The 2025 season could be another record-breaker for quarterbacks from the SEC, with 35 who played in the conference on NFL rosters for the first full week of the preseason schedule.
In 2024, 10 quarterbacks who played in the SEC started at least half of their team’s games. Before last season, the record for the most SEC players who started at least half of their NFL team’s games in one season was nine, which occurred in 2022 and 2023.
The 2024 NFL No. 1 QBs with SEC experience included:
LSU’s Joe Burrow, Cincinnati BengalsLSU’s Jayden Daniels, Washington CommandersAlabama’s Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia EaglesKentucky’s Will Levis, Tennessee TitansTexas A&M’s Kyler Murray, Arizona CardinalsAuburn’s Bo Nix, Denver BroncosFlorida’s Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis ColtsGeorgia’s Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles RamsAlabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Miami DolphinsAlabama’s Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Levis won’t be the Titans’ starter in 2025. He’s already on injured reserve.
But Dak Prescott from Mississippi State will resume his starting spot with the Dallas Cowboys after injuries limited him to eight games in 2024, and Georgia’s Justin Fields is the expected starter for the New York Jets after he started six games for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.
Richardson is in competition for his starting spot with Daniel Jones in Indianapolis, and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, who started six games last season, is vying for the full-time spot with the New Orleans Saints.
The record-equaling nine starters of 2023 has an asterisk for a 10th quarterback: Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs started eight games for the Arizona Cardinals before Murray returned from an injury. Dobbs was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, and he started four more games, giving him 12 starts in 2023.
In 2024, nine quarterbacks who played in the SEC made between one start and eight starts in the NFL, giving the conference 19 QBs with at least one start last season.
The former SEC quarterbacks on NFL rosters this year include:
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (entered the NFL from Oklahoma)Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ersJalen Milroe, Seattle SeahawksTua Tagovailoa, Miami DolphinsBryce Young, Carolina Panthers
ARKANSAS
Brandon Allen, Tennessee Titans
Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (entered the NFL from Oregon)Jarrett Stidham, Denver BroncosPayton Thorne, Cincinnati BengalsMalik Willis, Green Bay Packers (entered the NFL from Liberty)
FLORIDA
Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (entered the NFL from North Carolina State)Will Grier, Dallas Cowboys (entered the NFL from West Virginia)Emory Jones, Atlanta Falcons (entered the NFL from Cincinnati)Graham Mertz, Houston TexansAnthony Richardson, Indianapolis ColtsKyle Trask, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
GEORGIA
Stetson Bennett, Los Angeles RamsJustin Fields, New York Jets (entered the NFL from Ohio State)Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
KENTUCKY
Devin Leary, Baltimore RavensWill Levis, Tennessee Titans
LSU
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati BengalsJayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
MISSOURI
Connor Bazelak, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (entered the NFL from Bowling Green)Brady Cook, New York JetsDrew Lock, Seattle Seahawks
OLE MISS
Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
SOUTH CAROLINA
Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints
TENNESSEE
Joshua Dobbs, New England PatriotsHendon Hooker, Detroit LionsJoe Milton III, Dallas Cowboys
TEXAS
Quinn Ewers, Miami Dolphins
TEXAS A&M
Kyle Allen, Detroit Lions (entered the NFL from Houston)Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (entered the NFL from Oklahoma)
Ewers entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick of the Dolphins on April 26. With Texas and Oklahoma having entered the SEC in 2024, he’s the first from those schools to go from the conference to the NFL.
But those programs have nine other quarterbacks on NFL rosters.
The other Texas quarterbacks are Shane Buechele (who entered the NFL from SMU) of the Buffalo Bills and Sam Ehlinger of the Denver Broncos.
The Oklahoma quarterbacks include Hurts, Murray, Rattler (who entered the NFL from South Carolina), Dillon Gabriel (who entered the NFL from Oregon) with the Cleveland Browns, Baker Mayfield with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tanner Mordecai (who entered the NFL from Wisconsin) with the San Francisco 49ers and Caleb Williams (who entered the NFL from Southern Cal) with the Chicago Bears.
Hurts, Murray, Mayfield and Williams are expected to be starters in 2025.
NFL teams have 118 quarterbacks on their rosters. One team has five, 20 teams have four apiece and 11 have three each.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
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