SEC Football: Ranking All Quarterbacks for the 2011 Season

The 2010 college football season had a lot of great quarterback play in the SEC. Greg McElroy put on a show at Alabama, Ryan Mallett completed 65 percent of his passes at Arkansas and Cam Newton did just about everything at Auburn.

All three of those QB's are now in the NFL, and someone else is now in position to replace them. Here are all 12 starting SEC quarterbacks for the 2011 college football season.

Kentucky: Morgan Newton

Newton was a redshirt freshman who saw limited action in 2010, but ended up playing after starting QB Mike Hartline went down with an injury in 2009. Newton led the Wildcats to a 5-2 record and completed 55.6 percent of his passes that year.

Newton has an extremely strong arm and the ability to make throws on the run or in the pocket. He has great size at 6'4" and 235 pounds, and is a threat to run, as he ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns in 2009.

He is not a bad quarterback at all, but due to Newton's lack of experience and playing for a team with little depth, 2011 will be a tough year for the sophomore.

Mississippi: Randall Mackey

Mackey is a redshirt junior who sat out last season after two years at East Mississippi Community College. He is a very good athlete who has excellent field vision and the ability to find the open receiver. Mackey is also very poised and capable of beating you with his legs.

Head coach Houston Nutt has given Mackey high praise for his leadership in the huddle, and he looks to be the starter come Week 1. Quarterbacks Barry Brunetti and Zach Stoudt look to get some playing time as well.

Vanderbilt: Larry Smith

Smith had a poor performance last season, but will somehow remain the starter going into the 2011 season.

In 2010, Smith completed just 47.4 percent of his passes for 1,262 yards and just six touchdowns to five interceptions. The Commodores finished with an SEC-worst 2-10 record for the year.

Smith must improve this season or he won't last long, especially with Jordan Rodgers—brother of NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers—breathing down his neck.

Mississippi State: Chris Relf

Chris Relf led the Bulldogs to a 9-4 record and a bowl victory over the Michigan Wolverines.

Relf threw for 1,789 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions, but he is also a great runner, as he rushed for 713 yards and 13 touchdowns.

With Dan Mullen helping Relf along, the QB could really make things interesting in the SEC West this season. 

Tennessee: Tyler Bray

At 6'6" and 210 pounds, Bray has the NFL height and potential to be really good.

As a freshman, Bray completed 55 percent of his passes for 1,849 yards and 18 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Although he threw for three touchdowns and zero interceptions against Ole Miss, Bray struggled against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

He had four touchdown passes in Music City Bowl against North Carolina, but perhaps cost them a victory by throwing three interceptions.

Bray is a gunslinger, and it could either pay off or hurt this Tennessee team.

Alabama: A.J. McCarron

There is very little film out there on McCarron, but from the little we've seen of him, he looks good.

McCarron played mop-up duty last season, but completed 62 percent of his passes and threw three touchdowns to zero interceptions.

There have been talks Nick Saban may play two quarterbacks this season, but I think he'll stick with whoever is doing good job—right now, that is McCarron.

There is a lot of pressure on the young quarterback to carry a team with a lot of talent and high expectations. Only time will tell if he can fill Greg McElroy’s shoes.

Aurburn: Barrett Trotter

Another quarterback we don't know much about is Barrett Trotter.

Trotter threw a total of nine passes last season, completed six of them and that's about it. He will be on a short leash this season, especially with guys like Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier on the bench.

Trotter is the more experienced of the three though, so as of right now, he gets the nod.

LSU: Jordan Jefferson

Georgia transfer Zach Mettenberger was supposed to compete with Jefferson for the starting job at quarterback, but as of right now, it looks like Jefferson has won the competition.

Jefferson is 20-7 as a starter for LSU, but has been very shaky at times. Last season he threw more interceptions than touchdowns in five games. LSU fans are hoping he plays like he played in the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M (he had three touchdown passes).

Jefferson is the starter for now, but that leash is short.

South Carolina: Stephen Garcia

Garcia has shown he is capable of being a great quarterback—he has  also shown he can really stink it up.

It's your job to cover your eyes and see which one shows up.

Garcia threw for more than 3,000 yards and completed 64 percent of his passes, but threw 14 interceptions to his 20 touchdowns. Against Auburn, he passed for more than 300 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, but threw zero touchdowns and three interceptions in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Florida State.

He has to be more consistent to be more successful, and Garcia also needs to stop being a distraction to his team by staying out of trouble.

Florida: John Brantley

Brantley really struggled last season, as the Gators had a very disappointing season. He completed 60 percent of his passes, but threw 10 interceptions to only nine touchdown passes.

This season should be better with a new head coach and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis working with him; Weis works wonders with quarterbacks and should be able to improve Brantley's game.

If things do start to turn out like 2010 though, we may see the future in Jeff Driskel quicker than expected.

Georgia: Aaron Murray

The Bulldogs may have had a disappointing year last season with a 6-7 record, but none of that was Aaron Murray's fault.

Murray completed 61 percent of his passes for more than 3,000 yards and 24 touchdown passes to only eight interceptions. He looks to build upon those numbers, hoping to improve the win total in Georgia. There is a lot of pressure on head coach Mark Richt to get things done.

Arkansas: Tyler Wilson

Arkansas lost Ryan Mallett to the NFL Draft, but Wilson has shown he fill in his shoes quite nicely.

When Mallett left the Auburn game with a head injury, Wilson stepped in, and threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns.

Wilson will fit right in with Bobby Petrino's run-and-gun offense; heading into 2011, he is an early favorite for SEC Offensive Player of the Year.