Hand-picking the Eastern Division’s best players isn’t all that challenging this season if you start along the defensive front.

Every team has at least one player capable of earning All-America status by improving on last year’s production or continuing to blossom into premiere pass rushers or run-stoppers following impressive showings during spring practice.

Looking at each team’s most potent players at the point of attack, here’s a glance at why defensive line is the Eastern Division’s strongest position group:

Florida

Jonathan Bullard and Alex McCalister, DEs
The skinny: Strength vs. speed. Bullard and McCalister have it, ideal fits as athletic bookends in first-year coordinator Geoff Collins’ updated ‘psycho defense’ philosophy. Bullard’s entering his third year as a starter up front and is the Gators’ veteran leader in the trenches following the exit of Dante Fowler. McCalister, a lanky edge rusher who sheds blocker with great quickness, finished with six sacks as a wide-eyed sophomore and will exceed those numbers thanks to his new role as a first-teamer. Florida will also receive an immediate depth boost thanks to incoming five-star end CeCe Jefferson, an explosive pass rusher who — without question — will make his way into the rotation quickly.

Georgia

Trent Thompson, DT
The skinny: The Bulldogs’ front line in Jeremy Pruitt’s 3-4 look is a bit cloudy heading into the season without a clear-cut No. 1 player, but most expect five-star freshman Thompson, the nation’s top-ranked player overall in the 2015 class, to step right in and fill a need at nose tackle. The kid’s massive at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds and is a gap destroyer in the middle. Thompson will have to adjust quickly as a summer arrival and unseat projected starter John Atkins to grab first-team snaps. Depth isn’t a concern with seniors Sterling Bailey and Josh Dawson at the ends protected by several underclassmen, but without a proven playmaker up front, Thompson’s could ascend the ranks as Georgia’s best defensive lineman by midseason.

Kentucky

Melvin Lewis, DT
The skinny: Looking at the Wildcats’ projected eight-player rotation along the defensive line in 2015 following the exit of Bud Dupree and Za’Darius Smith, shutting down the opposition’s rushing attack shouldn’t be a problem with five players weighing at least 305 pounds — tied for a division-high based on players expected to see action this fall. Lewis, a powerful run-stopper who isn’t afraid to get after it, will anchor this year’s unit at nose as one of the program’s most improved players since his arrival in 2013 In 12 starts as a junior, the 340-pound Lewis made 37 tackles. The coaching staff remains high on former five-star signee Matt Elam, but weight issues are a lingering problem for the 6-foot-7, 360-pound brick wall in the middle.

Mizzou

Rickey Hatley, DT and Charles Harris, DE
The skinny: The loss of All-American candidate Harold Brantley lessens Mizzou’s overall dominance up front, but the Tigers have a reputation to uphold as a two-time defending champion anchored by their nastiness at the line of scrimmage. Already short-handed thanks to NFL departures and the dismissal of Marcus Loud, Mizzou DC Barry Odom needs stellar seasons out of projected first-teamers Hatley, Augusta and end Charles Harris to keep Mizzou near the top of the league in momentum-changing plays off the snap. Hatley’s a fourth-year junior with perhaps the biggest upside out of all available defensive linemen, a player who moves well for his size (6-4, 290) and seems to find the football. Best-case scenario is that Harris becomes the next Shane Ray or Markus Golden no longer playing in the shadows of Mizzou’s top-end all-league pass rushers.

South Carolina

Marquavius Lewis, DE
The skinny: The Gamecocks’ probable savior on one of the nation’s worst defensive lines statistically, Lewis is an immediate upgrade over Darius English at the end position as one of the JUCO ranks’ most gifted pass rushers. Playing primarily on instinct this spring without a vast knowledge of South Carolina’s revised scheme under co-coordinators Jon Hoke and Lorenzo Ward, Lewis made his presence felt as the Gamecocks’ MVP on defense, constantly harassing Steve Spurrier’s quarterback group. He’ll lead this unit in sacks this fall unless one of several other JUCO arrivals in Columbia earns substantial playing time as well.

Tennessee

Derek Barnett, DE
The skinny: My preseason pick as the runaway favorite to win the SEC’s defensive player of the year award, Barnett is one of college football’s most talented sophomores — at any position — from a skills and production standpoint as the league’s top returning player in tackles-for-loss (20.5) and third in sacks (10.0) — both Tennessee records. The blue-chipper has been named to almost all preseason watch lists and will perform without limits from start to finish this season as a player no longer having to prove his worth as a three-down threat. Most importantly, Barnett has help. Expect twin five-star tackles Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle to make substantial impacts as true freshmen, freeing up Barnett for gargantuan numbers.

Vanderbilt

Adam Butler, DT
The skinny: Linebacker is Vanderbilt’s obvious strength defensively, but Butler’s versatility as Derek Mason’s most consistent player with a hand on the ground gives the Commodores options this season at the line of scrimmage. The converted guard has played tackle and end during his career, flourishing off the edge in nine starts last fall as a third-year sophomore with 35 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss. He also scored a defensive touchdown with a fumble recovery against UMass. Butler’s role will expand now that Mason has taken over the defense and as a result, he should lead all Vanderbilt defensive linemen in impact plays.