National Signing Day is almost here, meaning the season that was will be totally in the rear view within the next week. As we continue to look back on the 2014 season, SDS goes through and ranks the conference’s position groups from best to worst.

  1. Defensive end — No position was more stacked with talent in 2014 than defensive end. From Missouri’s pair of Shane Ray (the 2014 defensive player of the year) and Markus Golden to impressive freshmen Derek Barnett and Myles Garrett, there were six or seven legitimate candidates for first team All-SEC honors. Players like Bud Dupree, Trey Flowers, Danielle Hunter and Preston Smith will likely all be drafted along with Ray and Golden come spring.
  2. Safety — Led by All-Americans Landon Collins and Cody Prewitt, the SEC had a lot of veteran talent along the back line. Even with those two and other names like Howard Matthews, Ronald Martin and Nick Perry leaving school, there was an abundance of younger talent that showed out in 2014; LSU’s Jalen Mills and Jamal Adams, Ole Miss’ Tony Conner and others will be back in 2015.
  3. Linebacker — With Martrell Spaight, Benardrick McKinney, Reggie Ragland, Dante Fowler, Antonio Morrison, Kwon Alexander and others, the SEC’s linebackers were as strong as ever in 2014. While there weren’t any outright superstars or All-Americans in the field, several of those names will be NFL draft picks come spring.
  4. Offensive line — The SEC once again cranked out a slew of NFL draft prospects in 2014. Arie Kouandjio, La’el Collins, Reese Dismukes, A.J. Cann and Cedric Ogbuehi, among others, played at the highest level in the conference. Placing five teams in the top 26 of rushing offenses nationally is a testament to the group’s strength in a relatively down year for running backs.
  5. Kicker/punter — The SEC claimed two of the best punters in the nation in JK Scott and Drew Kaser, while others like Jamie Keehn and Kyle Christie weren’t far behind. The conference also had some deadly accurate kickers: Drew Lambo, Francisco Velez and Elliott Fry were all reliable from all kinds of distances.
  6. Running back — RBs would be a lot higher on the list had Todd Gurley not missed nearly the entire season due to suspension and injury. Several of the conferences top backs, like T.J. Yeldon and Mike Davis, dealt with nagging injuries all year, while others like Leonard Fournette and Jalen Hurd weren’t their team’s top option until later in the season. Still, the SEC had seven 1,000-yard rushers, led by Cameron Artis-Payne and rising superstar Nick Chubb.
  7. Quarterback — Last season was the year of the QB in the SEC, so 2014 was inevitably going to be a downgrade. Dak Prescott and Nick Marshall were dangerous as dual-threat players, while Blake Sims stepped up in his first year as a starter to have the most prolific season in Alabama history. The rest of the conference was marked by disappointments. Dylan Thompson, Bo Wallace and Maty Mauk were middling or inconsistent, while LSU and Florida’s situations were train wrecks. However, there were young bright spots like Joshua Dobbs to provide hope.
  8. Cornerback — Senquez Golson came out of relative obscurity to lead the conference with 10 interceptions, while Vernon Hargreaves continued to develop into a star. The rest of the SEC’s top cornerbacks left a bit to be desired, with inconsistency up and down the ranks.
  9. Defensive tackle — There were a few stars at defensive tackle in 2014, like Robert Nkemdiche, Darius Philon and Jonathan Allen, but the position lacked in depth. When a player like Garrett, a stringy defensive end, is voted All-SEC by the media at defensive tackle, you know it’s on the weak side.
  10. Wide receiver — Yes, Amari Cooper was a Heisman finalist, while Pharoh Cooper broke out as a star. The rest of the SEC’s crop of receivers were not up to par, though. Duke Williams and Sammie Coates both dealt with injury, Ole Miss’ receiving corps was hit hard by the injury bug, and the rest of the conference’s receivers either weren’t consistent options or were grounded as the season went on.