Top SEC QBs Power Rankings 2026 - Who Belongs, Who Doesn't

I think you guys are sleeping on him, like, wait, what? I also I also agree. What do we what am I missing? Like what? What part did we not like about Gunner Stockton last year? So Trinidad Stan was number one. This seems like it's just it's hard to put him anywhere else, to be quite honest with you. Yeah, I honestly wanted to move him because based on the theory that I'm going to apply here, he falls out of that theory. But the way that he but he also doesn't because he played with a new coach, he played, but now with a new offensive coordinator, him playing in a new system scares a little bit of crap out of me. I got to be honest with you. But the way that he had just played and was able to he's he's very Diego Pavio like where he's just going. He's just a playmaker on the football field. He has done it at an elite level. And it's and he still has Quan Lacey. It's hard to overlook that. Yeah, I'm going to tell you, I don't feel as locked in as most others do, but it's hard. It's hard not to put him up there because of what he did last year at the end of the year and all year to be quiet, to be quite honest with you. Nobody had an answer for him again. Not having Charlie Weiss in Lincoln in your back pocket scares me. It does like it. It was the reason this is my theory. It's coaching is going to be a big backing to this. OK, so when you ask me, hey, why is this person here and why is this person not here? A big point system for me, for my list, for my scoring, for me. Shelton, I'm not even going to read the comments while I'm going through my list because I'm not going to deal with the insults this morning. We can wait till after the fact. OK, I even put a hat on this morning because I want to get made fun of for my hair. All right. So that's where we're at. Number two, Gunner Stockton. I think we all know why I'm here on this one. We've been pretty high on Gunner. You got a lot of flack for you're going to Stockton pick. I think Gunner fits every criteria that you're looking for. Coaching stays the same. Offensive stays the same. Wide receiver room, a bit of a, you know, not as flashy as I think it was in the year prior. But I think Georgia fans are excited and comfortable with it. I like Gunner. I think that he's in a good system. I think that the one thing that George has done well on is they haven't done the best with quarterback, but they haven't done poorly either. And I think Gunner kind of has. I think Gunner what Gunner has, what none of them what what Gunner, in my opinion, has the best of Carson Beck and Stetson Bennett, which Stetson Bennett was a phenomenal leader for Georgia. Carson Beck had a great arm, just didn't have a a killer instinct at all. Gunner showed it to me a multiple multitude of times last year. That's number two. Arch sitting in number three. Arch, to me, fits. He showed a lot of progress at the end of the year last year. This may be a bit of a reach, but he's one of those names that everyone keeps putting up there. It's hard for me to overlook Arch because I like what I saw at the end of the year. I think he's in the same system and he has a plethora of weapons around him. And I think they did a good job of putting support not only on the wide receiver room more so, but blocking for him as well. So he's not a flat quarterback. The kid was was showing some skill and he was really fighting some demons. Very similar to DJ Lagway. But look, in the same, if you're looking to compare the two, one quarterback folded under under that pressure. We're Arch. We kind of made fun of and kind of gave him some flack because he would kind of be on the high sideline. But he was like battling, really battling demons. You talked about, you know, G. Paul this morning telling you, quote, on your driver halfway around. Gunner was hit every shot, shanking every driver. But it was like, I'm not putting it away. I'm not putting the way like 16, 17, 18 hit absolute just piss missiles down the middle. And it's like, that's what keeps you coming back, dog. Now, will it translate next round? I don't know. I don't know. But I think he's done a lot of good things that put him in the right place. Some are three. How's the chat? Am I getting cooked in the chat? I can't even look. Yeah. Yeah. Am I? Yeah. Am I? Yeah. Why am I getting cooked? Why am I getting cooked? What they said? One through nine is wrong. Somebody Gunner is overrated. Gunner can't take over a game. Listen, Gunner doesn't have to take over again. I don't know. The Gunner hate is just unreal to me. The over. I don't like I think you guys are sleeping on him. Like what? I also I also agree. What do we what am I missing? Like what? What part do we not like about Gunner Stockton last year? When you say people are saying Austin Simmons over Gunner Austin Simmons, if he was so great, would it took his job back? Gunner Stockton ranked six last year with an eighty four point nine QBR. Yeah. Like I'm all for criticism. And I think Georgia with the best of them. But there was a throw. And I remember what I think it was a Tennessee game when he threw back shoulder. And I was just like in utter awe. Like, that's why like this kid's this kid's got it. This kid's got it. Yeah. Take the logos