The 2026 college football season is still a few months away, but now is a good time to survey the landscape of SEC quarterbacks.
This story will attempt to predict the SEC’s 5 leading passers in 2026. It’s not purely a preseason ranking of the the best quarterbacks in the league, though talent and track record certainly play a role in projections.
Other factors that will be considered are opportunity (how often do we expect your offense to pass the ball relative to other SEC teams?), coach history and supporting cast.
Here’s our top 5 entering the season:
5. Sam Leavitt, LSU
I have some questions about Sam Leavitt given how poorly his 2025 season at Arizona State went, but there’s no denying he will have plenty of opportunity in Lane Kiffin’s offense this year. Kiffin’s quarterbacks have led the SEC in total passing yards in each of the past 2 seasons. Kiffin’s offense has a low pass play rate relative to his reputation (only 47% in 2025) but the tempo is fast enough that his teams are typically still toward the top of the SEC in pass attempts (4th in 2024 and 2025).
It’s too early to know what to expect from LSU’s receiving corps, which features more transfers than would be appropriate to list here. After an injury-and-drama plagued 2025 season, Leavitt will hope to get back to his 2024 highs when he averaged over 8 yards per attempt and brought Arizona State to the College Football Playoff.
4. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Marcel Reed has his limitations as a passer, but he proved to be extremely productive last season despite his flaws. Including the postseason, Reed was 5th among SEC passers with 3,169 yards in 13 games. His 8.4 yards per attempt was also good for 4th among qualified SEC quarterbacks.
Texas A&M’s receiver room looks to be loaded. The Aggies lost KC Concepcion to the draft, but they return last year’s breakout star in Mario Craver as well as Ashton Bethel-Roman, who was one of the best freshmen receivers in the nation last year. On top of that duo, Texas A&M went out and got Alabama’s Isaiah Horton from the transfer portal.
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3. Keelon Russell or Austin Mack, Alabama
I expect this to be Keelon Russell when all is said and done, but frankly, this is roughly where I’d project any Kalen DeBoer quarterback to be. Even if Austin Mack wins the job, he’d be very likely to finish in the top 5 in the SEC in passing yardage. DeBoer’s quarterbacks are almost always prolific both in terms of yardage and pass attempts, so either Mack or Russell will have plenty of opportunity to put up big numbers.
Here are the passing yardage totals for DeBoer quarterbacks over the past 5 seasons:
Ty Simpson (2025): 3,567
Jalen Milroe (2024): 2,844
Michael Penix (2023): 4,903
Michael Penix (2022): 4,641
Jake Haener (2021): 4,096
Milroe’s total is misleadingly-low — he averaged more yards per attempt (8.9) than either Penix or Haener. His total stayed under 3,000 yards due to a higher rushing volume. Both Russell and Mack project to be better passers than Milroe was, so I’d expect either to be quite productive in this system.
2. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
Trinidad Chambliss had virtually no national profile at this time last season and didn’t begin the year as Ole Miss’s starter, but still passed for over 3,000 yards during the regular season. Chambliss benefitted from a pass-heavy Ole Miss offense and now will enter the 2026 season with a mostly-new offensive coaching staff and an entirely-new receiving corps.
Despite the lack of continuity, there’s a good chance Chambliss can put up similar production in 2026. Joe Judge is back on staff and new offensive coordinator John David Baker spent time under Kiffin before taking on play-caller responsibilities at East Carolina.
1. Arch Manning, Texas
The narrative around Arch Manning last season was largely negative — particularly after a midseason loss to a bad Florida team in Gainesville. But Manning rebounded relatively well and finished 5th in passing yardage among SEC quarterbacks during the regular season. With Cam Coleman now on the roster and Ryan Wingo another year older, Manning may have the nation’s best 1-2 punch at wide receiver.
Another reason for optimism with Manning despite his struggles — he never stopped throwing the ball down field. Per PFF, Manning finished last season with the most deep passes (65) of any SEC quarterback. He finished 3rd among SEC passers in intermediate throws (93). Given his supporting cast, I think this is the year Manning puts it all together.
Honorable mentions: LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina; John Mateer, Oklahoma; Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.