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Five different SEC quarterbacks who started at least one game in 2015 are transferring:
- Kyle Allen, Texas A&M
- Faton Bauta, Georgia
- Will Grier, Florida
- Kyler Murray, Texas A&M
- Patrick Towles, Kentucky
This list includes two five-star players, another whom Mel Kiper rated as a top 5 NFL prospect among underclassman quarterbacks, and another player who looked like a future SEC superstar in Gainesville.
RELATED: Examining the future of the SEC’s transferring quarterbacks
There’s some promising young talent on this list. So, now that they’re all on the move, which one of them has the best athletic future? We asked the SDS staff to give an opinion.
WHICH TRANSFERRING SEC QB HAS THE BEST ATHLETIC FUTURE?
Chris Wright (@FilmRoomEditor): Patrick Towles
The obvious answer is Will Grier, who was by far the best of this bunch this season.
But I like Patrick Towles’ chance for success, particularly if Boston College can get back to its passing ways. The coaches were different, obviously, but the program produced Matty Ice, which is somewhat funny considering Towles’ nickname — and Twitter handle — is Patty Ice.
Towles has a big frame, a big arm, all the measurables NFL scouts like. Still not sure why it went so south, so dramatically in Lexington.
But the tools are still there and he’s young enough still to turn it around.
John Brasier (@john_brasierSDS): Kyle Allen
Allen looks like he could be plugged right in with a strong team needing a good passing quarterback. His experience with a pass-oriented attack should translate into early success at his new program. He has the size and skills to make it in the NFL.
Christopher Smith (@csmithSDS): Kyler Murray
I fully expect Murray to turn his focus toward obtaining a professional baseball career. He should be an outstanding middle infielder and likely would’ve been drafted in the first three rounds had he set his aim at an MLB career out of high school.
Because he was so focused on football, he didn’t play in enough showcase tournaments, so scouts have an incomplete evaluation of him as a baseball player. Still, I’d expect him to transfer to a junior college and then enter the MLB draft. As a baseball player, he’s got terrific potential and could make a big-league roster someday.
I’m not so sure that any of these quarterbacks are future NFL starters, although I think Will Grier has the best chance.
Tom Brew (@tombrewsports): Kyle Allen
I am still a believer in Kyle Allen. He’s got all the tools to be successful and with some more maturity, I see him doing big things at whereever he lands next. He was really really bad for a stretch this year, but that’s a confidence thing more than anything, it looks like to me. Alabama really got him and he started hurrying things. He couldn’t get it back. But when he got back in there, he made some nice throws. He’s going to be OK. Just needs to grow up and mature some more and he’ll see the field better.
Talal Elmasry (@TalalElmasrySDS): Will Grier
I think Grier did a great job of picking up a new system with Jim McElwain very quickly, and that bodes well for him when he has to pick up a new system elsewhere. Plus, before his suspension he showed versatility as an efficient passer by leading the SEC in completion percentage, while also having a knack for big plays. Grier showed flashes of being a program-changing QB and gave legitimate hope to Florida fans that he’d be just that at a school that’s been dying for one for a long time. I also think his mobility is severely underrated. Overall, I think he’s only scratched the surface of his potential, PEDs or not.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
