A fair quarterback ranking can still leave Alabama looking at a rough road ahead, and that’s where the Crimson Tide find themselves with Keelon Russell.
CBS Sports writer David Cobb slotted Russell at No. 35 in his Top 50 college football quarterbacks, which makes him the eighth-best quarterback in the SEC. For Alabama fans, that number feels like a placeholder rather than a verdict, because no one around the program expects Russell to finish the season there.
Still, the bigger issue for Alabama is the group of quarterbacks sitting above him. Cobb’s list includes 10 SEC quarterbacks overall, and four of them rank ahead of Russell.
Oklahoma’s John Mateer was previously ranked No. 22, but he is not included in this update. Also left out are Auburn’s Byrum Brown and South Carolina’s LaNorriss Sellers, along with the quarterbacks at Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
Russell’s placement comes with context. Cobb is not projecting upside, and Russell’s uneven showing in Lexington explains why he landed where he did.
The only SEC quarterback ranked below him in the Top 50 is LSU’s “doubtful” Sam Leavitt, who fell from No. 2 last week to No. 43.
LSU says Leavitt has a sore shoulder and is doubtful for Saturday night’s Ole Miss game, though plenty of college football fans see that designation as more Lane Kiffin deceit.
The quarterbacks Alabama has to worry about are the ones near the top of Cobb’s SEC group. Georgia’s Gunner Stockton sits at No.
7, Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor is No. 8, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed checks in at No. 28, and Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon is No.
Stockton’s standing is already well established. Reed has already shown he can help the Aggies win big games.
Taylor is the riser here, jumping from No. 16 last week after performances that have marked him as a dangerous dual-threat quarterback with sharp decision-making. Brandon is less experienced than Russell, but he has shown the same kind of flashes.
The matchup details matter, too. When Russell and Taylor are compared, it stands out that the defenses Russell has seen are ranked much higher than the ones Taylor has faced so far this season: ULM and Minnesota.
Even so, Stockton remains the clearest threat to Alabama, and that’s true even with the game in Tuscaloosa. Taylor and Brandon, meanwhile, get the edge of home-field advantage against the Crimson Tide, which makes those games a real concern.
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