Could we be watching the birth of college football’s next superstar?

Kamario Taylor, the Mississippi State quarterback with all the hype in the world right now, has a chance to launch himself into a legitimate Heisman conversation this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to South Carolina. And frankly, it’s hard to argue against the ceiling here.

Taylor is the most athletically gifted quarterback to play in Jeff Lebby’s wide choice system. The size, the cannon of an arm that looks effortless, the incredible mobility. Outside of potentially Faizon Brandon, if you look at the previous quarterbacks for Tennessee and Mississippi State, Taylor is the most gifted out of all of them.

The Minnesota destruction set the stage for Kamario Taylor’s hype train to leave the station

Mississippi State absolutely destroyed Minnesota on the road, and while I don’t have a lot of love for the Minnesota secondary, the way the Bulldogs operated in that offense was scary to think about.

That wasn’t a team finding its footing. That was a team that looked like it already had answers. Now you throw in the fact that South Carolina represents a second consecutive road game, and you start to see why this weekend matters so much for Taylor’s trajectory.

If Mississippi State walks into South Carolina and dominates on back-to-back road games, we could be talking about a real Heisman conversation for a first-year starter.

I know a lot of NFL draft evaluators are already looking at Taylor as a top-5 pick in the NFL Draft, but this weekend could be the difference between quiet buzz and full-blown superstar status. He’s incredibly dynamic and one of the most fun players in the entire country. It’s hard to hate it.

The real question nobody wants to ask

And you may say, Tegan, aren’t we putting too much pressure on a young quarterback? That’s a fair pushback. He is a first-year starter. He’s allowed to have mistakes. But the talent is so loud that the expectations are going to follow him whether we pump the brakes or not. And if he’s able to dominate once again this weekend, we could be off to the races.

Now, I picked South Carolina to win this game because of the veteran experience from LaNorris Sellers, and I think this is the most underrated game of the entire slate. A lot of what I’m saying about Taylor could easily be applied to Sellers on the other sideline. But the new kid on the block is the one capturing everybody’s attention right now, and for good reason.

Here’s what makes this even bigger than one quarterback’s stock: a lot of people looked at Lebby as one of the top hot seat candidates heading into this season. Could he be saving his job in front of our very eyes?

If Mississippi State becomes an above-average team in the SEC behind Taylor, the narrative around that entire program flips overnight. I’m stamping it now: this is the game to watch this weekend, and Kamario Taylor is the reason why.