Sure To Rustle Jimmies: 247 Ranks Top 5 SEC West QB's since '92

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1. Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, 2011-13: Manziel had a short but spectacular career for the Aggies, becoming the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy. He finished fifth in the Heisman voting as a sophomore. Manziel averaged almost 5,000 yards of offense in his two seasons, finishing with 9.989 total yards. He holds three NCAA records, seven SEC records and passed for at least 300 yards and ran for 100 or more yards in a game a record four times. Despite playing just two seasons, he holds the Aggies record for total offense in a career. He threw for 63 touchdowns and accounted for 93 total TDs, another A&M record. Manziel was Mr. Excitement – on and off the field. Known for his mobility and athleticism, he completed 69% of his passes – an SEC record.

2. A.J. McCarron, Alabama, 2009-13: McCarron led the Crimson Tide to consecutive national championships and finished his career with a 36-4 record as a starter. He became the first Alabama quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season and is the Tide’s all-time leader passer with 9.019 yards. He was very efficient and was careful with the ball, throwing 77 touchdown passes with just 15 career interceptions. He completed almost 67% of his passes and had a career passer rating of 162.5. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Jameis Winston in 2013.

3. Cam Newton, Auburn, 2010: Newton only played one season at Auburn, but it was a doozy. He led the Tigers to a perfect season, won the National Championship and took home the Heisman Trophy. Newton was the third player to total 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns in a single season. Newton also was the first player in SEC history to reach totals of 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season. With 4,327 yards total offense, he is one of just two players in SEC history to accomplish the feat, joining Kentucky QB Tim Couch (4,151 yards in 1998). Newton posted a passer efficiency of 182.05, breaking the SEC single-season record held by Wuerffel (178.4 in 1995).

4. Eli Manning, Ole Miss, 2000-03: Unlike older brother Peyton, Eli elected to go to his father’s alma mater – and he ended up breaking a lot of Archie Manning’s records. Eli set or tied 47 Ole Miss records, including 10,119 passing yards, 81 touchdown passes, and most career completions (829). All those totals put him at least in the top eight in SEC history in those categories. He a first-team All-American as a senior and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. Finished third in the Heisman balloting to Jason White and Larry Fitzgerald. Perhaps most impressively, Eli did all this without a ton of talent around him and raised the bar for Ole Miss football.

5. Ryan Mallett, Arkansas, 2009-10: Mallett started his career at Michigan but transferred to Arkansas and made the most of it. He played only two seasons for the Razorbacks but holds the record for career touchdown passes (62) and is second in career passing yards (7,493) – just 270 yards behind Tyler Wilson who was in Fayetteville for half a decade. He became the fourth person in SEC history to throw for 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in back-to-back seasons. Mallett had four 400-yard passing games and 14 300-yard games. He averaged 29.6 yards per touchdown pass and finished seventh in the Heisman voting in 2010. He is fourth in SEC history in passing efficiency behind only Tim Tebow, Danny Wuerffel and McCarron. As a senior he led the Hogs to their first BCS bowl berth, a 31-26 loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

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