Ranking QBs on Mississippi State football schedule from KJ Jefferson to Spencer Rattler

STARKVILLE — When looking through Mississippi State football's 2023 schedule and predicting which games the Bulldogs could win, a strong determining factor can often be which team has the better quarterback.

For MSU, that's a promising sign with Will Rogers back under center for a fourth year. However, MSU's schedule features many talented arms − some of which the Bulldogs have seen in recent seasons.

With Zach Arnett promoted to head coach, linebackers coach Matt Brock is now MSU's defensive coordinator. Here are our rankings of the quarterbacks he'll have to prepare for on Mississippi State's schedule.

KJ Jefferson, Arkansas

When he’s been healthy, Jefferson has been among the elite quarterbacks in the SEC. MSU has seen it firsthand.

In 2021, the Razorbacks scored 31 points in a win with Jefferson throwing for 191 yards and a touchdown. Last season, with Jefferson out due to injury, the Bulldogs cruised to a 40-17 victory.

Jayden Daniels, LSU

Coming off an SEC West title in his first season at LSU, Daniels is another tough dual-threat matchup. The Bulldogs limited Daniels early in last year’s contest – holding the Tigers to 10 points through three quarters. However, LSU outscored MSU 21-0 in the fourth.

Daniels finished with 210 passing yards and a team-high 93 rushing yards.

Devin Leary, Kentucky

Leary comes to the SEC after five years at NC State. His last season was cut short because of injury.

Leary has accounted for nearly 7,000 passing yards in his career, and if Kentucky’s offensive line shows improvement, he could have a good season under Mark Stoops. In 2021, Leary come to Starkville with the Wolfpack and threw for 303 yards in a loss.

Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss

Ole Miss brought in Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma State to compete for the starting job, but it’s hard to imagine that coach Lane Kiffin moves away from Dart after last season. Dart finished sixth in the SEC with 2,974 passing yards and added 614 rushing yards.

He put up those numbers as a true sophomore who appeared in just six games the prior season at Southern California.

Spencer Rattler, South Carolina

Which version of Rattler shows up against Mississippi State will make a difference, but at his peak he has shown an ability to be among the best in the SEC. Rattler finished fifth in the conference last year with 3,012 passing yards and eighth with 18 touchdowns.

He had seven games with at least 200 passing yards. However, that was met by six games in which he didn’t surpass that mark.

Jayden de Laura, Arizona

We have our first non-SEC quarterback on the list. In MSU’s win at Arizona last year, de Laura threw for 220 yards and a touchdown. However, he threw three interceptions and led the Pac-12 with 13.

If he can clean up the turnovers, he’s got potential to be a tough matchup. Behind only USC’s Caleb Williams and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., de Laura finished third in the Pac-12 with 3,685 passing yards.

Payton Thorne, Auburn

New coach Hugh Freeze has a new quarterback in Auburn with him. Thorne, who transferred from Michigan State, finished sixth in the Big Ten with 2,679 passing yards.

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Conner Weigman, Texas A&M

Weigman started four games for the Aggies last season and earned himself a spot on ESPN’s freshman All-America team. He threw for 896 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

Entering his sophomore season, a leap in Weigman’s play could get Texas A&M back to competing at an elite level.

Eli Sawyer, Southeastern Louisiana

Sawyer is in his fourth year at SELA, and he earned himself a spot at the Manning Passing Academy in June. In 10 games last year, he threw for 1,605 yards and 10 touchdowns.

TBD: Alabama, Western Michigan and Southern Miss

Once Alabama figures out whether Tyler Buchner, Jalen Milroe or Ty Simpson will start, they’ll have the pieces around them to succeed. For that reason, an Alabama quarterback would likely crack the top five of MSU’s opponent list.

Western Michigan and Southern Miss quarterbacks would find themselves toward the bottom.

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Spencer Rattler, other Mississippi State football QB opponents ranked