away. This isn't this isn't a logo thing or who he plays for. This is Georgia hasn't had weapons at ever. Now, it's the same mold. I agree with you. He might be a bit high, to be quite honest with you. I think I could probably swap Sam Leavitt. And here's my reason for Sam Leavitt. So the only one they're mad about is Gunner. That doesn't count. I only see they're mad about Gunner. If someone said one through nine, that doesn't even count. They're just saying from Florida. I don't feel like I'm getting that much hate. Scott hates Gunner. He writes that. I'm not about Scott being mad about the Gunner stuff. So that's that's fine there. So Sam Leavitt at LSU is my next pick. I'll explain why. I'll explain why the Marcel Reed is where he is. All right. That's a that's a great explanation. I got I got this coming. Got this coming for you. So Sam Leavitt, in my opinion, has showed us to be a viable quarterback in college football. He has arguably one of the best in the business in Lane Kiffin and and Weiss, who have shown to do it time and time again. You can't overlook that. And they have everything you're asking for in weapons. So it's hard for me to deny history there. You have a you have a coach that has shown to do it. In this world, in this league, at an elite level. Again, Trinidad Chambliss is was one of those examples. Jackson Dart, he's done it year over year. Sam Leavitt has been more proven than any of those guys coming in. Now, Jackson Dart was a five star recruit, but more proven in a college landscape than any of them. So that's why it's hard for me to overlook similar. I I wasn't I'm not big on Sam Leavitt as a person, but I think the system that he's going in is going to make him a top five quarterback. Here's my thing for Marcel Reed. I'm going to skip five, six real quick to approach the Marcel Reed thing. All right. I think Marcel Reed's great. Big fan of Marcel Reed. He has his liabilities. I think what we saw from Marcel Reed last year was pretty damn close to his ceiling. I don't think you're going to get too much more out of Marcel Reed. And you don't need to. He's got to be a little more, a little more stable. I don't think the jump for Marcel Reed is going to be that great. And if Marcel Reed goes out there and does what he did last year, I think that he'll be around the fifth or sixth best quarterback in the league. I don't I don't I don't necessarily trust him. I mean, this kid kid, this kid could be the I mean, he's really the biggest. He could he could absolutely go off and take college football by storm. He has athletic ability to do it. He's with the right team to do it. They could go on an absolute run. I mean, Texas A&M with Marcel Reed, if he elevates his game to a two times what he is, they're probably going to win a national championship down there at Texas A&M. Yeah, look, he could he be more. But you had the biggest you had the biggest. It's the same thing with Carson Beck. One drive. And what did I tell you? He lost his coordinator, by the way. Yeah, he lost his OC. What did I tell you was going to happen to both of those guys? They were going to throw it in the game. Yeah, there's a there is a part to this game or this this list that I'm going back of what I've learned. And there's a name. There's a name you're not seeing on here, which is Lenore Sellers. He's not on the list. He didn't make the list. I'll explain to you why he didn't make the list here in just a few minutes. But that's what there's part of that point, too, of like there is we keep thinking these guys are going to make these egregious jumps. And like we probably should pump the brakes a little bit. Right. And that's kind of where I'm at with it. Again, this Marcel being number six, is it a bad thing? I also think that with me saying that, I think this quarterback room for for for the first time in a long time is pretty healthy. I think that there's I think there's a lot of quality here. Again, you've got Sam Levitt on Arch Manning. Think about this first. Just a quick second. OK, Trinidad's name was Gunner Stockton. Arch Manning, Sam Levitt are all going to probably be. I think all are should be or will be in the NFL draft. So that's I mean, you're yelling at me, but they are all going to be top top, you know, that top first round picks. But they'll all be. I don't think Trinidad's will be. But we'll be all be picks in the NFL draft. So take that into consideration. Russell or Mack, number five, why I love this. Again, I go back to my theory with coaching the in my opinion, Milrow had his best year as a quarterback, not as a running quarterback, but as a quarterback when the board took over. All right. Then, of course, we saw what Ty Simpson did last year. I think that Mack, I think Mack will end up being the starter personally. It was this guy that he took from Washington. We saw him step in. He looked, looked the part very well. Keylon, I think, is leading the way from what I've read in a lot of places. I still think Mack wins. That's why, that's why. A quick announcement from our sponsors, which is, of course, today, Price Picks. Be sure you guys use the link in the description. Use the code HMA when you download the app and you pay $5 you get $50 instantly. And right now is a great time to get in on Price