SEC Must Fix Its QB Problem to Become Top College Football Conference Again

The SEC Championship Game is set between SEC West champion Alabama and SEC East winner Florida, although it looks more like it will be a victory lap for the Crimson Tide rather than the traditional showdown between two elite teams.

Alabama opened as a 17-point favorite over the Gators, according to OddsShark.com, and the quarterback play—or lack thereof—in Gainesville is a big reason why.

Since quarterback Will Grier was suspended for violating the NCAA's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the Florida passing offense has struggled. It averaged just 5.9 yards per attempt in the month of November, backup signal-caller Treon Harris has tossed six touchdowns and four interceptions since returning to the starting lineup and the Gators have been unable to stretch the field.

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What's more concerning to the SEC is that, while painful to watch, the Florida air attack down the stretch is a microcosm of the entire league's passing game in 2015.

The three best quarterbacks in the SEC this year were Arkansas' Brandon Allen, Mississippi State's Dak Prescott and Ole Miss' Chad Kelly, but behind that trio, quarterback issues were obvious. They were the only three quarterbacks in the SEC to top the 20 touchdown mark, they're the only three in the top 40 nationally in passing yards per game and only three in the top 60 nationally in total passing yards.

Ugly.

Tennessee didn't trust Joshua Dobbs through the air until mid-October, when the Volunteers found themselves in a three-touchdown hole against Georgia; LSU's Brandon Harris nearly got head coach Les Miles fired; and every other SEC program made a change at some point during the season due at least in part to ineffectiveness. 

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Quarterback play, from the conference's perspective, has been a problem.

"It's not what it has been in years past," Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said on the coaches teleconference in late November. "I don't think that means it's bad, necessarily. I think every school has got their guy and is doing the best they can to manage what the coaches ask them to do. Probably, from top to bottom, when you look at their stats, there's probably some merit to that."

The conference has evolved into Alabama and everybody else, and whether you think the SEC is still the top league in college football or it has been knocked off its perch, fixing the quarterback problem is much easier said (or written) than done.

Allen and Prescott will have exhausted their eligibility after their bowl games, as will Alabama's Jake Coker. That leaves Kelly and Dobbs as the two most prolific signal-callers in the conference heading into the offseason.

Luckily for Rebel fans, it appears Kelly is sticking around.

Dobbs will get another full offseason of work with a talented wide receiving corps to progress as a passer. But behind them, crickets.

The absence of consistent quarterback play has plagued the SEC for two full years and has been especially problematic in the SEC East—which became the punchline to a very bad joke in 2015.

Vanderbilt benched Johnny McCrary in place of Kyle Shurmur this year. Patrick Towles regressed at Kentucky all year, lost his starting job to Drew Barker late in the season and announced his intent to transfer shortly after the season. Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert was never much of a threat to stretch the field, and he completed just eight passes of 30 or more yards—tied for 11th in the conference. Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk completed just 51.8 percent of his passes before he was benched, suspended and replaced by true freshman Drew Lock—who navigated typical freshman speed bumps.

As a result, the quarterback struggles sent the SEC out with a whimper. 

Only three SEC teams are in the most recent College Football Playoff Top 20 (No. 2 Alabama, No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 18 Florida), after six appeared in the Top 20 on Nov. 3.

That has led some, including Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports and ESPN's Ryen Russillo, to suggest that the SEC isn't the nation's best conference anymore.

It might get worse before it gets better, because both divisions will enter the offseason with loaded quarterback question marks.

Auburn's 2016 starting quarterback likely isn't on campus; asking LSU to develop a dual-threat quarterback like Harris is comparable to asking the lottery commission to pull your six specific numbers this Saturday night; Georgia might depend on true freshman Jacob Eason next year if he sticks with his commitment; and Florida will be without Grier for six games.

Yikes.

So how does it get fixed? 

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee need to find someone who can move the ball consistently through the air and on the ground. Perhaps it'll be junior college transfer John Franklin III. Malzahn seems dedicated to proving his offense can work with dropback passers, but if it works better with a dual-threat player like Nick Marshall or Cam Newton, why risk it in what will be a pivotal year? Pride? Pride will get Malzahn fired.

Miles has to find a way to be more flexible with the Tigers offense, a lot like Alabama's Nick Saban did two years ago when he hired Lane Kiffin to run the Crimson Tide offense. Whether that's with a new offensive coordinator or extending Cam Cameron with the stipulation that he open things up, something has to be done.

Georgia either has to help Greyson Lambert become more of a threat downfield, or hope Eason's commitment sticks and he learns quickly. If that happens, he'll be doing it with a new system, which could stunt his development due to the unfamiliarity his teammates will have with the system.

Florida has a commitment from 4-star Feleipe Franks, has a visit set up with Eason according to 247Sports and has Harris coming back, but can you trust Harris. Head coach Jim McElwain better get one of those guys ready quickly, because somebody has to hold down the fort until Grier's suspension is lifted after Game 6.

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Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin better find a way to choose between Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray and make that pick stick for a full season. That could come with either a new offensive coordinator in place of Jake Spavital or with Sumlin taking more of a hands-on role. There's no excuse, though, for Sumlin's offense to struggle with so much talent on the roster.

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema better get either Austin Allen or Ricky Town ready to hit the ground running to keep the momentum Allen generated late this season. Tennessee head coach Butch Jones better not shy away from the passing game after Dobbs proved he can handle it during the second half of the 2015 campaign.

The SEC is down, and it's down because of its quarterbacks. 

For the majority of the league's teams, the offseason will bring more questions than answers.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.