Week 7 featured the best Saturday slate to date as pure chaos ensued across the country. Top 5 teams dropped like flies. Quarterbacks who started the season on the bench led their teams to upset wins, while others flailed in yet another chance to prove they still have what it takes to lead a high-level program.
It was an overwhelmingly down week for most SEC quarterbacks. A few performances shone through, as we’ll discuss on this page, but it was definitely one to forget for some of the top QBs in the conference.
With that said, let’s rank every SEC quarterback, 1-16. As always, check out previous rankings below!
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Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
16. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Marcel Reed and Brady Hart attempted a near-equal number of passes during Saturday’s win over The Citadel. Reed performed only marginally better, completing 8 of his 13 attempts for 130 yards and 1 passing touchdown. This was Reed’s first passing TD since September 19 against Kentucky.
Last Week: 15 (-1)
15. KJ Jackson, Arkansas
KJ Jackson posted over 300 yards of total offense and a rushing touchdown in Arkansas‘s first SEC win of the season. In doing so, Jackson became just the 2nd Arkansas QB to record the above stats in a win over an SEC foe since 1995. Taylen Green is the other, having done so in 2024 against Mississippi State.
I’ll let you decide whether or not that’s a compliment.
Last Week: 16 (+1)
14. Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt
For his sake, I sincerely hope Jared Curtis is not starting for Vanderbilt next season. He’ll be starting somewhere, though.
The true freshman QB is absolutely deserving of the No. 14 spot on this list, but his talent is apparent if you sit and watch for a while. Still, you have to wade through some pretty desperate play as his receivers fail to get open and his linemen struggle to stay in front of SEC pass rushers.
It’s easy to see why Curtis was so highly-rated out of high school when he gets a clean pocket and isn’t forced to make quick decisions. Check out this dot to Junior Sherrill for a touchdown:
CURTIS FINDS SHERRILL FOR SIX! pic.twitter.com/RKwIJlpwkE
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) October 18, 2026For now though, the stats do a good job painting the reality of the situation: Curtis has thrown for 1,242 yards (13th among SEC starters) with 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He’s the only SEC QB with 3+ starts under his belt to have more interceptions than touchdown passes.
Last Week: 14 (–)
13. Arch Manning, Texas
According to Pete Thamel, Texas is set to give backup quarterback KJ Lacey Jr. an uptick in first-team reps heading into the Longhorns’ matchup against Ole Miss. I don’t believe for a second that Steve Sarkisian is actually thinking of benching Manning before the game starts, but I’m less confident that Manning finishes Week 8 if he puts up another performance like he did against the Gators. How can he?
Manning continued his up and down trend on Saturday. He missed open receivers (underthrows, misreads… you name it), was bailed out of an INT by a penalty on an ill-advised deep ball and took 5 sacks. And once again, with the game on the line, Manning coughed up the football to seal the game for the Gators.
Manning has learned Texas’s system for 4 years. He played several games in 2024 and has been the Longhorns’ starter for a season and a half. With almost 2 dozen starts under his belt, the bad continues to outweigh the good in a prove-it year for Texas.
Last Week: 11 (-2)
12. John Mateer, Oklahoma
It started so well.
John Mateer began Oklahoma’s loss to Kentucky 15-of-20 for 167 yards and a touchdown. He finished the game 9-of-20 for 103 yards and 3 interceptions — including an INT forced into double coverage and returned for a touchdown on the deciding final drive.
KENTUCKY PICKS OFF JOHN MATEER AND RETURNS IT 41 YARDS pic.twitter.com/WEr5xTuQNq
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) October 18, 2026Sound familiar? It should, because it’s defined the John Mateer experience at Oklahoma for the past 2 seasons.
Mateer took all the progress he made against Texas and threw it straight in the trash on Saturday. Ben Arbuckle did him no favors, but I push back against blaming the play-calling when Mateer so consistently struggles with decision-making — especially in big moments.
Last week: 10 (-2)
11. George MacIntyre, Tennessee
Wins are not necessarily a QB stat, but they definitely help. George MacIntyre is 2-0 as Tennessee’s starter and 3-0 in games in which he attempted 10 or more passes. That’ll play, folks.
Like last week, MacIntyre did a good job of staying in rhythm on Saturday. He completed a few throws that kept Alabama’s secondary honest and only committed 1 glaring mistake — an overthrow that was picked off and set up Alabama for its lone touchdown of the evening.
If it wasn’t obvious already, it should be by now: MacIntyre is the guy for Tennessee the remainder of the way. He’s yet to truly wow with any of his throws, but he’s playing smart and confident. Tennessee will take that every day of the week with the way the Vols are playing on defense.
Last Week: 12 (+1)
10. Tramell Jones Jr., Florida
How many quarterbacks can say their first-career start ended with a road victory over the No. 7 team in the country? Not many, I’d imagine!
Tramell Jones Jr. started slow and finished strong on Saturday, passing for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns with 41 crucial rushing yards (including 4 rushes of 9+ yards). Jones did not commit a turnover and only took 1 sack against a Texas defensive line that has performed with the best in the country.
This throw — on 4th-and-12 — kept Florida in the game, leading to a touchdown just before the end of the first half:
Tramell Jones Jr. with an INCREDIBLE fourth-down effort (via SEC on ABC) pic.twitter.com/b8PDiiFFK8
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 17, 2026Jones and the Gators get a bye week to prepare for Halloween’s Cocktail Party against Georgia. Will he be the starter?
Last Week: N/A
9. Byrum Brown, Auburn
Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown finished with more rushing yards (115) than Georgia’s entire team (113) on Saturday, helping his Tigers stun the No. 1 Bulldogs 27-24.