Picks. With it being playoff time for basketball and hockey, it is an absolute blast. Of course, the MLB season has started. So you can get your itch every single day when it comes to baseball, because obviously there are games every single day right now, along with basketball and playoff hockey. So get in on the action right now. Use that code HMA. Go give me a follow at Shelton High Top on the Price Pick feed. So you can see when I make my own picks and my own plays, you can follow along and tell my picks along with others from the High Top family. Like Dave, like Cody. If you guys want to give us a follow, go give us a follow right now. Be sure to use the code. It's available in states like Florida, California, and Texas. So get in on the action. Price Picks, run your game. Personal gut feeling, I just think that we'll go with the more experienced hand here. If Russell does win, I think it's very similar to Florida and Jones beating Philo. Like, you're in a great place. It's not a big deal at all. I think that's why I have them so high is that you can say whatever you want about Tequila and DeBoer. You can say that they're struggling. This is where they're not bad at, in my opinion, is the quarterback room. That is where they thrive. And again, year one and DeBoer, they didn't have their coordinator. He went to Seattle. He's been back the last two years. This has been the least of my concerns is quarterback play. I don't care they can't run the ball, none of that bullshit. I think that either one of these guys is going to be a top five quarterback in the SEC. So that's where I'm at. How do you feel about my list so far, Cody? I really like it, actually. It's not bad, right? Yeah. John Motyer at number seven. The reason why I have him at number seven is the same reason why I have Marcel Rueda at number six. Love John Motyer. Thought he did great last year. But I think the same reason why Oklahoma fans are nervous for heading into next year, you saw John Motyer. You're not getting any more out of— What you saw is what you got. You're not going to get any more out of him. And they lost weapons. Yeah. And they couldn't run the ball, which is, you know— I know I just said it doesn't matter about Alabama. But I still think Bama has other weapons to overcome those things. I think that's the problem with John Motyer is that you saw what you got. Which was good. Wasn't great. It was good. Middle of the pack. Again, if you got a quarterback in this top echelon, you're doing good things. That's where he's at. Again, going to number eight here. I got Austin Simmons at Mizzou. Somebody's done a good job with quarterbacks year over year. Whether it's Bo Primula or whoever. I can't think of all their quarterbacks at Mizzou at this very quick second. But our boy Eli Dinklinks has done a pretty bang-up job. And Austin Simmons is an athlete. We were a big fan of Simmons at Ole Miss. And he was doing well before he went down with an injury. I just think that, again, system. I like what he'll do over there. I also think that these next two, eight and nine, play a similar role of— They're going to kind of be brushed off to the side. All these talks and conversations are going to be about it. But everybody else, they're going to be able to go and do their thing. No pressure to Simmons to do his job. And I think that he'll be the number eight guy. Number nine, Kenny Minche. Minche. This kid's a stud. Top four-star quarterback. Played at Notre Dame. Lost his job to Heisman favorite CJ Carr as a freshman. Who played out of his mind as a true freshman. Don't tell David Solder he wasn't watching the same game we all were. Three-year guy, I think, Kenny Minche is. I think he played behind— Kenny sat behind— Who was the quarterback that took him to the National Championship? That's who he sat behind. Leonard. I think that's what his name was. Sat behind him. Then goes and then sits behind— Loses his job to CJ Carr, which was— Again, Notre Dame made a business decision of like, well, this kid's young and— Again, very Russell Mack, Philo Jones. The younger guy is close enough to where it's worth the risk, right? Yeah. That's what happened. And he's not going to your grandpa's Kentucky, all right? That's the big thing. We toss it to the side because it's Kentucky. No, no, no, no. This is the Oregon lover, Dan Lanning prodigy, Will Stein's Kentucky. This is the reformed Kentucky that is going all in on their new head coach. And I think Minche is going to do a lot of good things for them over there. This isn't like Brock Vandergrift from Georgia, like just like a washed-up quarterback headed in Kentucky. No, this is not the same situation. So that's where I'm at with that. So then I put Philo and Jones, number 10. And there's probably some homerunists there because it's like I can't make a list and leave Florida out of it. But at the same time, sticking with my theory, it's not very Homer-esque-like because going back to what I've said about Alabama, what I've said about Mizzou, and what I just said about Kentucky and LSU is Buster Faulkner has shown to have success in his systems with his quarterbacks because of his play calling. And I do believe that Florida has a plethora of weapons. And now there is obviously the question mark off the