Way Too-Early SEC Quarterback Rankings: Who Finishes in the Top Five?

The SEC has an argument for returning the best group of five quarterbacks across any conference heading into 2025. Some are getting their first chances to show the world what they can do, while others are looking to cement themselves as Heisman candidates.

With the national championship over and all eyes looking toward fall of 2025, it's never too early to look at the top five quarterback of the SEC heading into the offseason.

1) Tennessee's Nico Iamaleava

There may be some pushback here as the former five star didn't exactly light it up in 2024, but Iamaleava is the only returning starter in the SEC to lead his team to a playoff birth. And that says a lot. Iamaleava finished the 2024 season with 2,619 yards, 19 touchdowns, five interceptions, and completed nearly 64 percent of his passes. He also added 358 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Iamaleava has shown flashes of the talent he possessed coming out of high school in his first season as the Volunteer's starter. He has the adequate arm and mobiity to become a future NFL Draft pick. Iamaleava needs to work on hitting those deep passes down field that ultimately plauged the Tennessee offense at times in 2024. If he can do that along with the Vols finding him weapons at receiver, Tennessee's offense can look at lot like the one that led the country in 2022.

2) Florida's DJ Lagway

Lagway came to Florida as the highest ranked quarterback in the 2024 class with the expectation that he would learn from veteran Graham Mertz and take over the reigns in 2025. That plan was expedited after Mertz went down for the season against Tennessee. While he had some freshman mistakes, it was clear why there was so much hype around Lagway in the 2024 class. He has the ability to make any throw in the book while also being a major threat in the run game. I expect Lagway to push for that number one quarterback spot by the time the 2025 regular season comes to an end.

3) LSU's Garrett Nussmeier

Nussmeier could easily be number one on this list if we went by stats. The Tigers starting quarterback posted 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, all while completing 64.2 percent of his passes. While some talent is leaving LSU's wide receiver room, adding a speedster like Kentucky transfer Barion Brown, among others, should help Nussmeier post great numbers once again. The defensive side of the ball is still a big question in Baton Rouge, but good news for the Tigers is they have a quarterback who can put the team on his back in 2025.

4) South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers

Sellers spent 2023 learning and growing as a backup to current New Orleans Saint, Spencer Rattler. In 2024 he had his shot to take over the South Carolina offense and quickly became oone of the best young quaterbacks in the sport. Sellers finished the final six regular season games of 2024 posting the following stat line: completed 100/149 (67 percent) of his passes for 1,481 yards and 13 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions. On the ground he added 436 yards and four touchdowns. Sellers showed development as a passer as the season went along, but his greatest asset was his ability to evade rushers and scramble down the field. With another offseason of growing as a passer, Sellers could find himself in New York as a Heisman finalist in 2024.

5) Texas' Arch Manning

While not having much in the box score side of things, Arch is coming into his third year of the system under Steve Sarkisian and should once again have a lot of weapons to throw to. Manning sat behind Quinn Ewers for the last two seasons, but was able to make two starts in 2024. He proved he is more than capable of stepping in at any moment and showed he's more than just the name on the back of his jersey. His arm and mobility should make Texas' offense a scary unit for any defense in 2025.

Honorable mentions: Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, Georgia's Gunner Stockton, Oklahoma's John Mateer

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