Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly was the best quarterback in the SEC in 2015 and there wasn’t much of a debate. Kelly led the conference with 4,042 yards and 31 touchdowns on 298-of-458 passing, as well as conference-best 310.9 yards per game.
It was an outstanding debut for a quarterback who always had the talent to shine at a major program but was held back by questionable off-field decisions. But Kelly proved to be mature enough to lead Ole Miss to a 10-3 (6-2 SEC) record and second place finish in the SEC West during his first season since transferring from Mississippi Community College.
The question isn’t whether Kelly is the best returning quarterback in the SEC, rather if anyone can dethrone him, especially considering three of the other top five passers — Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott, Arkansas’ Brandon Allen and Alabama’s Jake Coker — are all departing seniors.
The rest of the top 10 includes Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs, Texas A&M’s Kyle Allen — who transferred to Houston in January — LSU’s Brandon Harris, Kentucky’s Patrick Towles — who transferred to Boston College in Decembe — Georgia’s Greyson Lambert and South Carolina’s Perry Orth. Of that group, only Dobbs is guaranteed a starting job, while Harris, Lambert and Orth are favored but were hardly consistent enough to be among the conference’s top passers.
That’s how down SEC quarterback play was in 2015 and it has been like that for several years. Aside from the upper echelon, the conference hasn’t seen much production from football’s “most important” position.
Even Dobbs, who ranked fifth in the SEC with 2,291 yards, was more effective on the ground than through the air. Tennessee limited its play-calling to mostly short passes, which led many to believe that it was a way to protect Dobbs’ lack of ability to throw downfield. Even still, the junior chose to run 146 times compared to his 344 passing attempts.
There’s a chance that Dobbs can improve his passing totals if Tennessee adds more passing plays to its offensive scheme. But even with his passing faults, Dobbs is the best returning starter after Kelly in the SEC.
Kelly should continue his development in his final college season, although it may not be as easy to post video game-like numbers in 2016. Laquon Treadwell, who led the SEC in every statistical receiving category, decided to forego his senior season to declare for the 2016 NFL Draft.
However, Ole Miss’ passing offense still has plenty of returning and incoming talent, including Evan Engram, who was a first team All-SEC tight end in 2014, and Quincy Adeboyejo, who leads all returning Rebels receivers with 604 yards and seven touchdowns on 38 catches.
(Photo by Chris Butler/Icon Sportswire)
Adeboyejo nearly doubled his receiving yards and added five more touchdowns from his previous year in 2015 and should have an expanded role playing without Treadwell for the first time in his college career.
The Rebels also add two 4-star receivers, A.J. Brown and DeKaylin Metcalf, from their 2016 National Signing Class this fall. So Kelly will still have plenty of weapons in a pass-heavy Ole Miss offense, even without Treadwell.
Kelly’s emergence to superstardom coincides with an otherwise down era of quarterback play in the SEC, which makes his numbers even more impressive. He should remain the clear-cut top quarterback in the SEC and a perennial Heisman candidate if Ole Miss can stay in contention for a conference championship.
There is little chance that any SEC quarterback can dethrone Kelly as the conference’s top passer in 2016.
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