SEC QB rankings: Arch Manning, NFL Draft prospects Garrett Nussmeier and LaNorris Sellers lead the way

When it comes to elite quarterback talent in college football, the SEC flexes several Heisman Trophy candidates and future franchise players at the position in 2025. The league highlighted several of the conference's top expected passers this week at SEC Media Days as they represented a number of likely preseason top 25 teams.

The most SEC quarterbacks ever taken in the NFL Draft's first round is two, set in 1948 and most recently tied in 2023 when Alabama's Bryce Young and Florida's Anthony Richardson went inside the top 10.

If Arch Manning meets galactic expectations at Texas and declares, the quarterbacks within the SEC could make for an all-time class, according to early 2026 mocks. Let's not get ahead ourselves, however. There's a 2025 season to play, so here is our ranking of every projected starting quarterback in the SEC as media days winds down.

Home cooking: In plug-and-play transfer era, SEC leans on in-house QBs to key league's return to dominance

16. Zach Calzada, Kentucky

We've reached the era of seventh-year quarterbacks in the SEC. Calzada is back in a conference he's familiar with following two seasons at Incarnate Word after his transfer from Auburn. Calzada landed at Auburn ahead of the 2022 campaign after a three-year stint initially with Texas A&M. All this to say Calzada takes the field with a chip on his surgically-repaired shoulder with the Wildcats since his last touchdown pass against SEC competition came in 2021.

15. Joey Aguilar, Tennessee

Let's make this clear — Aguilar is the Vols' projected starter this season. Josh Heupel said Tuesday the competition will be fierce during fall camp as Tennessee begins the post-Nico Iamaleava era. Aguilar threw 56 touchdown passes over two seasons as Appalachian State's starting quarterback before transferring to UCLA last fall. He went through spring practice with Deshaun Foster's team, before hopping into the portal again in what essentially amounts to a trade with Tennessee.

14. Beau Pribula, Missouri

Choosing Missouri over UCF, Ole Miss and Iowa was quite the whirlwind for Drew Allar's ex-backup at Penn State. Pribula, a physical, run-minded quarterback, is ideal for Eli Drinkwitz's tough-as-nails mentality offensively and is almost a carbon copy of what the Tigers have had the last few seasons with Brady Cook from a tenacity standpoint. He split part of the first-team reps with Sam Horn during the spring and hasn't been named the starter, yet. However, Missouri signed him as a playmaker and he's the option in the room that gives the Tigers the best shot at success in 2025.

13. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M

Reed is a tough grade. No one saw the heightened workload in November coming from a player who started the 2024 season as Conner Weigman's backup. But he earned the nod after coming off the bench to help the Aggies upend LSU in College Station. Elite defense from South Carolina and Texas made Reed look like an average player, while his efforts against Auburn and USC down the stretch were admirable performances. He doesn't look comfortable at times from the pocket and has a tendency of dancing around to evade pressure and extend plays on his own. Aggies OC Collin Klein hopes to bottle that athleticism this season while making sure Reed further develops as a passer with several portal additions around him to help out.

12. Jackson Arnold, Auburn

This transfer has to hit for Hugh Freeze. He may not get another chance if Arnold struggles on The Plains. Arnold said this week that Freeze helped him find a comfort level in the passing game this spring that he didn't necessarily find at his previous stop with Oklahoma. The talent's there for the former five-star recruit, but putting it all in motion is the biggest question in 2025, along with finding some semblance of confidence at the position.

11. Blake Shapen, Mississippi State

On his way toward a statistically-notable campaign last fall, Shapen suffered a non-throwing shoulder injury on a hit against Florida in September and missed the rest of the year. He was completing passes at a 68.4% clip and had already managed three multi-touchdown outings. Mississippi State was able to hold onto Shapen after the season, which caused Michael Van Buren to leave for the portal (and eventually sign with LSU). Shapen would've been a hot commodity in the portal market and his presence in Starkville gives the Bulldogs a chance to move forward under Jeff Lebby.

10. Gunner Stockton, Georgia

You can count on Mike Bobo finding wrinkles in opposing defenses to help out his quarterbacks, but for Stockton, it's all about execution and quickly getting the football out to the Bulldogs' new arsenal of playmakers this fall. Most of America only saw Stockton play six quarters of football last season, the second half against Texas in the SEC title game and the Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame in the CFP. No other signal caller in the SEC had a tougher ask off the bench. If Stockton struggles in camp or disappoints early in the season, Ryan Puglisi isn't far behind on the depth chart.

