SEC Mike explains his quarterback power rankings ahead of Week 2

Key notes from Michael Bratton interview

• My SEC quarterback power rankings are not necessarily a formula. It's an eye test. I will change it week to week. Just after watching these quarterbacks, no matter their recruiting rankings, draft rankings, it is about how they look, and I think I nailed it.
   
• In fairness to Marcel Reed, the difference between four and 12 is fairly interchangeable. I am going off on one game resumes here. I have him at No. 12 of 16 quarterbacks. I put him over Arch Manning. Going back to Reed, the game plan for A&M was not what I was expecting. They were trying to force the ball threw the air. Last year, their focus was running the football and stopping the run, and they didn’t do either of those in the game against UTSA. I just don’t understand it. Are they trying to make him Dan Marino? No. 12 is not awful. He had some big-time throws and big-time misses. I think KC Concepcion might be the best player, maybe a Heisman contender. He looked that good to me. He has Mario Craver, who made spectacular plays. Overall, that helped Reed. A&M just seemed out of sorts, and out of all the teams in the SEC that won, I would put them at the top of the list as a team I was unimpressed with.
   
• I don’t think A&M’s game plan was effective. Their special teams did great things, and that set them up well. They started slow, and I was largely unimpressed with the overall game plan. They did out-athlete UTSA, and when the game got close, the defense locked in and had six consecutive stops.
   
• I’m still stuck by all of that. The hype of Clemson, which I thought was overrated anyway, they’ve lost four straight games to the SEC, and they lost four games last year. Many people had Clemson as the preseason No. 1, and they have six first-round draft picks. I didn’t see any of that. LSU dominated that football game. It was a one-touchdown win, but it should've been two touchdowns, because they robbed them of one. After the first quarter, LSU completely dominated Clemson.
   
• The thing with LSU was so impressive. We always give the quarterbacks the praise, but the defense won them the game. Now, can they do that week in and week out? Last year, they couldn’t defend a running quarterback. Cade Klubnik isn’t one, so we will see if they’ve fixed that. I am still questioning their offensive line. Caden Durham, LSU’s running back, is really good. I didn’t have LSU as a playoff team, but if their defense plays to that level all year, they may win the conference.
   
• We already know who disappointed. It was Alabama. Good night, man. That was my preseason pick to win the SEC. It is comical now. Everything we heard leading up to the season, they got their portal players, they added Ryan Grubb, and they were a two-touchdown favorite against a team that disappointed last year. Alabama didn’t look like they belonged on the field with Florida State. That’s embarrassing. I’m surprised they haven’t made a move already to fire the defensive coordinator. He is like an anti-Nick Saban. It’s going to be fixed overnight. They claim they don’t have the money of schools like Texas A&M or Georgia. The roster is not the problem. They have a top-five roster in the country, and I was told they have the coach, but maybe A&M dodged a bullet with Kalen DeBoer. I’m not sure DeBoer is cut out for the Southeastern Conference.
   
• Comparing Manning and Jackson Arnold on the face seems like a ludicrous comparison, but the more I think about it, how soon we forget Arnold was a five-star? Oklahoma pushed out Dillon Gabriel for him, and it didn’t work out. Texas now did that with Quinn Ewers. Oklahoma didn’t have a good offensive line. Manning’s offensive line struggled. Arnold lost his star receivers to injury, and we are already seeing that at Texas. They are down a wide receiver. The parallels are there. I do think Manning will bounce back. They play San Jose State and Sam Houston. Those are cupcakes. But then they go to the Swamp, that’ll be the real test.
   
• I think Florida is a really good team this year. Then Texas has got Oklahoma. Cole Cubelic has them as the best defensive line in the conference, maybe the country. Manning could be running for his life. If he is Arnold 2.0, Texas will probably go 8-4 or 9-3. But unlike Manning, the defense looked elite. I think the defense can carry them to the college football playoff. They need Manning to win them a game or two to get them there.
   
• Definitely No. 1 is the Oklahoma-Michigan game. I have Oklahoma, but it’ll be a low-scoring game. Bryce Underwood is the real deal, and I think Michigan could win this game. But first road start against a Brent Venables defense. They’ll force him to make a mistake or two. That’ll probably be the deciding factor. I think John Mateer is the real deal. Give me Oklahoma, there. Then, next is Kansas vs. Missouri. Missouri should win, but Missouri has been talking about this game for two years. There is a lot of pressure on Missouri to get this win. This game may be tight. It wouldn’t stun me if Kansas pulls off the upset this weekend.
   
• There are a lot of good quarterbacks in this conference right now. I made him the 12th Man in the conference for quarterbacks. One other game, if I can mention real quick, South Florida vs. Florida. South Florida smoked Boise State. If Florida drops that game, Billy Napier’s seat gets hot, and maybe some of that tension will come off of DeBoer.