Rece Davis is seeing a whole lot to like in the SEC’s quarterback crop, and he made it clear Tuesday that the league’s young passers are already changing the conversation.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the ESPN College GameDay host first tipped his cap to Ole Miss, saying the Rebels are his No. 1 team in the country heading into Week 4. But Davis didn’t stop there. He shifted to what he sees as one of the biggest reasons the SEC could be on the rise again: a wave of talented young quarterbacks who are already driving offenses.
Davis singled out four names in particular - Alabama’s Keelon Russell, Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon, Vanderbilt’s Jared Curtis and Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor.
“As far as September goes, if the SEC is ascending again, it’s because they have got some young dudes at quarterback, and I mean dudes,” Davis said. “Keelon Russell at Alabama makes a handful of throws in every game that you say, ‘Well, that’ll play on Sunday.’
Not just him. Saturday when (College GameDay) gets to Tennessee, this is the guy with the least experience of any of them, but Faizon Brandon at Tennessee is a really talented guy … Texas is going to be a gargantuan test, but this is a guy who can really make plays both throwing the ball and on the move as well.
“Man, when (Jared Curtis) throws that thing, it comes out hot. … This guy has it.
He’s going to be really good. He’s going to keep Clark Lea ‘s program going up.
… I think the most impressive thing about (Kamario Taylor), aside from his physical skill set, if you saw that game early against South Carolina, threw a pick on his first pass and he didn’t have anything going pretty much the whole first quarter, then he winds up with 4 touchdown passes. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s got every tool a quarterback could want.”
Davis’ point was simple: the SEC’s youth movement at quarterback is no side story. It’s the engine behind the league’s early-season buzz, and he’s seeing it from multiple directions at once.
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