offensive line. But I think, again, even with that at play, that's why there's a 10 there, I think that you have a very good dynamic with experience in Philo and upside in Jones that I like that quarterback room a lot. Now, I'm going to get throttled for this because you're like, you're an idiot for Lenora Sellers. Lenora Sellers, here's my hot take for the year, will be the Garrett Nussmeier of this year. And I think for Lenora Sellers, we keep putting all this pressure of like, he's going to do this. And I was in the same boat. He's going to do that. We've seen these flashes. But it hasn't worked. He has the same weapons as last year. And so we even talked about this last time. Somebody said it kind of clicked the bell for me. His problem is he still has Shane Beamer. Not a fan. Lenora Sellers, I'm out on Lenora Sellers as the same as I'm out on the Kansas State kid. Avery Johnson. I've seen it. And I guess what, I've seen it again. And you know what? It's like the toxic girlfriend. You know she's a problem, right? But you have these little special moments where she sucks you back in. Figuratively, literally, whatever you want to take it. Morning show, early. She sucks you back in. And then two weeks later, she's throwing five picks. And you're like, yep, this is the guy. I knew it. And I just bet 25 bucks on it just to get my heart broken once again. Yeah, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. Lenora's, this might, again, this might come back and bite me in the ass. Leaving Lenora's out of the top 10 was the easiest decision of this list. Now, it could be a bit of a reach, but that's where I'm at with that. What did I see? Byron Brown, I don't, I don't. Oh, Byron Brown, that's what I saw. I think I'm going to put Byron Brown. So, I almost did. I almost did, but I made a hot take a few weeks ago where I said I think he's going to be extremely overrated, so I can't go back on that. And I still believe that. I think that he can be Diego Pavia-like for Auburn. I think he's going to be like, what's his name, for Arkansas? Oh, from last year? Yeah. Or Katie Jefferson? Yeah, I think that's him. I think that's it. That's what you got. I think he thrived in a very mediocre league. I think there's going to be a wake-up call. That's my opinion. I think that, again, this is all just opinion here, but I think that he's trying to Napier-esque this thing and not fully sending it. And going to try to bring his own, like what he was doing at USF, and it's just not going to translate. So I think those were the only two names that you could really argue over Philo or Jones, in my opinion, I think, right? It was Byron and Lenores, that I think people maybe get worked up about. Yeah. I can't think of anybody else. Yeah, because Vanderbilt has the freshman kid. You got Tennessee, that it's either George McIntyre or Ryan Straub, which you could— I'm not a hater on that. I'm not a hater on that at all. Oh, that was giving my other example, because we had Joey Aguilar from last year at Tennessee that nobody had in their top 10, who ultimately ended up being a pretty sound quarterback for Tennessee, and more so just given the fact that he was plugged into a system. He was plugged into a very flowing— and I said that, and my tempo changed about Tennessee when Joey Aguilar got there. I was like, I'm actually not too concerned about them, and I was pretty spot-on with that one. I feel the same way with Buster. I think that the play calling is just going to be so good that the quarterback play is going to be able to carry itself in a way if you've got a guy that's willing to be functional, and I think that's why Fallow and Jones are— that's why also I put them up there, but yeah, I'm not a believer. If Ryan Straub gets the job— I like Ryan. You could argue for Ryan. That one probably should be an honorable mention, to be quite honest with you, just because, again, the system wins me over, and I like Ryan. I think Ryan can sling it. I just—I saw him in pressure at Colorado. He crumbled, but often so. I think Tennessee had their chance to actually do something, and that was when they had the running back, Samson, the good defense. Yeah, they missed their— They had some weapons. They missed it. They missed it, and I think— I think Tennessee is going to do what Tennessee always does. I think that they're going to can Hypel in two years, and it's going to be the end of it, and they're going to be back into the cycle of spinning through coaches. They've had some big wins. Tennessee has. You know, the big win over Bama. There's been some others, but I just—dude, I just don't believe them. I know that they're going to put up points, and whatever quarterback is back there is going to put up points, but it never translates to anything. They're an 8-1 team. They're an 8-9 win team, and it's never good enough to get in the playoffs, and they had to have one— 24 teams they'll get in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 24. Keita, Jeremy, five bucks. If Eastern World develops quickly, Arch is number one. What do you think about that, Cody? Yeah, that's not going to work. