Experience vs. talent is a constant loop of banter that keeps the wheel of college football topics going from the end of one season to the beginning of the next.
We know winning in college football is driven by having the most talented players. You want as many five-star prospects to stay in our program as long as possible.
Conversely, the two quarterbacks in the national championship, Will Howard and Riley Leonard, had 50 and 43 games of college football experience, respectively.
Here is a list of likely SEC starting quarterbacks ordered by their amount of college football game experience. We are listing this in descending order based on career passing yards in FBS football.
Taylen Green, Arkansas (prev: Boise State)
Games: 41
Passing Stats: 6,948 yards, 40 TD, 24 INT
Most of Green's production was generated at Boise State. He was in and out with injury in 2024. The Razorbacks did end the season with a great QB performance in the Liberty Bowl. Green was responsible for 422 yards of total offense in the Hogs' Liberty Bowl win over Texas Tech.
Deigo Pavia, Vanderbilt (prev: New Mexico State)
Games: 40
Passing Stats: 6716 yards, 59 TD, 19 INT
Pavia has beaten Hugh Freeze-coached teams in three consecutive seasons. He engineered an upset win over Alabama. He even defeated the NCAA and has an extra year of eligibility. He returns to Vanderbilt as one of the most gritty and marketable quarterbacks in the country.
Blake Shapen, Mississippi State (prev: Baylor)
Games: 31
Passing Stats: 6,548, 44 TD, 14 INT
Jeff Lebby replaces Michael Van Buren, who is now the backup at LSU, with Blake Shapen. The 24-year-old is older than Bryce Young, who has now been a two-year starter in the NFL. Shapen played in four games for the Bulldogs in 2024 before his season was derailed due to a shoulder injury.
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Games: 31
Passing Stats: 5,772, 40 TD, 19 INT
Nussmeier is one of college football's most prolific quarterbacks. Each game is filled with some NFL quality throws along with some critical errors and too many turnovers. He will be near the top of Heisman odds entering the upcoming season.
John Mateer, Oklahoma (prev: Washington State)
Games: 24
Passing Stats: 3,406 yards, 32 TD, 8 INT
This transfer was considered to be among the biggest talent swings in the previous transfer cycle. Mateer was very productive at Washington State. Oklahoma will need that to continue as the Sooners struggled to find consistent passing offense in its first season in the SEC.
Nico Iamaleava
Games: 18
Passing Stats: 2,930, 21 TD, 5 INT
Iamaleava is now known for more than his NIL valuation. He flashed often in 2023 and had the Volunteers in championship contention.
LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
Games: 15
Passing Stats: 2,620 yards, 20 TD, 7 INT
The resurgence at South Carolina was centered around the dual threat attack from LaNorris Sellers. The Gamecocks' offense was dynamic when he was in the game and much more predictable when injuries sidelined him. He goes from an unknown quantity last offseason to one of the top SEC QBs going into this year.
Zach Calzada, Kentucky (prev: Texas A&M, Auburn, Incarnate Word)
Games: 15 (FBS only)
Passing Stats: 2,318 yards, 19 TD, 10 INT
He backed up Kellen Mond and had a position battle with Haynes King at Texas A&M. After a year at Auburn and two at Incarnate Word, Calzada returns to the SEC to likely start at Kentucky. This could be a QB battle with Cutter Boley, who became the starter late in the year over Brock Vandagriff.
Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Games: 14
Passing Stats: 2,238, 16 TD, 7 INT
Reed commandeered the starting QB job from Conner Weigman, who is now at Houston. Reed is dangerous as a ball-carrier and forced defenses to account for that after he ran all over LSU in a win where he only had to throw two passes. It is the Reed show as we begin year two of the Mike Elko regime in College Station.
Jackson Arnold, Auburn (prev: Oklahoma)
Games: 17
Passing Stats: 1,984, 16 TD, 6 INT
His performance against Alabama kept the Crimson Tide out of the College Football playoff. Now, Arnold gets to ramp up the stakes even more against Alabama as he will lead the offense for Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
DJ Lagway, Florida
Games: 12
Passing Stats: 1.915 yards, 12 TD, 9 INT
Lagway helped turn around Florida's season and gave Gators fans a bright spot of hope for the future. Billy Napier entrusted Lagway to lead the team and it worked. He will need to reduce interceptions to take the next step in his development. He threw four interceptions in the span of Florida's final three games last season.
Arch Manning, Texas
Games: 12
Passing Stats: 969 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT
He may be used to high expectations with his last name, but the college football world is rolling out the red carpet for Arch Manning to be an icon of the sport. He's been successful in passing and running in limited sample sizes. He will have a talented cast that has made playoff runs in the last two seasons. The Longhorns with Manning are likely the SEC favorites for 2025.
Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Games: 9
Passing Stats: 588 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Gunner Stockton and his old truck may be part of a needed offensive culture change at UGA. At a minimum, his running ability was required to turn around a flailing offense in the SEC Championship Game. The offensive output versus Notre Dame left more questions than answers. Georgia will use the spring to find answers either through Stockton or Ryan Puglisi, if needed. Either way, Georgia has one of the most inexperienced QB rooms in the league based on game time. Stockton, however, will be entering his fourth spring practice at Georgia.
Beau Pribula, Missouri (prev: Penn State)
Games: 24
Passing Stats: 424 Yards, 9 TD, 1 INT
Pribula transfers to Missouri from Penn State to replace a new-look offense without Brady Cook or Luther Burden. This could be a quarterback battle with Drew Pyne and Sam Horn also vying for QB1 reps. Eli Drinkwitz has already said he doesn't see a need to name a starting quarterback in the spring. How did they decide who went out first at quarterback in spring practice? Rock, paper, scissors.
Ty Simpson, Alabama
Games: 16
Passing Stats: 381 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Alabama's offense has a new look with Jalen Milroe off to the NFL and Ryan Grubb joining the Crimson Tide as offensive coordinator. Similar to Gunner Stockton at Georgia, Ty Simpson has been in the QB room for three years. Austin Mack, a Washington transfer, and true freshman Keelon Russell are the other potential options.
Austin Simmons, Ole Miss
Games: 9
Passing Stats: 282, 2 TD, 0 INT
Jaxson Dart has had a firm grip on quarterback reps at Ole Miss. Austin Simmons enters the role with the least game experience in the SEC. Most of his production came against Georgia last season when he entered for an injured Dart. Simmons was spectacular and posted a stat line of 5/6 for 64 yards. His steady play allowed Ole Miss to overcome an early interception and the injury to Dart. Ole Miss fans have reasons for optimism even in Simmons' limited sample size.
