SEC Football: Is This a Down Year for Quarterbacks?

The Southeastern Conference is the premier football conference in the nation.  It always has the top teams and always produces some of the most exciting games of the season.  It has also been a conference that usually produces some of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

The two quarterbacks that will be the cream of the crop in the SEC are Tim Tebow of Florida and Georgia's Matthew Stafford.  Tebow, the Heisman trophy winner returning for his junior season, will be the best quarterback in the nation, no question about it.

Stafford, being a very experienced and very battle-tested quarterback returning at Georgia, will be the second best in the SEC.  Both Tebow and Stafford, surrounded by a wealth of talent and speed, will be the SEC's cream of the crop at the quarterback position in 2008.

The defending national champions, the LSU Tigers, have no experience returning at quarterback.  With the loss of Matt Flynn, the Tigers are going to have to turn to Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee.  Both have no experience in the SEC.  LSU is going to have to rely on their running game to be the main part of their offense and to take pressure off the new quarterback.

Alabama's John Parker Wilson will come back with new spirit and leadership.  He has very raw and natural talent and will do very good things for the Tide this season.  He will hold most of the Crimson Tide's passing records by the time he graduates from Alabama.

Johnathan Crompton will be taking over the quarterback spot at Tennessee, replacing Erik Ainge.  Crompton has some experience to work with.  He will lead the Vols this season.

Casey Dick at Arkansas is an unknown when it comes to the passing game.  He really never got the chance to shine under Houston Nutt's rushing offense with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.  This season, under new coach Bobby Petrino's quarterback-friendly system, will be Dick's breakout season.  We will all see what he can do on the field and how he can lead a team this season.

At South Carolina, a pretty big battle is going on between Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher.  At Kentucky, another battle is going on for the quarterback spot between redshirt junior Curtis Pulley and sophomore Mike Hartline.  Expect all four players to share snaps at their respective schools during the season.

Mississippi State returns Wesley Carroll this season.  He was very inconsistent and needs a lot of improvement, but he still earned himself and the Bulldogs a Liberty Bowl victory.  He will need to make some improvements in his sophomore season to get the Bulldogs back to their second consecutive bowl appearance, even with their very deep running game.

Vandy has Chris Nickson and Mackenzie Adams returning, both with experience.  Both had some inconsistency problems last season though.  If both can make some improvements, the Commodores could have a fairly successful season.

Ole Miss has Texas transfer Javon Sneed taking snaps under center for the Rebels.  Sneed lost a battle to Colt McCoy at Texas for the starting job and then transferred to Ole Miss.  He could instantly help the Rebels.

Auburn has a new offensive coordinator this season and will install the spread offense.  Kodi Burns and Chris Todd are the candidates to be the Tigers' starting quarterback.  Burns had a successful spring practice this season.

There is a big drop-off between Tebow and Stafford and the the rest of the field.  The SEC has a history of having some of the best quarterbacks in the nation and will continue to do so with Tebow and Stafford.

The rest of the field, especially Dick at Arkansas and Wilson at Alabama, will step up by the end of the season and will be leading their respective teams.

Nevertheless, this season in the SEC is one of the lowest in quarterback quality in recent memory—in my memory anyway.