9. Ty Simpson, Alabama

Buy low on Simpson while the price is still affordable. If the Crimson Tide are in playoff conversations a few months from now, he's going to be one of the primary reasons for Alabama's improvement. Adding offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb this offseason helped to simplify things and should make it easier on Alabama to produce at the position. Decision-making has to be better under center this fall if the Crimson Tide is to flourish in the passing game with some of the skill talent it has on the outside. This is Simpson's third shot at securing the starting quarterback job at Alabama.

8. Austin Simmons, Ole Miss

Like Lincoln Riley's passers, you can pencil in major production under Lane Kiffin at the quarterback spot. And he's confident in Simmons since the Rebels didn't pursue a starting quarterback in the portal this cycle after losing Jaxson Dart. In limited duty last fall, Simmons flashed, most notably with his touchdown drive in the first half of the Rebels' win over Georgia. Simmons doesn't have nearly as much film as some of the players behind him in these rankings, but at season's end, his numbers will be in the top tier of the conference.

7. Taylen Green, Arkansas

The soon-to-be-married Green knows he has a loyal fan at home regardless on what happens on the field with the Razorbacks this season, but his plan is to take the SEC by storm and insert himself into the conversation on the league's best QBs as the face of one of the least talked about squads. Green quietly put together a terrific year last fall with offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino calling the shots, eclipsing 3,000 yards passing and 600 yards on the ground. On third down, Arkansas called his number and the Razorbacks finished in the top half of the league in conversion rate. Green is one name some NFL scouts have mentioned just outside of the elite tier for 2026.

6. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt

This quarterback ranks No. 1 on the confidence meter, but has a handful of guys in front of him that most SEC coaches would rather start a team with if we're being polite. It's going to be difficult for Pavia to replicate the success shown last year now that there's tape on the Commodores and he has provided ample bulletin board material for opposing locker rooms throughout the offseason. Vanderbilt needs to keep him upright as much as possible. He took a beating during the second half of his 2024 campaign, part of the reason the Commodores lost their last three SEC games of the year before beating Georgia Tech in the bowl game.

5. DJ Lagway, Florida

Florida's quarterback did not throw this spring while dealing with an undisclosed shoulder situation, but has been labeled by most around the program as the Gators' top player at the position since Tim Tebow. That's high praise and brings significant -- perhaps unobtainable expectations -- as a first-year starter in 2025. He has next-level traits and showed plenty of that when he helped the Gators beat nationally-ranked Ole Miss, LSU and Tulane late last fall. And what Lagway has that only a few others do in these rankings is elite talent around him at wide receiver.

4. John Mateer, Oklahoma

Is it fair to put seismic expectations on a transfer quarterback who's never taken a rep in the SEC? Sifting through Mateer's film, the transition should be favorable. Perhaps the toughest signal caller to slot in this ranking beyond the top three, Mateer has the luxury of his play-caller and schematic guru Ben Arbuckle partnering back up with him with the Sooners after success at Washington State. That will help significantly. Mateer throws a beautiful ball with a quick, sidearm release and processes quickly. He's a taller version of Baker Mayfield from a freelance perspective and rushed for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns last fall.

3. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina

Sellers enjoyed breakout success last season as a redshirt freshman with 2,534 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with 674 yards rushing and seven scores. That rise to stardom started with a 75-yard touchdown run against LSU and hit its peak during a six-game winning streak over the second half of the campaign when the Gamecocks toppled Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Missouri and Clemson, among others. Mike Shula takes over as Sellers' new OC, but schematically, South Carolina's offense should look the same. Part of what kept the dual-threat star from reaching the top spot here is the uncertainty in the weapons department. He may need to handle most of the offensive load himself this season, which at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, shouldn't be an issue.

2. Arch Manning, Texas

With only two starts under his belt, even Manning admits he hasn't accomplished all that much. The former five-star recruit and No. 1 player in the 2023 class steps takes center stage after two years on the sidelines. Manning is the Heisman frontrunner, the face of a team with one of the most complete rosters in college football that was rebuilt through the transfer portal in key spots; Texas also welcomes back a number of future first-round draft picks. Manning is in the No. 2 spot primarily because of his upside and an extremely high ceiling.

1. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

Patience. Development. Setbacks. Brian Kelly's take on his returning senior quarterback was cut and dry this week. He went through all three of those levels of his game last season. Nussmeier's ceiling is Heisman-level and leading the Tigers to a national championship. The other side of the coin is that his gunslinger mentality led to too many giveaways in 2024 as he trusted his arm too much at times. He's a projected first-round NFL Draft pick in 2026 and potentially the first player off the board at the position. He has elite arm strength and throws quite a fastball.