Last year, Georgia LB Roquan Smith had an outstanding season, leading the SEC in tackles (with 137) before becoming the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He also was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

This fall, the SEC East returns another group of talented defenders who will try to follow in Smith’s footsteps. It won’t be easy, as Alabama, LSU and other defensive juggernauts reside in the SEC West (the conference that has won 10 of the 16 SEC DPOY awards since its inception in 2002), but the talent is there to make it happen.

RELATED: SEC West’s 10 best DPOY candidates

A pair of Smith’s former teammates will make their case, as will players from the division’s other six squads. Here’s how the SEC East’s 10 best defenders stack up against each other as they prepare for the 2018 season:

10. Charles Wright, LB, Vanderbilt

Wright really came into his own as a pass rusher this past season, recording 7.5 sacks and 43 tackles (nine for a loss) for the Commodores.

He’ll need to be even better for the Commodores this fall if they want to climb their way back to bowl eligibility. Gone is talented LB Oren Burks, who was a third-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2018 NFL Draft, so Wright is the lone proven star left on the defensive side of the ball.

He has shown he can use his speed to get around opposing tackles, and offensive linemen will need to make sure they know where he is on every snap this year.

9. D.J. Wonnum, DL, South Carolina

Wonnum had a strong sophomore season, winning the SEC’s Defensive Lineman of the Week award in early October. For the year, he put up 57 tackles (13 for a loss) and six sacks.

He’s a disruptor in the truest sense of the word, often wreaking havoc in the opposing backfield and blowing up plays before they even get started, as you can see here:

As the Gamecocks try to unseat the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC East, Wonnum and the defensive line will be important. If Wonnum can increase his sack total from last year, the Gamecocks could be even better than they were in 2017.

8. David Reese, LB, Florida

Reese became the next in a long line of Gators linebackers last season, finishing eighth in the SEC and third in the SEC East in tackles with 102 in only 11 games.

What makes Reese so great is that he’s a beast against the run. Among returning SEC linebackers, Reese has the highest run-stop percentage at 13.9 percent:

If the Gators can hold their own against the run, they’ll force opponents to throw into a secondary that features CB C.J. Henderson (see above), Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Marco Wilson. That bodes well for low-scoring games, taking the pressure off of the sometimes-stagnant Florida offense.

7. Nigel Warrior, S, Tennessee

You never want a defensive back to be one of your team’s top tacklers, but Warrior finished second with 83 last year for the Vols (behind only LB Daniel Bituli’s 90).

However, that doesn’t tell the whole story, as Warrior’s tackles came all over the field, not just in the secondary. The 6-foot, 200-pound safety can play more like a linebacker at times, and he’s not afraid to play near the line of scrimmage.

In the passing game, Warrior has excellent field awareness and once he gets the ball in his hands, he’s tough to take down, as Missouri’s Drew Lock discovered last year:

With Micah Abernathy playing more of a free safety role, Warrior will be freed up to make plays on the ball. New coach Jeremy Pruitt brings a wealth of defensive knowledge with him from Alabama, so it’ll be fun to see what sort of role he comes up with for his talented safety.

6. Josh Allen, LB, Kentucky

If fellow Kentucky LB Jordan Jones can stay on the field, he’s the tackling machine for the Wildcats, freeing up Allen to do what he does best — get after the passer.

Only two draft-eligible SEC defenders had more quarterback pressures than Allen’s 40 last season. He finished seven with sacks and also batted down a pass.

He plays better when Jones is cleaning up messes behind him, so if his teammate can play in more than nine games and regain his 2016 form (when he recorded 109 tackles and 4.5 sacks), Allen could take his game to an even higher level.

That should scare every other SEC East team.

5. CJ Henderson, CB, Florida

Henderson more than held his own as a freshman last year, making his way onto the SEC’s All-Freshman team.

He was tasked with covering some of the top receivers in the SEC, and managed to snag four interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns.

https://twitter.com/NCAAFNation247/status/904084237078466560

Florida has a way of finding some of the best ballhawking defensive backs in the country, and it looks like they have another one in Henderson.

4. Cece Jefferson, DL, Florida

Jefferson is in an unusual position entering his senior year, as he’s transitioning to a 3-4 scheme under new Florida DC Todd Grantham.

However, he’ll need to have his biggest year yet if the Gators are going to improve from last year’s disappointment. Fortunately, he has a great skill set, and is one of the better defensive linemen in the SEC when it comes to anticipating snap counts, as you can see here:

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Jefferson had 47 tackles (13.5 for a loss) and 4.5 sacks last year, which were all career highs. He provides value as a leader, too, but he’ll need to record more career highs this fall to bring the Gators back to respectability.

3. Deandre Baker, DB, Georgia

Baker didn’t allow a single touchdown last year, recording 44 tackles and three interceptions. The Bulldogs lost guys like Aaron Davis, Dominick Sanders and Malkom Parrish this offseason, but Baker was arguably the best of the bunch and he’s coming back for another year.

In fact, Baker finished second last season in the SEC when it came to making plays on the ball, recording 13 to finish behind only Greedy Williams of LSU:

He’ll likely be a first-round pick and one of the first cornerbacks taken in the 2019 NFL Draft, but this fall, he’ll be counted on to solidify a Georgia secondary that doesn’t have a lot of experience returning.

2. Terry Beckner Jr., DL, Mizzou

Beckner could have declared for the 2018 NFL Draft, but he decided early on that he was going to return to Mizzou for his senior season.

As one of the SEC’s most dynamic interior linemen, Beckner will play a huge role for Mizzou this fall. Beckner had 7.0 sacks last year, despite facing double teams on a large number of his snaps.

In one-on-one situations, Beckner is nearly unstoppable. What makes him so special is the way he uses his hands, as you can see in the videos below:

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This year, he’ll again be the focus of offensive lines, but he’s good enough that he’ll be able to still put up big numbers, as long as he can stay healthy.

1. D’Andre Walker, LB, Georgia

Georgia took a huge hit at the linebacker position this offseason. First and foremost, Smith went to the NFL. Additionally, Reggie Carter, Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy are gone, leaving Walker as the only linebacker with a lot of experience returning to Athens.

Now that it’s his time to shine, though, he should thrive in Mel Tucker’s defense. Last year, he amassed 39 tackles (13.5 for a loss) and 5.5 sacks while Smith drew most of the attention from blockers.

Walker’s speed and physicality make him nearly impossible for just one blocker to stop. As you can see in the below video from 2016, sometimes three blockers aren’t enough:

He can also put the hurt on quarterbacks, as Kentucky’s Stephen Johnson can attest to:

He’ll draw a lot more attention without Smith alongside him, but he’ll also have the opportunity to make more big plays. Based on what he’s shown, there’s no reason to doubt his ability to make a case for the DPOY award.