches:

LSU

There’s a legitimate 3-way battle in Baton Rouge. Garrett Nussmeier is vying for that starting job, despite the fact that he’s 4 years younger than Myles Brennan and Brian Kelly brought in coveted Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels. After spring, it feels like there are more questions than answers. A lack of separation in the pecking order is why LSU is in this spot, but let’s also think about how this situation played out last year.

When Brennan went down with a season-ending injury in fall camp, LSU was in a spot where it could make Max Johnson the guy. Would Johnson have been the starter if Brennan had stayed healthy? There’s a decent chance, but the Tigers were at least in a spot where it wasn’t a total disaster to lose Brennan.

In a weird way, losing Brennan this year would probably be the least devastating of the trio. I say that as a Brennan believer. But at the same time, he’s been on the shelf for so much of his LSU career that it wouldn’t yield a panicked locker room. And let’s also think about the reality that if Brennan is 1 of 2 healthy quarterbacks (not including freshman Walker Howard, who they want to redshirt), there’s a timing element.

Daniels would be the toughest guy to lose. He has a path to be to LSU what Ian Book was like to Notre Dame. They aren’t the same from a physical standpoint (Book was more compact with his build than the lankier Daniels), but in terms of the things they do well and the way they impact the game, those similarities are there.

Having said that, losing Daniels (if he’s the starter) would still mean turning to the ageless Brennan or the promising Nussmeier. LSU could be in much worse shape.

Georgia

I’d like to be on record in saying that Stetson Bennett IV is the unquestioned starter in Athens. Putting Georgia on this list isn’t meant to minimize his impact. What he did in Year 2 of Todd Monken’s offense was excellent. If you think every Power 5 quarterback in America could’ve made the throws and reads that he did in 2021, you’re just admitting that you didn’t watch UGA play.

But UGA is on this list because of what’s been developed behind Bennett. Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff are chomping at the bit for an opportunity. As much as I love how Vandagriff could fit in Monken’s offense, Beck in Year 3 of that system could have the first crack at stepping in for Bennett. Take the spring game for what it is. I wouldn’t say it was a bad thing that Beck looked as crisp as he did, and it only added to the notion that he’s a fascinating unknown.

Am I surprised that Beck and Vandagriff are still in Athens? Honestly, yes. Credit Kirby Smart and Monken’s offense for contributing to that in this era of immediate eligibility for undergraduates in the transfer portal. As is seemingly always the case with the quarterback room in Athens, there seems to be more interest in what’s next (Beck or Vandagriff) vs. what’s now (Bennett).

Let me preface this by saying I never root for anybody to get injured. Obviously. But am I incredibly intrigued thinking about the buzz in Sanford Stadium if Kirby Smart had to turn to Beck or Vandagriff for a mid-game injury substitution? Absolutely.

Texas A&M

In some ways, A&M winding up on this last year would’ve made a lot of sense. Even with Haynes King slotted as the likely starter, Zach Calzada was in Year 3 in Jimbo Fisher’s offense as a former late riser in the 2019 recruiting class. But as we saw once King went down, Calzada felt like a major downgrade. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t say that with us only getting a 5-quarter sample size of King in 2021.

If King were to be named the starter this year, Max Johnson would be in a backup role. As in, the guy with the most casual 27-6 TD-INT ratio in college football history. The fact that Johnson did that in the SEC West would certainly make A&M a prime “roll with the punches” candidate if King suffered another season-ending injury.

If Johnson wins the job but goes down with an injury, Fisher would be back with King, AKA his 2021 Week 1 starter. That’s not so daunting. What would be daunting is knowing that 5-star true freshman Conner Weigman is the only other scholarship quarterback. Would that limit how much King is used as a runner? Or would Fisher still cut King loose and hope that his highest-rated quarterback recruit since Jameis Winston could step in if needed?

Knowing Fisher, my guess is the latter. Either way, A&M’s quarterback situation already looks like an upgrade from 2021.

Auburn

I think a few things can be true at the same time.

One is that I don’t like Auburn’s quarterback room fueling a top-15 season, which is what I fear Bryan Harsin will need to save his job. I wouldn’t want my future to depend on having Zach Calzada, TJ Finley or Robby Ashford as my starting quarterback. I’ve seen a full season of Finley and Calzada against SEC competition, and let’s just say I’m not banging the drum for them to get preseason love.

Another thing that’s true is the unknown of Ashford is enticing. He didn’t play a snap in 2 years at Oregon, and with his attention no longer being split between football and baseball, he’ll be in a much different situation back in his home state of Alabama. I’d love to see a situation in which Ashford gets a chance to run the offense, or at the very least as Cole Cubelic suggested, perhaps he can step into a Football Player of the Year-type hybrid role. Do I expect Ashford to be the Day 1 starter? No.

Let’s remember the original premise here — which offenses “wouldn’t skip a beat” if they lost their starting quarterback. I think Finley’s skill set resembles Calzada’s much more than King’s. The issue A&M had with Calzada was the offense was built for King, and Fisher didn’t adjust like he needed to. That shouldn’t be an issue if Finley or Calzada go down as the starter.

Do I expect either one to lead a top-20 passing offense? Absolutely not. But the offensive identity wouldn’t need to change with an injury to Finley or Calzada. It should still be a run-first offense that can play above average if it properly utilizes play-action passing and keeps the signal-caller clean. That’s a big “if.”

So what about teams like Mizzou or Vandy?

I have 2 reasons for why I didn’t include them in this discussion.

As for Mizzou, do we really know if Brady Cook is significantly better than Tyler Macon? I’d argue that the sample size is too small. Cook’s other start came against a service academy and Macon’s came against arguably the best defense of the 21st century. I’m OK admitting that we really don’t know a ton about either of them to make a determination about how much better one is than the other.

As for Vandy, I’m a Mike Wright believer. I actually don’t think the offense runs the same if Ken Seals is the starter behind that leaky offensive line. So if my prediction that Wright is the starter, that means I don’t think the Vandy offense would be set up well if he goes down. My bold prediction was that AJ Swann was going to lead SEC freshmen quarterbacks in starts this year, though I think if he’s in that QB1 role by November, there could still be some rough moments.

Do I think either Vandy or Mizzou will have ideal quarterback situations in 2022? No, but then again, I wouldn’t have predicted at this time last year that only 5 SEC programs would get through the season with 1 starting quarterback.

Something tells me we’ll see multiple starters from Mizzou and Vandy in 2022.