Published August 18, 2011 - 9:08am
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Football is only a couple weeks away now, and players are chomping at the bit to get going and are tired of hitting each other on their own teams.
Here are three under-the-radar players who will be huge this season for their teams in the SEC East:
RB Chris Rainey, Florida
Chris Rainey is going to be running out of the I-formation for the first time in his college career after running out of it his entire high school career. Rainey can be described as a scat-back with his smaller size and speed, but he can certainly turn it on in the open field. Florida has yet to have a dominant tailback who can run the football with some consistency since the Urban Meyer-era started, and now Will Muschamp and Charlie Weis will try to have a first 1,000 yard rusher in the last several years. I think Rainey can be that guy if he can stay healthy, and I know all Gator fans are excited to see what this kid can do out of a traditional offensive set.
DT Travian Robertson, South Carolina
I think Travian Robertson could be the key to the South Carolina defensive line. He flies well under the radar for being a fifth-year senior and the anchor of this defensive line. Defensive end Devin Taylor gets all of the hype, and rightfully so, but Robertson is ready to have a monster year in Columbia if he can stay healthy. I think he will have a very large impact on the overall play of this defensive unit.
WR Tavarres King, Georgia
King has flown under the radar his entire career because lining up opposite AJ Green doesn’t exactly get you much notoriety. However, King is primed to be the go-to receiver for quarterback Aaron Murray and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. King caught 27 passes for 504 yards and three touchdowns. This offense will have to rely on the air attack with the limited depth at running back and attrition of some of the offensive linemen; therefore, I think King will have a major impact for the better in Athens this season.
Not sure of 3 as a whole in the SEC but can give you 3 from UGA.
1. Running Back…….Ken Malcom. This guy is a beast and with King and Ealey gone. This guy finally gets to show not just the SEC but the nation as well how much he is like Herschel Walker. Kid is a stud.
2. Bacari Rambo……sub par season last year but finally has a grasp of the new defense set up by Grantham and this guy hits harder than possibly any other DB in the country.
3. Not that this guy is under the radar but it will be interesting to see how the freshman phenom running back crowell is going to do. Hes put on a little more wait and he is one of the strongest kids in the weight room this year.
For The SEC 2011, or any other year, the list should be about 25 players deep. Picking injured guys to have break-out seasons for an under-utilized guy or new guy is always a good choice or 2. Makes the excuses flow more easily when again we continue our 3 wins in 12 games vs teams finishing in the AP P Poll Top 10 all 10 previous years, and oh yeah don’t forget the 16 losses in 10 years vs teams far less talented than handed this “coaching staff” of Mark Richt who either did not finish in the AP Poll Top 25, or only were because they beat us. This is not negative. It is simply stating the facts, even with our schedule of 10 cupcakes we play in 2011. Let’s see how many of those do we lose to ? We know it is at least 1 cupcake, as it has been every year on the average all 10 years too. It had better not be Boise State with their average recruiting class of # 69 all 5 of the last 5 recruiting classes.