Editor’s note: SDS is ranking the 25 best SEC players — at any position — of the last decade. Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain is the ninth member of a 25-part daily series.

17.) ALABAMA LB ROLANDO MCCLAIN (2007-09)

One of the best defensive players in Alabama football history, McClain was a consensus All-American and the SEC’s defensive player of the year as a junior in 2009, leading the Crimson Tide to the BCS National Championship. A naturally instinctive linebacker with a slender 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame, McClain racked up 105 tackles during his final season and became the Crimson Tide’s first Butkus Award winner since Derrick Thomas (1988).

McClain is one of the few players during the Nick Saban era to start as a true freshman, doing so in eight games for defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. He was often labeled the quarterback of Alabama’s defense and led a Top 5 unit in each of his three years in Tuscaloosa.

In December, McClain’s $1.5 million brick mansion in Alabama was destroyed by a fire. Police confirmed Saturday the house burned down as result of arson. No arrests have been made.

Career numbers: 274 tackles, 31.5 TFL, 8 sacks, 5 interceptions
Individual superlatives: Consensus All-American (2009); Dick Butkus Award (2009); SEC Def. POTY (2009); All-SEC (2008-09)
NFL Draft: No. 8 overall (first round) in 2010
Defining moment: McClain had several memorable performances as the leader of the nation’s second-ranked defense in 2009, but his 12-tackle effort in the Iron Bowl against Auburn helped Alabama stay unbeaten en route to a title. In the opener that season, McClain recorded two sacks inside the Georgia Dome against Virginia Tech.