That schedule argument gets repeated but it's misleading. The SEC wasn't as deep last year, and playing those elite teams doesn't automatically mean the entire slate was brutal. Look at the defenses he faced outside the top tier. Mississippi State ranked 60th in defensive SP+, Florida was 74th, and Auburn was 41st. That's half his schedule right there. The 43 touchdowns are impressive, but a lot of that volume came against those middle-of-the-pack units. For comparison, look at what some QBs in the Big Ten faced. Michigan's defense was statistically better than Georgia's last season in yards per play allowed, and Ohio State's defense finished top five in scoring. The numbers are great, but they're inflated by system and volume against weaker competition. The "all SEC schedule" tag is a brand name, not a true measure of week-to-week difficulty. His performance against Alabama and Georgia was solid, but he also had his lowest completion percentages in those games. The big three conferences all have elite defenses at the top, and playing one historically great unit doesn't make the entire resume untouchable.