Brown became the first QB since Vince Young to rush for 100 yards in a win over the No. 1 team in the country. He was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for collecting just over 300 yards of total offense and 2 touchdowns — 1 passing and 1 rushing.
Wondering where the heck that performance came from? I’m really not, despite the fact Brown ranked 13th in last week’s list. It’s no coincidence that Brown posted his best game of the year on the same day he finished with a career-high 26 rushing attempts. The Tigers allowed Brown to be an elite athlete rather than trying to make him work in the pocket.
Has Auburn found something here?
Last Week: 13 (+4)
8. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
LaNorris Sellers did not play in Week 7, and that’s a good thing for South Carolina. The Gamecocks quarterback, after posting his best outing of the season against Florida, sorely needed the extra week of preparation as South Carolina prepares to take on a nasty Vols defense at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Vols lead the SEC in sacks — can Sellers remain effective under pressure?
Last Week: 8 (-)
7. Sam Leavitt, LSU
Sam Leavitt sliced and diced Mississippi State on Saturday.
For the first time this season, Leavitt didn’t commit a turnover. He was deadly efficient, completing 31 of his season-high 38 attempts for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns. Leavitt is the first SEC quarterback to surpass 2,000 yards of total offense this season, and he’s 2nd in rushing yards for an SEC QB behind only LaNorris Sellers. His ability to lead an offense shouldn’t be in question nearing the home stretch.
Leavitt’s growth following LSU’s loss to Ole Miss has been fun to watch, too. Across the past 4 games since that loss, Leavitt has completed 77% of his passes for 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. None of the defenses he played across that span are much to write home about — and LSU lost to Kentucky — but he’s proven capable of playing at a high level time and time again.
And now, he’s proving he can limit the turnovers, too.
Last Week: 7 (-)
6. Austin Simmons, Mizzou
This is just becoming my weekly section to complain about how confounding it is that Austin Simmons and the Mizzou Tigers can’t score a touchdown in the first quarter. This week it was even worse — Mizzou didn’t score a touchdown all game!
In addition to yet another slow start, Simmons had a largely quiet performance against his former team — though, in fairness, his run game didn’t help much. The Tigers rushed for just 39 yards on 26 carries, and Simmons still threw for 339 yards at a respectable 7.7 yards per attempt. Simmons didn’t score and threw 1 interception — the final throw of the game, on 4th down. If you’re looking to play the blame game, the lack of a viable rushing attack is where I’d start.
Simmons’ arm remains incredibly impressive. His consistency is a worry entering the bye week.
Last Week: 5 (-1)
5. Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State
I’m keeping Kamario Taylor in the rankings for one more week as the Mississippi State quarterback works his way back from injury. The result from Saturday speaks for itself: MSU is a different team with Taylor on the bench, and not in a good way.
Not exactly sure who Puckett was targeting here pic.twitter.com/5BXBarEJnm
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) October 17, 2026Last Week: 4 (-1)
4. Keelon Russell, Alabama
Keelon Russell was in hell Saturday evening in Neyland Stadium. Russell played his worst game of his season thus far, but there aren’t many quarterbacks I’d pick to succeed in that environment against a Vols defense that doesn’t have many weaknesses.
Additionally, Alabama OC Ryan Grubb did Russell little favors by counting on long-developing plays over quick completions to work Russell into the game. Tennessee’s defensive line set the tone early, forcing a fumble that obviously stuck with Russell the rest of the afternoon. The run game was non-existent as well — the Tide rushed for 54 yards on 26 carries with 1 touchdown off a short field.
That said…
Russell is still very young in a lot of ways, and it stuck out like a sore thumb on Saturday. The timidness in the passing game which was a concern early this season was very much present against the Vols, and he still committed 3 turnovers. Additionally, Russell just has to have a quicker internal clock and know when it’s time to cut his losses.
Last Week: 3 (-1)
3. Kenny Minchey, Kentucky
Another week, another win for Kenny Minchey and the Kentucky Wildcats.
This time, Minchey got it done on the road against a top 5 SEC defense. What stood out in this one was his ball placement, none better than this go-ahead throw to Willie Rodriguez just over the arm of an OU linebacker.
.@kenny_minchey + @w_rodriguez10=TOUCHDOWN – SEC Network pic.twitter.com/lcRBACuE96
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) October 18, 2026Minchey is probably the best quarterback in the SEC when it comes to risk assessment from a processing standpoint. He’s not timid — as the above throw should prove — but he’s been so accurate and thrown just 1 interception through 7 games. Minchey currently has the 2nd longest streak of consecutive passing attempts (160) in Kentucky history without an interception behind only Andre Woodson (325).
Last Week: 6 (+3)
2. Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Gunner Stockton committed 3 turnovers, including a fumble at midfield to seal Auburn’s stunning win over the No. 1 Bulldogs. To say his Week 7 performance was uncharacteristic would be an understatement.
It was a bad day for Stockton, but I’m not willing to discount the great performances he’s had this year because of it. Everyone gets one off day. Russell, like Stockton, chose this week. Minchey had his in Week 2. You get the picture.
Last Week: 2 (-)
1. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
Across a largely negative week for SEC quarterbacks, Trinidad Chambliss shined once again. After being deemed the best quarterback in college football by Steve Young on College GameDay, Chambliss torched the Mizzou for 241 yards and 4 touchdowns — 3 passing and 1 rushing — in a 31-3 win over a top 15 Tigers squad.
Consistency trumps all in CFB, folks. Chambliss is humming heading into a massive outing at Texas.
Last Week: 1 (-)
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