Quarterback decisions will shape plenty of SEC seasons, and On3’s latest projection for 2026 has a few spots that feel settled and a few that are anything but.
On Tuesday night, On3 laid out its projected starting quarterbacks for every SEC team heading into Week 1 of the 2026 campaign. Some of the choices are easy to buy into - Arch Manning at Texas and Gunner Stockton at Georgia among them - but a handful of the calls are far less certain.
The biggest questions, at least in this projection, sit with four teams: Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Alabama is the clearest toss-up. On3 has the Crimson Tide leaning toward either Keelon Russell or Austin Mack, and that feels like a genuine coin flip.
Both quarterbacks bring mobility, and both have had limited chances going into the season. Mack has the edge in experience with Kalen DeBoer, while Russell looks like the higher-upside play.
If the decision were up to this writer, Russell would get the nod, though Mack could absolutely be the one under center in Week 1.
Florida’s battle is just as interesting. On3 projects Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones Jr. to start, and Philo’s arrival with former GT offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner makes that pairing easy to understand.
Still, Jones feels like the better long-term answer. In the brief looks he got last season, he showed natural leadership as a freshman, and there’s reason to think he’ll keep improving.
The expectation here is that Jones ends up starting several games for Florida as the year goes on.
Tennessee’s situation also deserves a close watch. On3 lists Faizon Brandon or George MacIntyre, and the fact that MacIntyre did not pull away during spring work says plenty. MacIntyre is now listed at 6-foot-6, 208 pounds, which is up from the spring, but still lighter than Brandon at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds.
The projection that stands out most is Vanderbilt. On3 has Blaze Berlowitz opening the season ahead of Jared Curtis, but that’s the one call that feels toughest to justify.
Curtis is one of the highest-rated prospects in Vanderbilt football history, and he didn’t come to Nashville to watch from the sideline. Berlowitz may have more trust in the system, but Curtis is the name that changes the picture.
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Golden has already made clear he would stand behind Aberdeen if the matter turns into a longer fight, which tells you how seriously Florida is taking the situation. Aberdeens value is easy to understand after the way he handled pressure moments at Kentucky, and if the eligibility process goes the wrong way, the next chapter could shift from paperwork to the courtroom before Florida knows whether it can count on him for another season. [Read more 🡒]
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For Florida, the wrinkle is that the benefits are not spread evenly. Some players suddenly have a much longer runway, while others are left sorting through exceptions and waiting on final clarity, which makes roster planning more complicated than a simple rules update might suggest. Golden and athletic director Scott Stricklin are already aligned on at least one waiver request, and the broader picture now hinges on how the NCAA sorts out the remaining cases for a roster that could look very different by the time that season arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Got A Brutal Reality Check In The SEC
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Now Jon Sumrall inherits that pressure after Billy Napier was shown the door last season, and the latest conference hierarchy is another reminder of how far Florida has slipped. Being slotted No. 7 in the SEC is not where this program expects to live, and it leaves the Gators with a familiar question hanging over the offseason: can the new regime actually close the gap on the leagues best, or is this just another reset in a long line of them? [Read more 🡒]