Seven SEC quarterbacks make Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list

The Davey O’Brien Award announced a preseason watch list Thursday that includes seven quarterbacks from the Southeastern Conference, keeping the league’s quarterback pipeline in the national spotlight as teams shift into the heart of fall camp.

The award is named for Davey O’Brien, the 1938 Heisman Trophy winner and a two-time national champion at Texas Christian University. Each season, the award’s watch list is used to identify early candidates for the quarterback award race, which ultimately centers on the player who best combines performance, leadership, and impact for his team across the schedule.

For SEC fans, the preseason list functions as an early measuring stick for where each program’s passing game stands heading into the 2026 season. While it does not predict who will win, it does reflect which quarterbacks national voters and selectors believe have the profile to contend once regular-season statistics accumulate.

The Thursday announcement also underscores how central quarterback play remains to the conference’s identity. With defenses preparing for mobile passing threats, complex route concepts, and high-volume throwing plans, the preseason watch list offers a quick snapshot of the league’s most proven and most anticipated starters.

There is, of course, a caveat to preseason lists: performance changes quickly as the season unfolds. Chemistry can shift, new offensive wrinkles can appear, and quarterbacks can move into new roles. In the SEC, one injury, schematic adjustment, or personnel change can quickly alter the national conversation from October onward.

What to watch next is how the watch list evolves, since award committees typically refine their view as games are played. The next step will be whether these seven SEC quarterbacks separate themselves in efficiency, downfield production, and late-game composure, and whether their teams’ results align with the level of individual play that the award is meant to recognize.