Tennessee football: Where Vols position groups rank in SEC

Quarterback: 5

Some outlets have Jarrett Guarantano as low as 10th in their rankings of SEC quarterbacks. That’s ridiculous. Despite his inconsistencies, Guarantano has completed over 60 percent of his passes the past two years and averaged over eight yards an attempt. He also has 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Add in his 400-yard game at the Missouri Tigers last year, and he’s a solid returner.

Now, the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies clearly have better quarterback situations than Tennessee football with Kyle Trask and Kellen Mond respectively. Even without Jamie Newman, the Georgia Bulldogs have JT Daniels, and the Alabama Crimson Tide are on solid ground with Mac Jones replacing Tua Tagovailoa. All of those teams have better situations than UT.

After that, Guarantano competes with the Auburn Tigers’ Bo Nix, the Mississippi State Bulldogs K.J. Costello, the Ole Miss Rebels’ John Rhys Plumlee, the Kentucky Wildcats’ Terry Wilson the LSU Tigers’ Myles Brennan and the Arkansas Razorbacks’ Feleipe Franks. A combination of experience, hype and continuity in systems all come into play when comparing these players.

One thing sets the Vols apart from those other teams, though. They have depth. It was even better depth before Kasim Hill transferred, but both JT Shrout and Brian Maurer have starting experience, and both those quarterbacks played key roles in SEC wins last year.

Then there’s five-star freshman phenom Harrison Bailey. So in addition to Guarantano, UT has the depth to be fifth. Only Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M have clear-cut better starting quarterbacks, and nobody else has the depth of the Vols.