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The University of Mississippi is one of a http://www.espn.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/119353/sec-qb-breakdown-ole-miss-rebels">few SEC football teams in a unique position going into this season. The Rebels have a proven starter at quarterback while http://www.espn.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/119367/quarterback-instability-a-major-theme-as-sec-teams-approach-season">most of the conference is looking for answers in that position.

Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly and University of Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs are the only returning starters who were http://secsports.go.com/statistics/football/player/passing">ranked in the top five in passing yards. The rest of the top five, Dak Prescott, Brandon Allen and Jake Coker, are all in the NFL now.

Former Texas A&M University quarterback Kyle Allen, who was sixth in passing yards, is now at the University of Houston. Louisiana State University quarterback Brandon Harris, seventh in passing, might be the starter for the Tigers, but his performance was up and down at best last season.

Patrick Towles, eighth in passing, transferred from the University of Kentucky to Boston College after Drew Parker replaced him as the starter. University of Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert, ninth in passing, and University of South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth, 10th in passing, are locked in a battle for the starting job at their respective programs.

Auburn University is trying to find a starter out of a trio of quarterbacks, including two who earned playing time last season and a junior-college transfer. The University of Alabama is also working with three quarterbacks, trying to find out who will separate himself from the others.

The University of Florida has named Luke Del Rio as its new starter since both starters from last season have left the school to play elsewhere. The University of Arkansas has named Austin Allen as the player to replace Brandon Allen under center.

Texas A&M will start transfer Trevor Knight at quarterback after Kyle Allen left for Houston. The University of Missouri will have quarterback Drew Lock, who won four games in four starts last season.

Vanderbilt University will go with Kyle Shurmur at quarterback after limited playing time last season. Shurmer joins Austin Allen at Arkansas, Del Rio at Florida, and Lock at Missouri on the list of quarterbacks who have little or no starts for their respective programs.

Mississippi State University might go into http://www.espn.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/119509/sec-qb-breakdown-mississippi-state-bulldogs">the season looking for a starter between Nick Fitzgerald, Damian Williams and Nick Tiano. Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen has gone with multiple quarterbacks before, as with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida and Tyler Russell and Prescott at MSU.

Kelly and Dobbs will have a chance to lead their teams to division titles as the rest of the conference works to figure out who will take the reins at quarterback. The rare exceptions are Alabama and LSU, who both have strong defenses and powerful running games, and just need quarterbacks who won’t lose them games.

The rest of the SEC could see their bowl hopes go down in flames if they can’t find the right player under center. MSU is one of those teams that needs to get the quarterback situation right if the Bulldogs can’t get the running game going like they did in 2015.

Only the Rebels and Volunteers can sleep easy at night. LSU needs Harris to play better, but he is on the next level of experienced starting quarterbacks in the conference. The other 11 teams either need someone to win the quarterback battle and keep the position locked down, or the quarterbacks with limited playing time need to develop into starter material.