The SEC’s best players heading into spring practice

Published March 11, 2013 - 9:42am

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SDS has featured a series of the top returners by position heading into spring practice over the last week. We weren’t simply forecasting breakout stars or spring emerging players, but we’re ranking the known commodities in the league and how they compare heading into spring practice.

Previous position rankings

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Offensive Linemen
• Defensive Ends
• Defensive Tackles
• Linebackers
• Defensive Backs

SDS will revisit the top players by position heading into the season closer to August, where we will forecast some breakout stars and look at how newcomers will compare to returning veterans.

Here are the total rankings by position broken down by team, ranked from highest to lowest:

LSU (10)
No. 1 DT Anthony Johnson
No. 1 DB Craig Loston
No. 3 RB Jeremy Hill
No. 6 WR Odell Beckham
No. 6 QB Zach Mettenberger
No. 7 RB Alfred Blue
No. 7 WR Jarvis Landry
No. 9 RB Kenny Hilliard
No. 9 LB Lamin Barrow
No. 10 OL La’El Collins

Alabama (9)
No. 1 WR Amari Cooper
No. 1 LB CJ Mosely
No. 2 QB AJ McCarron
No. 2 RB TJ Yeldon
No. 3 LB Adrian Hubbard
No. 3 OL Cyrus Kouandjio
No. 4 DB HaHa Clinton-Dix
No. 5 DE Ed Stinson
No. 7 OL Anthony Steen

Ole Miss (8)
No. 2 WR Donte Moncrief
No. 4 DE CJ Johnson
No. 5 DT Isaac Gross
No. 5 LB Denzel Nkemdiche
No. 7 QB Bo Wallace
no. 7 DB Charles Sawyer
No. 8 LB Mike Marry
No. 10 RB Jeff Scott

Texas A&M (8)
No. 1 QB Johnny Manziel
No. 1 OL Jake Matthews
No. 4 WR Mike Evans
No. 6 CB Deshazor Everett
No. 7 LB Steven Jenkins
No. 8 RB Ben Malena
No. 8 OL Cedric Ogbuehi
No. 10 DT Kirby Ennis

Vanderbilt (7)
No. 2 CB Andre Hal
No. 3 WR Jordan Matthews
No. 6 LB Chase Garnham
No. 7 DE Walker May
No. 8 DB Kenny Ladler
No. 9 WR Chris Boyd
No. 9 OL Wesley Johnson

Mississippi State (6)
No. 2 OL Gabe Jackson
No. 4 LB Benardrick McKinney
No. 5 QB Tyler Russell
No. 5 RB LaDarius Perkins
No. 6 DE Denico Autry
No. 9 DB Nickoe Whitley

Arkansas (5)
No 2 DE Chris Smith, Arkansas
No 3 DE Trey Flowers, Arkansas
No. 3 DT Bryan Jones
No. 5 OL Travis Swanson
No. 7 DT Robert Thomas

Georgia (5)
No. 1 RB Todd Gurley
No. 3 QB Aaron Murray
No. 4 RB Keith Marshall
No. 5 WR Malcolm Mitchell
No. 10 DB Damian Swann

South Carolina (5)
No. 1 DE Jadeveon Clowney
No. 4 QB Connor Shaw
No. 4 DT Kelcy Quarles
No. 9 DE Chaz Sutton
No. 10 WR Bruce Ellington

Missouri (4)
No. 5 DB EJ Gaines
No. 8 WR Dorial Green-Beckham
No. 8 DE Kony Ealy
No. 9 QB James Franklin

Tennessee (4)
No. 2 LB AJ Johnson
No. 4 OL Antonio Richardson
No. 6 OL Ja’Wuan James
No. 9 DT Maurice Couch

Florida (4)
No. 2 DT Dominique Easley
No. 3 DB Marcus Roberson
No. 8 QB Jeff Driskel
No. 10 DE Dante Fowler

Kentucky (3)
No. 6 DT Donte Rumph
No. 10 LB Alvin Dupree
No. 10 QB Max Smith

Auburn (2)
No. 6 RB Tre Mason
No. 8 DT Angelo Blackson

Photo Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports