SEC rosters currently include 58 different players who ranked as five-star recruits out of high school.

For reference, NFL teams selected just 54 SEC players in the draft this year. It’s a competitive league, and being touted as a prep standout doesn’t always equate to a starting job, much less All-SEC status or a future pro career.

Still, it’s a good baseline place to start. Even Mizzou, which insists that its system for identifying and developing talent works just fine with three-star players, proudly accepted a Letter Of Intent from defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. in February.

Browse through the names on this list and you will find some of the most gifted football players in the SEC, many of whom will become first-round NFL draft choices as early as 2016.

We’ll list the five-star players by team and by position in the SEC, followed by a few thoughts.

CURRENT FIVE-STAR PLAYERS BY TEAM

1. Alabama: 18
T2. Georgia 8
T2. Texas A&M 8
4. Florida 6
T5. Auburn 5
T5 LSU 5
T5. Ole Miss 5
T8. Mississippi State 1
T8. Missouri 1
T8. Tennessee 1

QUARTERBACKS (3)

  • Blake Barnett, Alabama
  • Kyle Allen, Texas A&M
  • Kyler Murray, Texas A&M

RUNNING BACKS (9)

  • Derrick Henry, Alabama
  • Bo Scarbrough, Alabama
  • Damien Harris, Alabama
  • Roc Thomas, Auburn
  • Kelvin Taylor, Florida
  • Nick Chubb, Georgia
  • Keith Marshall, Georgia
  • Sony Michel, Georgia
  • Leonard Fournette, LSU

RECEIVERS (9)

  • Robert Foster, Alabama
  • Calvin Ridley, Alabama
  • Terry Godwin, Georgia
  • Tyron Johnson, LSU
  • Malachi Dupre, LSU
  • Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss
  • Christian Kirk, Texas A&M
  • Speedy Noil, Texas A&M
  • Ricky Seals-Jones, Texas A&M

TIGHT ENDS (1)

  • O.J. Howard, Alabama

OFFENSIVE TACKLES (4)

  • Cam Robinson, Alabama
  • Martez Ivey, Florida
  • John Theus, Georgia
  • Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss

DEFENSIVE ENDS (7)

  • Jonathan Allen, Alabama
  • Da’Shawn Hand, Alabama
  • Carl Lawson, Auburn
  • Byron Cowart, Auburn
  • CeCe Jefferson, Florida
  • Channing Ward, Ole Miss
  • Myles Garrett, Texas A&M

DEFENSIVE TACKLES (10)

  • A’Shawn Robinson, Alabama
  • Daron Payne, Alabama
  • Montravius Adams, Auburn
  • Jonathan Bullard, Florida
  • Trent Thompson, Georgia
  • Chris Jones, Mississippi State
  • Terry Beckner Jr., Missouri
  • Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss
  • Khalil McKenzie, Tennessee
  • Daylon Mack, Texas A&M

LINEBACKERS (5)

  • Rashaan Evans, Alabama
  • Reuben Foster, Alabama
  • Tre’ Williams, Auburn
  • Lorenzo Carter, Georgia
  • Jordan Jenkins, Georgia

CORNERBACKS (9)

  • Tony Brown, Alabama
  • Marlon Humphrey, Alabama
  • Kendall Sheffield, Alabama
  • Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama
  • Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida
  • Jalen Tabor, Florida
  • Kevin Toliver II, LSU
  • Tony Conner, Ole Miss
  • Brandon Williams, Texas A&M (five-star RB out of high school)

SAFETIES (1)

  • Jamal Adams, LSU

OBSERVATIONS

  • First, compared to any other SEC team, Alabama has more than twice as many five-star players on the roster. In fact, if you add the five-star players on Georgia and Texas A&M — which each boast of eight, second-most in the conference — it doesn’t equal Alabama’s talent. So either the decline of the Tide has been grossly oversold this offseason, or coach Nick Saban’s ability to develop talent (or hire staff capable of that job) has taken a dramatic nosedive.
  • The Aggies (8) and Florida Gators (6) are the only SEC team with multiple five-star players that probably won’t rank in the top half of the league-wide power rankings in preseason polls.
  • As well as coach Butch Jones has recruited, the fact that the Vols claim just one five-star player — a true freshman defensive tackle at that — is a testament to just how poor of a roster Jones inherited from Derek Dooley. All the other SEC blue-bloods claim at least a handful of current five-star players.
  • Texas A&M supposedly will move Brandon Williams from running back to cornerback for the duration of this season. That breaks a tie for the SEC’s most talented position, as measured by five-star players: the conference now includes 10 five-star defensive tackles and nine five-star running backs. There are also nine five-star receivers and cornerbacks in the conference.
  • Other than interior offensive line, at which five-star players generally don’t exist, tight end (1), safety (1) and quarterback (3) are the weakest positions in the SEC in terms of talent.