Every year, there’s one quarterback in the SEC who seemingly comes out of nowhere and turns heads. It’s what fans love to call a “breakout season.” Last year, it was Trinidad Chambliss and Marcel Reed. A year before that, it was Garrett Nussmeier. This year, according to Brooks Austin, otherwise known as “Film Guy,” it’s none other than Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor.

According to the SEC analyst, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a transfer portal jackpot if Jeff Lebby’s Bulldogs remain the poster child for the bottom SEC team.

On the July 29 episode of That SEC Podcast, SEC Mike started things off by asking Brooks Austin if Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor could truly be the ultimate breakout quarterback in the SEC this season. Austin didn’t hold back, saying he was recently breaking down tape of Taylor’s game against Ole Miss and came away more blown away than ever before.

“I came away thinking that [Kamario] Taylor is the traitsiest football player we’ve seen in the Y Choice offense ever,” Brooks said.

Austin compared Taylor to other quarterbacks from similar offenses. Hendon Hooker was excellent, but lacked Taylor’s size and raw traits. Byrum Brown is big and athletic, but cannot match Taylor’s arm talent, while even Dillon Gabriel falls short of his physical upside. Taylor is a massive quarterback at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, with the arm strength to make every throw and the speed to hurt defenses on the ground. Those rare physical tools are why Austin is so bullish on him.

Brooks explicitly stated that if things don’t work out for Taylor this season, it won’t be his fault. It will be because everything else around him on the team isn’t good enough.

“And if that’s the case [if the Bulldogs don’t give him a chance to compete], he’ll be a very rich man come January 16 when he’s in the portal. Honestly, I don’t mean to do that to Mississippi State fans, but if that doesn’t work at a high rate, somebody else will look at that tape and go, ‘I’ve got to pay him whatever it takes to get him here, because we will win with that. That kid is, and look, it’s all a byproduct of his work too,'” Brooks said.

Considering where Mississippi State stands entering the season, Austin’s prediction doesn’t sound all that far-fetched. The Bulldogs are projected to finish 15th out of 16 SEC teams, ahead of only Ryan Silverfield’s Arkansas Razorbacks. Most projections have them winning no more than four or five games.

On top of that, Mississippi State’s offensive line remains a major concern. If Taylor spends the season running for his life behind that protection, it’ll obviously wreck his passing efficiency and apparently stunt his growth.

According to Brooks, that’s the risk Taylor won’t and will not take whatsoever.

Some folks would look at this and wonder if Brooks is larping, and his stats and film don’t replicate Brooks’ prediction. Last season, in limited snaps, he threw for only 629 yards, five touchdowns, and just one interception, while also adding 458 rushing yards and eight rushing TDs. Truth be told, that’s not the way to make the analysis.

Austin also gave a peek behind the curtain at how quarterbacks are evaluated, noting that game tape can actually lie to you until you see a player throw in person.

He makes it a point to go to the Elite 11 Finals every single year just to see how the ball actually feels coming off a quarterback’s hands. When he first saw Taylor back in high school, Austin honestly thought he was just a great athlete who might struggle to become a great passer.

Good news is that Taylor has come a long way since then. Brooks credits every bit of that improvement to Taylor’s relentless work ethic.

“It looks so good, and that’s all work. That’s 10,000 hours of grinding your bu— off to get better at that.”

Austin isn’t the only national evaluator seeing elite potential.

Other analysts are buying Kamario stocks

Taylor was named a top performer at the Manning Passing Academy after effortlessly launching a 65-yard completion downfield. Todd McShay went out of his way to praise Taylor after watching him dominate at the Manning Passing Academy.

McShay openly raved about Taylor’s “rifle arm,” calling him a supreme athlete who can rip the football downfield as effortlessly as anybody in the country. Some media folks are drawing lofty comparisons to former Heisman winners like Cam Newton and RGIII.

Safe to say, Taylor’s future, whether he stays a Bulldog or enters the portal in January, depends entirely on the help he gets around him.