FAYETTEVILLE -- Everyone in college football knew their names.
Manziel, McCarron, Marshall, Murray and Mettenberger.
They dominated the SEC and national headlines the past few years, claiming a Heisman Trophy, a pair of national championships, a BCS runner-up finish and a bounty of school and conference records.
That headline-grabbing group is all gone now, with the exception of Auburn's Nick Marshall, who is among a small pack of established quarterbacks returning to SEC teams in 2014.
Marshall, who led the Tigers on a surprising run to the SEC championship before losing to Florida State in the final BCS title game, is one of only four SEC quarterbacks with a year's worth of starting experience heading into the season.
Ole Miss senior Bo Wallace, a two-year starter, leads the pack, which also includes Arkansas junior Brandon Allen and Florida senior Jeff Driskel. Allen and Wallace played through shoulder injuries last season, and Driskel started the first three games before a broken leg against Tennessee knocked him out for the year.
"Whereas last year was maybe as proven a crop of quarterbacks the league has had in a long time, this may be one of the most unproven, with a few exceptions," ESPN senior writer Chris Low said. "There always seems to be that one guy who comes out of nowhere that nobody sees coming and makes an impact, like [Johnny] Manziel in 2012 and Cam [Newton] in 2010. Last year obviously it was Nick Marshall, and he's back and is at the top of the league.
"I'd say there's a lot of guys at the quarterback position who have a lot to prove across the league."
Six quarterbacks, including Marshall and Wallace, will be on hand at SEC media days, which start Monday in Hoover, Ala. The others are Driskel, who spoke at media days last year, Mississippi State's Dak Prescott, South Carolina's Dylan Thompson and Missouri's Maty Mauk.
Marshall will be the first college quarterback under Gus Malzahn's tutelage who is playing a second year for Malzahn. Marshall, like ex-LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger a former Georgia player, had an outstanding debut season, rushing for 1,068 yards and 12 touchdowns and passing for 1,976 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Wallace has started all 26 games of his Ole Miss career. He set a school record with 3,701 total yards last season despite not being fully healthy after off-season clavicle surgery. Wallace is second in Ole Miss history with 6,340 passing yards and 7,085 yards total offense.
While the league is short of proven starters, it isn't short on veterans with big performances under their belts.
Thompson developed a reputation as a super sub as a replacement for injured starter Connor Shaw, such as his 315-yard, 3-touchdown performance in a 27-17 victory at No. 12 Clemson in the 2012 regular-season finale. He has a career pass efficiency rating of 142.0, fourth-best among current SEC quarterbacks with at least 130 passes, behind Georgia's Hutson Mason (143.7), Marshall (143.2) and Mauk (143.1).
Justin Worley, who was having a solid season before a thumb injury against Alabama shelved him last year, has a chance to regain the starting job at Tennessee over a crowded field that includes heralded redshirt freshman Riley Ferguson.
Mason is a fifth-year senior who passed for 320 yards in a bowl game loss to Nebraska, and he has the benefit of gifted skill talent all around him.
Allen, who took the reins in 2013 as Coach Bret Bielema was changing the Razorbacks' offensive philosophy, was not 100 percent for SEC play after injuring his throwing shoulder in the third game and sitting out a loss at Rutgers. The junior was not fiercely pushed in spring drills by his redshirt freshman brother Austin Allen or early enrollee Rafe Peavey and is expected to have a better season.
Prescott started seven games last season, essentially wresting a starting job away from senior Tyler Russell, before suffering an elbow injury that caused him to miss games against Alabama and Arkansas. He led the Bulldogs with 829 rushing yards, threw for 13 touchdowns and had 2,769 total yards, the third-best single-season total in school history.
"He's very athletic, and he's a guy who could be one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the league," Low said. "I think he can make a big move this year."
Transfers from big-time programs also could be in position to take over SEC offenses this fall. Stephen Rivers, formerly of LSU and the brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers, transferred to Vanderbilt, where he will challenge sophomore Patton Robinette and redshirt freshman Johnny McCrary for a starting job.
The SEC's biggest impact quarterback could come from a player who is not yet officially on his team's roster.
Jacob Coker, trapped behind Jameis Winston at Florida State, graduated this spring and is transferring to Alabama. Many analysts believe he can win the starting job over Blake Sims, Alec Morris and Cooper Bateman for first-year offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.
Coker is coming off torn cartilage in his knee, suffered last Nov. 9, which caused him to miss the rest of Florida State's national championship run.
"If you're trying to think of a guy this year who nobody really knows about in the SEC and comes on and has a big year, Coker would probably be my pick," Low said. "Simply because he's so talented and has a huge arm, and he's a really good athlete with great personnel around him."
Alabama Coach Nick Saban said learning the Crimson Tide's system this summer is crucial for Coker.
"The learning curve is going to be steep, but he's a bright young guy and he has experience and knowledge in a similar system," Saban said after spring drills. "We're hoping we can make a smooth transition for him."
Sports on 07/13/2014