2011 SEC Preview: Quarterback Questions Abound Throughout Conference

As a new year of SEC football draws near, quarterback questions abound, as always. Cam Newton, Greg McElroy and Ryan Mallett all must be replaced. 

One would expect the teams with returning quarterbacks to have a distinct advantage. However, it seems this year even those teams with experience at the quarterback position have questions to answer. 

Of the four teams replacing experienced quarterbacks (Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky), all but the Wildcats still have a question about who will be under center.    

For Alabama and Auburn, the competition is much too close to call.

Everyone around the Alabama program seems confident in their quarterbacks. Both A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims are very talented and have the backing of the team. The case here is that neither seems more worthy of the job than the other. Despite Alabama's talent, it’s quite strange for the team picked to win the SEC to have no idea who will be under center.  

At Auburn, the situation is different. Expectations are much lower for the National Champions and the confidence in Barrett Trotter or Clint Moseley’s ability to replace Cam Newton is not high. Neither of these players was highly recruited, and the man who is supposed to be the next star (Kiehl Frazier) is a true freshman.

At Arkansas, Tyler Wilson is being dubbed one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and even he, according to Bobby Petrino, hasn’t won his job. This is probably just motivation, but when a man with so few accomplishments is considered among the best in his league, it speaks to the lack of experience at that position.

Among the other contenders in the SEC, questions remain as to whether their experienced quarterbacks can take them where they need to go. For LSU and South Carolina, two teams in excellent position to claim their respective divisions, these questions resonate.  

Jordan Jefferson has been the subject of scrutiny for his entire career at LSU. In that time, he’s proven two things. He’s a pretty average quarterback, and he can win games. In the three years he’s played at LSU, Jefferson’s thrown for 4,000 yards with a 28-18 touchdown to interception ratio (only 7-10 last season). While these are average stats, he does have a record of 20-7 as a starter.

The addition of Steve Kragthorpe to the coaching staff should help to maximize Jefferson’s potential, although he looked much the same in the spring. It’s also unclear what effect Kragthorpe’s recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease may have. He’ll still coach the quarterbacks this season but will no longer call plays. Many fans would love to see Zach Mettenberger get a chance, but Miles is adamant that Jefferson is his man.

At South Carolina, Stephen Garcia’s offseason contained the same news which has circulated for his entire career: another suspension, more questions about alcohol problems and a coach who has never fully embraced him. Garcia has shown talent in his career, but with mixed results. For all the talent he has, Garcia seems to exude the antithesis of “it factor.”

There are questions galore for these players, and they’re the two most experienced quarterbacks in the league. For years, we’ve seen analysts look at bad teams with optimism because of a large number of returning starters. The question is, do you want those starters back, or would you opt for the unknown?

For the record, the coaches don’t seem overly impressed with the experience at quarterback in the SEC. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, Alabama, without a starting quarterback, is ranked two spots ahead of LSU; South Carolina, with a cavalcade of offensive stars and an experienced quarterback, is only two spots ahead of Arkansas; and Auburn is ranked ahead of both Georgia and Mississippi State who have Aaron Murray and Chris Relf firmly in place. 

Preseason polls don’t determine who the best teams will be at season’s end, and there are other factors in these rankings. Defense, good running games, and in Auburn’s case, the best offensive coordinator in the country all contribute to these high rankings. For now, though, the coaches have spoken. When the experienced players are ineffective, they’ll bank on potential. It looks like this year, the old expression is wrong: One in the hand may not be as good as two in the bush.