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, yeah, it's not going to work. Chap, give me a great. Give me a great. Trinidad is gross. Yeah, listen, I don't— The Trinidad one, I feel like I slid it out for that one. I feel like if I didn't do that, I would have been just crucified. First, honestly. With Gunner number one, or Arch number one? I don't know where you go number one. I really don't. I feel— and that's when I was like, well, then I do feel good with Trinidad. Yeah. I don't feel bad about— I don't feel bad about Russell or Mack being a little bit higher, but I feel like you can't get too crazy with it. You know what I mean? Yeah. When you hear my theory, I think that's the important thing about List. Like, the guys that aren't on three, they'll post their list, and they just rage-bait it, right? And I've tried to just, you know, just reel you in. But if you understand my theory behind it, I think there's a little more, you know— A lot of A's. A's? B-minus? I don't think it was bad. I take a B-minus. I don't— Listen, I felt very confident of, like, my— I feel like my reasoning behind all of it was actually very sound. It had some proof. Here's the thing with these lists, and here's what I learned. Like, you can't be afraid to be wrong because you're going to be wrong. And when— I feel like last year, like, we all, like, no joke, like, we just kind of— our list, we just copied everybody because it was, like, pretty simple. Wasn't even close. So it's like, let's use some historical data. Let's not go off of the, this guy was a five-star, he was this, he was that. Like, there is so many other variables that go into making these guys good. Let's take that into consideration. So, that's fine, Scott. The gunner hate can be a— that can be what we follow for the whole season. I don't know what you're going to consider good because when you have this sixth-ranked QBR, I don't know, like, what is going to be top five for you to be good, Scott. I don't know what your expectations are, big guy. But that's just asinine to me. The guy threw almost 3,000 yards. Let me see, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions, and Scott's like, pfft. Yeah. We had a quarterback throw more interceptions. We had a quarterback throw for more interceptions in one game than gunner did all season. Yeah, yeah. Think about that. Yeah. Matt Larson says, I feel Marseille could be a little higher. I say A, though. I project Austin to be good as well. Yeah, again, the Marseille re-win, I don't think he's no more higher than a four, but again, like, okay, if you say a little bit higher, do you think he's better than Sam Levitt? But if he pops, he could be one. That's the thing, is he will have weeks where he is one. Yeah. He was last year, but in a grand scheme of work is where things start to get a bit dicey. Three-hundred strong on this beautiful morning show. Good to see you guys. Hope you guys appreciate the great, appreciate the— Marseille Reid is everything that we wanted Lenore Sellers to be. Oh, yeah. And DJ. I would put Philo and Jones number one. That's fair. Solid. Arch number one was weapons and defense and returning continued. I don't hate that either. But again, I think if we're using the history lesson of things, they're still like going back to like, there was more bad than good for Arch. And I still have that kind of weighing on me. Like— You know what's funny? It was easy to play Philo. Like, who's a good example? Like, golfers are good examples of this. Roy was a king of this. The Arch was good when there was no pressure. Right? When it was like, the season's over, who cares? It was really good. That, it's easy to be good when nothing matters. It's easy to be good in the last three holes when the day ---- anyways. I need you to be good when all the lights are on. Yeah. And that's what I don't know about Arch yet. You know what's funny? Is like, people are saying that Mateer should be higher, but even like, Oklahoma doesn't even want him there. Like, Oklahoma pundits don't even want the guy there. Yeah, I think the Mateer effect is like, he's like the tall, handsome, you know, prototypical quarterback. And I think that gives him like, extra points in people's heads. But again, I think my reasoning was, you saw the best. Yeah. And so if you go back and you think about seeing the best, it was good! It was good. Wasn't great. Well, and they've been kind of spoiled at quarterback, Oklahoma. True. I mean, they were lighting that thing up. Good stuff, Cody. Yeah. Feels good to be back. Yep. Y'all be good. Be safe. Can you hear that? Oh, yeah. There you go. Here. I couldn't hear it. Smash the like button, subscribe. We'll see you guys later on. Again, shout out to Price Picks. Peace and love. Come here, Vic. Come here. Come say hi. Come say good morning. Come say good morning, Cody. Morning. What are you doing? Where are you about to go? The splash park. The splash park? Splash park? Tell them what we did yesterday. The pool. And what else? What have you been eating? Peanut butter crackers. Peanut butter crackers? What has been your favorite thing you've eaten thus far, though? Whatever you've wanted every day. Peanut butter crackers. No! What did you have for dinner the other night? Pizza. Pizza, pizza, pizza. All right. Say bye, everybody. Bye, everybody. Huh? What did you ask them? Turn into a pizza monster? Yeah. Peace and love, baby. Good job, baby.