Prior to 2013 SEC Media Days, the buzz around individual players could’ve scared off mosquitos in a Florida swamp.

Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel and South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney sat at the epicenter. Players like Alabama QB AJ McCarron and Georgia QB Aaron Murray served as an exceptional second tier. Georgia RB Todd Gurley, off a sensational freshman season, may not have even made the Top 5 list.

The NFL draft that year decimated the SEC in terms of sexy household names. I’m sure you can recall several other renowned quarterbacks who exited after the ’13 season. Even big-time receivers like Texas A&M’s Mike Evans, LSU’s Odell Beckham Jr. and Vanderbilt’s Jordan Matthews departed.

The SEC’s streak of seven consecutive BCS championships ended as Auburn lost to Florida State — and lost Tre Mason. The Tigers’ quarterback, Nick Marshall, was one of two true stars returning in the SEC, along with Todd Gurley.

We spitballed some names in the Saturday Down South office today, trying to come up with the five biggest SEC stars prior to last season — which is tougher to do than one would imagine, because one must retroactively forget everyone’s ’14 season and try to only imagine the hype for each player last summer.

Here’s the list on which we settled. The five biggest SEC stars entering 2014 Media Days.

RB Todd Gurley, Georgia
QB Nick Marshall, Auburn
WR Amari Cooper
RB Leonard Fournette
QB Maty Mauk

Although we won’t enjoy a return to the pre-2013 stardom this summer — or maybe ever — this year’s top five represents a slight uptick.

QB Dak Prescott
RB Nick Chubb
RB Leonard Fournette
RB Derrick Henry
WR Laquon Treadwell

Prescott didn’t reach the national championship game like Marshall did, but he was a Heisman Trophy contender for most of the season and helped Mississippi State reach No. 1 for several weeks in the middle of the season. Given how much talent left the Bulldogs after last season, and the chances he’ll be a one-man Heisman contender, it’s fair to say he’s a bigger star than Marshall at this time last season.

Fournette may not have as much hype this year as he did as an incoming true freshmen, when media members and coaches rushed to proclaim the most bombastic comparison (Fournette/Adrian Peterson probably was the most dramatic).

Gurley of ’14 edges Chubb of ’15 in terms of hype.

But Cooper, despite what he did during the ’14 season, was just OK in terms of star power last summer. And Mauk mostly inherited the role because he performed well as a freshman on a surprise division title team and plays quarterback.

The SEC’s three-headed monster at running back, along with Treadwell at receiver, represent a greater collective star power at the skill positions than the Gurley/Cooper/Fournette trio ahead of 2014, and that’s despite the fact that the SEC didn’t even play in last season’s national championship game.

Not that the conference ever has major issues with fan interest or viewership, but entering last season there just wasn’t a lot of buzz around star players in the SEC. It felt like a bit of a letdown in terms of excitement from the year before.

With Alabama looking more beatable, uncertainty at quarterback around the conference, several high-profile coordinator hirings and a ton of blossoming talent at marquee positions like receiver, running back and defensive end, there are plenty of SEC story topics this season.

The real question is how many of those five — and how many other players — will act like superstars once the season begins. Last year, Gurley played very well when he was on the field, which was more or less half the season. Marshall faded to an extent, although he still was good. Fournette had an outstanding season by the standard of a true freshman, and not so much by the standard of the overwhelming preseason hype. Mauk fell off the map about four games into the season. Only Cooper really exceeded the buzz surrounding him last summer.

If we can get three or four of the players on this year’s list to have a Cooper-like season in ’15, it’ll be an enjoyable year.