Two things CFR likes: competent quarterbacks and open markets.

Where am I going with this post? Recruiting.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football, where teams evaluate and harvest the players that will be the program's present and future.  No position is more important to a program's success than quarterback.

Believe-it-or-not, elite quarterbacks are flocking to SEC teams this year.

Quarterback :: Rivals.com Pro-Style Quarterback Ranking :: Program

• Matthew Stafford-Dallas TX :: #1 :: Georgia
  
• Mitch Mustain-Springdale, AR :: #2 :: Arkansas
  
• Neil Caudle-Hoover, AL :: #8 :: Auburn
• Chris Smelley-Tuscaloosa, AL :: #9 :: South Carolina
• Greg McElroy-Southlake, TX :: #11 :: Alabama
• Tim Tebow-Ponte Vedra Beach, FL :: #1 (dual-threat) :: Florida

All of these guys are blue-chippers, or VHT's in Phil Steele speak.  In fact, Stafford, Mustain and Tebow are all "five star" recruits, the best of the best.  Granted, all of these guys are living in the south, but it's a major coup for the SEC to pull this off.

CFR has long mocked SEC offenses, but I cannot argue with the economics logic at play here: quaterbacks are consumers and many of this year's quality quarterbacks are buying what these teams are selling.

There is certainly a changing of the guard for quarterbacks in the SEC, with Alabama's Brodie Croyle, Georgia's D.J. Shockley and Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler headed to the NFL and Tennessee's Rick Clausen headed to the graduate coach ranks.