The SEC has been home to some of the best players in the nation over the last half decade. While we’re not going to rank the best seasons (we’ll save that for another day), we will look back at some of the most memorable individual campaigns from the last five seasons.

Cam Newton, Auburn, 2010

Significant statistics: 2,8454 pass yards (6th in SEC), 30 pass TD (2nd), 1,473 rush yards (1st), 20 rush TD (t-1st)
Honors: Heisman Trophy, Davey O’Brien Award, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, AP Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-Amercan

Auburn’s 2010 championship run was fueled by perhaps the greatest individual season in modern SEC history. If it wasn’t the best, it certainly rivals Tim Tebow’s most prolific seasons. In his only year on the Plains, Newton obliterated SEC competition, just as he destroyed his competition for the Heisman. While he was certainly impressive with his arm, completing 66 percent of his passes, Newton was more devastating with his legs, racking up six games with 150 or more rushing yards.

Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina, 2012

Significant stats: 13.0 sacks (2nd), 23.5 tackles for loss (2nd), 3 forced fumbles (t-3rd), 54 total tackles
Honors: First-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-American, Hendricks Award

Clowney was so good in his sophomore year, pundits suggested he sit out his junior season before entering the NFL draft. When you dominate the way Clowney did in 2012, it almost made sense at the time; he truly had nothing left to prove at the college level. Considering the injury issues he’s had since, those pundits might have been right. But back to 2012: Clowney was as destructive as they get, despite having double- and triple-teams thrown his way on just about every snap. He still set school records for sacks and tackles for loss, took home Clemson’s Memorial Stadium single-game sack record and, of course, laid The Hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith.

Jarvis Jones, Georgia, 2012

Significant stats: 14.0 sacks, (1st), 24.5 tackles for loss (2nd), 7 forced fumbles (1st), 85 total tackles (20th)
Honors: SEC Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-American, Jack Lambert Trophy

As good as Clowney was in 2012, it was Jones who took home the SEC’s DPOY award. It’s easy to see why, as the pass-rushing linebacker was a wrecking ball for the SEC East champion Bulldogs. Despite missing two games, Jones still led the conference in sacks and tackles for loss. He came up huge in some of Georgia’s biggest games that year: 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks against No. 9 Florida, 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks in a narrow SEC Championship loss to Alabama.

Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, 2012

Significant stats: 3,706 pass yards (3rd), 26 pass TD (4th), 1,410 rush yards (1st), 21 rush TD (1st)
Honors: Heisman Trophy, AP Player of the Year, Davey O’Brien Award, SEC Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC, consensus first-team All-American, SEC Freshman of the Year

The fall of 2012 was a banner time for the SEC. Manziel, Kevin Sumlin and the Aggies took the college football world by storm in his first year on the field in College Station. An unheralded redshirt freshman, Manziel piled up more than 5,000 total yards of offense and 47 touchdowns in his Heisman campaign. He broke Archie Manning’s single-game total offense record early in the season, then broke it again a few weeks later. The high point of the season came when the Aggies paid a visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium and took down eventual national champion Alabama in dramatic fashion, the game that vaulted Manziel into Heisman consideration.

Amari Cooper, Alabama, 2014

Significant stats: 124 receptions (1st), 1,727 receiving yards (1st), 16 receiving TD
Honors: Biletnikoff Award, Heisman Trophy finalist, consensus first-team All-American, first-team All-SEC,

We can’t finish this rundown without Cooper’s remarkable 2014 season. The junior smashed every conceivable Alabama receiving record and blew past the SEC’s career receptions mark. He had three 200-plus yard games, setting and then tying Alabama’s single-game mark with 224 yards, had five games with 10 or more catches and five multi-touchdown games. Cooper was at the heart of Alabama’s most prolific offense in school history. Cooper was a long shot, but he still earned himself an invitation to the Heisman ceremony, the first receiver to be invited since Larry Fitzgerald in 2003.