Which 3 SEC Starting QBs Are in Danger of Losing Their Jobs?
For some quarterbacks in the SEC, spring practice isn't about winning a job—it's about fending off pressure from others looking to take it.
Around the SEC, many quarterbacks will be fighting for what's already theirs when pads start popping, and those battles could go a long way toward determining the fate of their respective teams.
Alabama's quarterback battle is again an unknown, Vanderbilt has hit the reset button with its starters and Georgia and South Carolina are back to the drawing board after seniors moved on.
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Where will the curveballs come from?
Here are three quarterbacks who started six or more games in 2015 and are in danger of losing their jobs.
Florida QB Treon Harris
Harris started the final seven games last year for Florida, leading the Gators to a huge win over Georgia 38-20 in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. He capped off the season with a 28-20 win over East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl.
For the most part, though, former offensive coordinator Kurt Roper and former head coach Will Muschamp game-planned around Harris rather than letting him loose.
Harris threw just six passes in the win over Georgia, 12 against Missouri and 11 in a close loss to South Carolina.
He enters the 2015 season as "the starter," but the arrival of new head coach Jim McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has hit the reset button on the offense.
That means the door is open for pro-style quarterback Will Grier, a former 4-star prospect who redshirted last year, to come in and impress the staff this offseason.
Grier fits the prototype that McElwain and Nussmeier want in a quarterback. He's tall, has a big arm, can stretch the field horizontally and vertically and is a more polished passer than Harris.
Harris needs to become more reliable through the air and prove to the staff that he can handle the pro-style elements of the offense while adding the extra dimension with his legs if he wants to keep his job in Gainesville.
LSU QB Anthony Jennings
Jennings started all but one game for LSU last year, with the lone exception being true freshman Brandon Harris' start inside hostile Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Auburn Tigers.
Maybe Harris should've had a few more.
Jennings completed just 48.9 percent of his passes, looked wildly indecisive in the pocket and, had it not been for wide receiver Travin Dural's affinity for getting open deep, would have had a disastrous sophomore season.
LSU can't win football games by playing "Leonard Fournette left" and "Leonard Fournette right" all game long, and one of the contenders for the starting job needs to step up and provide the reliability at quarterback that LSU has had just once since the end of the 2008 season (Zach Mettenberger in 2013).
It really needs to be Harris.
Sure, starting a true freshman in the SEC seemed like it was too much last year, but head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had enough foresight to recognize the problem at quarterback early on.
Does that mean a change for a road game against then-undefeated Auburn was the right move? Probably not, but it also doesn't mean that the door should be closed on Harris.
As Glenn Guilbeau of The Times noted, Harris' high school coach advised him to transfer during Christmas break, but he decided against it knowing the job was there for the taking.
Now Harris will have another full offseason within the system to grasp the offense, become more mature and take whatever steps needed to earn the starting quarterback spot.
Whatever happens, there needs to be some clarity this spring.
The last thing LSU needs is a lingering quarterback battle that lasts deep into fall camp, especially considering this could be one of the hottest free-agent transfer quarterback markets in recent memory.
Missouri QB Maty Mauk
Yes, Maty Mauk led Missouri to its second straight SEC East title and second straight double-digit-win season, but how much of it was on Mauk?
He completed just 53.4 percent of his passes (221-of-414), tossed the second-most interceptions in the conference (13) and had the worst yards-per-attempt average among qualifying SEC quarterbacks not named Jeff Driskel (6.4).
Some may say that he's entrenched as Mizzou's quarterback, and that may be the case right now. How long will that last, though?
During the first three quarters of games, Mauk tossed 16 touchdowns and all 13 of his interceptions. He came on strong in the fourth quarter with nine touchdowns and no picks but routinely had to claw his teams out of holes that he helped dig.
Can he rely on his defense in the post-Shane Ray/Markus Golden era? Can that offense click despite losing nearly all of its production from its wide receivers?
Missouri has done a great job of filling those holes in the past, but it's still a lot to ask for a program to continually deal with potentially devastating roster turnover.
If Mauk's early-game struggles continue and Missouri suddenly can't dig out of those holes, there are plenty of talented quarterbacks on the roster who could get a look—namely recent signee Drew Lock.
The 6'4", 205-pound, 4-star pro-style passer from Lee's Summit, Missouri has tremendous arm strength, is calm in the pocket and has touch on his short and intermediate routes, which is pivotal in Missouri's offense.
Lock is the future at Missouri, and if Mauk can't get things going in 2015, he could become the present.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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