Individual Position Rankings

There are three components to a football team: offense, defense and special teams.

Some argue that special teams is equally important as the other two (mainly special teams coaches, place-kickers, punters and returners). While I don’t agree with that, special teams are vital to a winning team as good field position generally leads to wins.

The SEC lost arguably its three best returners from last season in Alabama’s Christion Jones, Florida’s Andre Debose and Missouri’s Marcus Murphy.

Jones, who went undrafted and is trying to make the Dolphins roster, led the conference with 851 kick return yards and added 152 punt return yards. Debose, a seventh-round pick of the Raiders, led the SEC with 323 punt return yards and had a touchdown. He also had 519 kick return yards. Murphy, a seventh-round pick of the Saints, returned seven kickoffs or punts for touchdowns in college.

So who are the Top 10 return men for the SEC in 2015?

10. Keon Hatcher, Arkansas: Last year, the Razorbacks’ Korliss Marshall was second in the SEC in averaging 30.1 yards per kickoff return, but he’s gone. Thus Hatcher should take over primary duties. The senior wide receiver got a few looks on returns last season, averaging 139 total yards on six attempts (23.2 per return). Alex Collins also will return kicks for the Hogs.

9. Shon Carson, South Carolina: The redshirt senior also handled duties as a backup running back last season. He returned 31 kicks for a 20.4-yard average and ran back a career-long 42-yard kick return against Georgia to set up the eventual game-winning score. He didn’t return punts.

8. Stanley “Boom” Williams, Kentucky: I might rank Williams higher but I’m not sure if he will stay as a kick returner because he led the Wildcats with 486 yards rushing last season and projects as the No. 1 running back in 2015. Williams was a Freshman All-American as a kick returner in 2014, averaging 26.9 yards per return with a long of 75 yards.

7. Cyrus Jones, Alabama: This is mostly on a hunch as Jones is one of those Nick Saban five-star recruits and he should get the first crack at replacing Christion Jones. As a cornerback, Cyrus Jones, formerly a receiver, was second-team All-SEC last season. He had four punt returns for 82 yards and four kickoff returns for 77 yards. He looks to be the primary guy on both in 2015.

6. Jaylen Walton, Ole Miss: Walton is the Rebels’ starting running back but also will return kicks, at least as of now. He holds the school record with 1,542 career kick return yards entering his senior year. Walton also ranks sixth in school history with 3,354 career all-purpose yards.

5. Evan Berry, Tennessee: Berry was named a third-team All-American kick returner last year by Athlon. His first kickoff return went for 68 yards vs. Chattanooga, the longest by a Vol since Cordarrelle Patterson’s 98-yard kickoff return at Mississippi State on Oct. 13, 2012. Overall, Berry had 14 kickoff returns for 413 yards (29.5 yards per return, fourth in SEC)

4. Leonard Fournette, LSU: If this list was most talented running back in the country, I might put the sophomore at No. 1. Wouldn’t shock me if Fournette won the Heisman Trophy this season. In his first season at LSU, he led the SEC in all-purpose yards (137.4), ranked No. 4 in the league in kickoff returns (26.0) and was sixth in rushing (79.5). Fournette had a brilliant 100-yard TD return in the loss to Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl (and an 89-yard TD run). I just wonder if Les Miles will continue to let Fournette return kicks because he essentially is the offense.

3. Darrius Sims, Vanderbilt: The Commodores don’t have a Top 3 player at many positions in the SEC but they do in Sims here. He ranked among the leading SEC kick returners in 2014, averaging 24.5 yards on 31 returns. He had one of the greatest special teams games in conference history against South Carolina, becoming first player in SEC history to return two kicks for touchdowns in the same game. They were for 91 and 100 yards.

2. Speedy Noil, Texas A&M: This guy has one of the great names in college football and it’s fitting because the wide receiver is a burner. As a freshman, Noil gained 645 yards on 27 kickoff returns (23.8 average), with a long return of 70 yards vs. Missouri. He added 180 yards on 15 punt returns (12.0 average), with a long of 67 yards vs. Lamar. Noil’s 1,418 all-purpose yards were the fifth-most ever by an A&M freshman and he became the first player in school history to log a 40-yard-plus catch, a 50-yard-plus kickoff return and a 60-yard-plus punt return in a single game, coming against Lamar.

1. Isaiah McKenzie, Georgia: The Dawgs had Todd Gurley returning kicks last season when he wasn’t hurt or suspended so McKenzie didn’t get a ton of chances. But he’s the guy now. McKenzie became the first player in Georgia history and the 12th in FBS history to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same game, coming against Kentucky. He was the first Bulldog since 1988 to start a game with a kickoff return for a TD. McKenzie tied the school record for most punt returns for a TD (two) and the most TD returns in a season (three). He is a preseason first-team All-SEC as a punt returner and third-team as a kickoff returner.