No position in football is as important as quarterback and Kentucky will face a number of quality signal callers during the 2023 season.

Here's one take on the quarterbacks Kentucky will face, ranked in order of difficulty.

12. DJ Irons, Akron

Irons was at Iowa Central Community College before transferring to Akron before the 2021 season. In that first year in the MAC he played in eight games with three starts. Last year he completed 253/380 passes for 2,609 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven picks. Irons has some experience now and he did rush for 592 yards if you don't count the yardage lost to sacks, but Jeff Undercuffler could be nipping at Irons' heels as a backup.

11. Parker McKinney, Eastern Kentucky

Ordinarily it's good practice to assume that the FCS players and teams are going to be ranked at or toward the bottom of lists like this. But Parker McKinney is the most accomplished passer in EKU history. The 6'3, 208-pound RS Senior from Tennessee was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award at the FCS level. He was Phil Steele's conference player of the year and completed 68.6% of his passes for 3,956 yards and 33 touchdowns. This upcoming season will be McKinney's sixth of game action and he already has 1,446 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns along with 9,718 passing yards, 74 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions. He passed for 329 yards per game last year, by far his best season yet.

10. Graham Mertz, Florida

Kentucky was rumored to be taking a look at Mertz when he entered the portal coming out of Wisconsin, but he ended up at Florida. The widespread sense among those who write or talk about college football is that Kentucky came out on the better end of that with Devin Leary. Mertz was a very highly-touted recruit and came out of the gate strong at Wisconsin but hasn't been able to build on that early success. He will need to be a better player than he was for the Badgers in order for Billy Napier to turn the corner.

9. Layne Hatcher, Ball State

Hatcher began his college football career with Alabama before transferring to Arkansas State. From there, he transferred to Texas State, and this will be his first year at Ball State. Last year with the Bobcats he completed 62.2% of his passes for 2,653 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 picks. He started every single game. Hatcher did have some nice games but finished the season with a tough stretch. At Arkansas State he passed for 38 touchdowns over two seasons, including a 19 TD, 2 INT ratio in 2020.

8. AJ Swann, Vanderbilt

You could make the case that Swann belongs higher on this list. After all, he completed 58% of his passes with 10 touchdowns and two picks last season. However, he only passed for more than 127 yards in one SEC game (Ole Miss), and six of his 10 touchdowns came early in the season against Northern Illinois and Wake Forest. He didn't play in Vanderbilt's big wins against Kentucky and Florida. That said, there's good reason for Vandy fans to be optimistic than he could do some nice things this year.

7. Brady Cook, Missouri

Cook posted solid numbers last season. He completed 64.7% of his passes for 2,724 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven picks. He didn't have a good game against Kentucky (18/26, 143 yards). Cook eclipsed the 200 yard mark through the air more weeks than not but didn't hit 300 in any game. He's a limited quarterback and there's no denying that, but he's a solid field general.

6. Tyler Buchner, Alabama

It's odd to see both Alabama and Georgia going into the season with so many questions. We'll get to the Crimson Tide first. Tyler Buchner transferred in from Notre Dame this offseason and he does have some ability but not a long track record. Buchner only saw action in three ND games last season, completing just 55% of his passes for 651 yards, three touchdowns and five picks. He tossed three touchdowns and three picks in a 45-38 bowl win against South Carolina, and had two picks in ND's loss to Marshall in Week 2. Buchner will be behind a very strong offensive line and Alabama always has weapons (though not as many as they have before), but this is a big question for the Tide going into this season.

5. Jack Plummer, Louisville

This was a nice addition for Jeff Brohm's first team at Louisville. Plummer was at Cal last season, and while the Golden Bears were only 4-8, Plummer completed 62.5% of his throws for 3,095 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions, so he wasn't the biggest problem. In fact, Plummer could have a nice year in the ACC this season. Plummer is a pro-style passer who knows Brohm's offense very well and he's got some experience.

4. Carson Beck, Georgia

Like Buchner, Beck will be set up to succeed with a mammoth line, skill at receiver, balance courtesy of a powerful rushing attack, and Brock Bowers at tight end. But he only attempted 35 passes last season and he's only a sophomore. Once one of the nation's most promising quarterback recruits, the 6'4, 215-pound signal caller will have a lot to say about UGAs bid for a three-peat. Beck does have a very impressive arm and could put up big numbers this season, but until he proves it, he remains a question mark.

3. Spencer Rattler, South Carolina

The former elite quarterback recruit who didn't work out at Oklahoma did find a lot of momentum at the end of last season. South Carolina's late-season surge wasn't only about Rattler, but he was a real part of it. Rattler completed 66% of his passes for 3,026 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions last year. However, Rattler was still up and down. For example, even at the end of the year when the Gamecocks gained a lot of national attention for beating Tennessee and Clemson, sprinkled in were losses to Missouri and Florida, when the Gamecocks scored 10 and 6 points, respectively. Rattler looks like one of the better QBs on the schedule in what could be a down year for SEC quarterbacks, but he still has something to prove.

2. Will Rogers, Mississippi State

It's tough to believe Rogers is only going into his junior season. Two years ago as a freshman he was 36/39 against Kentucky's defense. Last year was a very different story as Kentucky won 27-17. The home team has been dominating this series, and that explains that. Rogers is very accurate in the short game but he has a new head coach following the passing of Mike Leach. Rogers completed 68% of his passes for 3,974 yards, 35 touchdowns and eight picks last season, but with the coaching change it would be wise to revise those expectations downward for his junior season.

1. Joe Milton, Tennessee

This might be a contentious choice but when you talk about a big-armed quarterback in Josh Heupel's offense it's probably safe to say he's going to put up huge numbers this year. Milton will be throwing a lot of deep passes this year, as Heupel quarterbacks do, and he was 14/29 for more than 500 yards with seven touchdowns and no picks on throws that traveled more than 20 yards in the air last year. Expect another very prolific Tennessee offense, although Milton isn't as refined as his predecessor Hendon Hooker.