Athlon Sports ranks Keller Chryst the 10th best quarterback in the SEC

We’re through national signing day, march madness and the NFL Draft — that means one thing. Talkin’ season has arrived. Also, true offseason content has arrived. Athlon Sports has gotten the ball rolling with a piece that ranks the SEC quarterbacks.

For Tennessee specifically, we don’t know for sure who the quarterback is going to be. Jarrett Guarantano looked like an improved and more confident passer in the spring game, but the arrival of Keller Chryst from Stanford is going to mix things up. Most believe that the grad-transfer from out out west will end up taking the job in camp. Steven Lassan at Athlon Sports is one of them.

He placed Chryst as the 10th ranked quarterback in the SEC. Here were his comments.

New coach Jeremy Pruitt landed Chryst as a graduate transfer from Stanford, giving the Volunteers an experienced option to navigate a brutal 2018 schedule. Chryst completed 160 of 289 passes for 1,926 yards and 19 touchdowns during his three years with the Cardinal. He went 6-0 as the team’s No. 1 quarterback in 2016 and started seven contests before losing the job to K.J. Costello in 2017.

Chryst checks in just behind Texas A&M’s Nick Starkel and just ahead of LSU’s Myles Brennan.

Back when Chryst officially chose Tennessee, we took a deep dive with Rule of Tree to figure out what kind of player he was. While he’s a guy that looks the part and clearly has the physical tools, he struggled with efficiency and playing from the pocket.

Maybe a new voice in Tyson Helton can bring new growth to Chryst in what should be a transitional year for Tennessee.