RELATED: Recruiting grades for every SEC West team

The SEC East may have played little brother to the SEC West in 2014, and it may have maintained that role on National Signing Day as the West hauled in some of the best talent in the nation.

Nevertheless, the East division claimed three of the Top 20 classes in the 247Sports industry composite rankings and five of the top 25, which stacks up rather nicely within the national landscape of college football.

How did we grade each SEC East team’s 2015 recruiting class based on meeting needs and overall talent?

FLORIDA: A

247Sports Composite Rank: 21

Florida knew when it began National Signing Day that it needed a big day to salvage a promising recruiting class in Jim McElwain’s limited time on the recruiting trail. When top defensive end prospect Byron Cowart opted to sign with Auburn instead of his home-state Gators, things didn’t look so good for UF.

But by the end of the day, Florida managed to land two other five star recruits in the form of top offensive tackle and Apopka, Fla., native Martez Ivey and No. 2 defensive end Cece Jefferson. All three prospects were seen as game-changers in the class, and landing two of them constitutes a success for Florida in McElwain’s first year in Gainesville.

Add in four-star tailbacks Jordan Scarlett and D’Anfernee McGriff as well as four-star athlete Jordan Cronkrite and you’ve got the makings of a pretty good class.

GEORGIA: B+

247Sports Composite Rank: 10

The Georgia Bulldogs hauled in another top 10 recruiting class on Wednesday, signing 28 prospects including seven early enrollees. However, the Dawgs class was just as much about who they didn’t get as it was about who they did land by the end of the day.

Touted in-state linebacker Roquan Smith opted to sign with UCLA rather than UGA, but after learning UCLA’s defensive coordinator was leaving for the Atlanta Falcons, Smith never sent in his national letter of intent and could still become a Bulldog after all. For now, though, he’s absent from the recruiting class, which is a tough break for a Georgia team that lost two starting linebackers off its 2014 squad.

Georgia also failed to sign a single quarterback after losing one-year starter Hutson Mason to graduation. The Bulldogs return a handful of prospects at the position to compete for the job in 2015, but did not sign anyone who could represent their future at the position.

Ultimately, their two five-star signees — athlete Terry Godwin and 247’s top-rated player Trent Thompson — were tough to look past, as were their 11 four-star recruits, shoring up the class in a wide-open SEC East.

KENTUCKY: B

247Sports Composite Rank: 40

Kentucky was one of just two SEC teams with a class ranked outside the top 30 in the nation, but it still added pieces to help move the program forward in Year 3 of the Mark Stoops era.

The Cats only picked up two four-star recruits, but both should be able to make an impact right away. Ohio tight end C.J. Conrad can provide the pass-catching threat at the tight end position that UK has been looking for in its Air Raid offense, and in-state linebacker prospect Eli Brown can develop into the kind of tackling machine that former Wildcat stars Wesley Woodyard, Danny Trevathan and Avery Williamson once were.

Behind those two guys, Kentucky added some tremendous size at wide receiver and in the secondary, locking down three wideouts standing at least 6-foot-3 and three corners standing 6-feet or taller.

Ultimately, the No. 40 class in the nation won’t drop jaws, but it’s far from a setback for the Wildcats. Kentucky gained an above-average class, which is why it earned a B this signing day.

MISSOURI: B+

247Sports Composite Rank: 23

The two-time defending SEC East champions only picked up three four- or five-star prospects among their 23 signees, but it got one of the national gems of the 2015 class in defensive end Terry Beckner. The five-star defensive end and No. 3 end in the class will join a program that has become a defensive line factory, boasting four NFL draft picks from that position group since 2011 as well as two SEC Defensive Players of the Year.

Beckner will be joined along Mizzou’s defensive line by two three-star defensive ends and a three-star defensive tackle, providing depth behind Beckner at those positions in the class.

Missouri also added a four-star pro-style quarterback in Drew Lock, an in-state prospect and the No. 7 pro-style signal caller in the class. He’ll have to sit behind starter Maty Mauk for at least two years before Mauk reaches graduation, but he could be the team’s future under center.

Four-star tailback Chase Abbington should do wonders in replacing graduated senior Marcus Murphy in the backfield (Russell Hansbrough also has just one year of eligibility left) and the team’s two early enrollees, both three-star offensive tackles, can help shore up an offensive line that left Mauk running for his life in 2014.

SOUTH CAROLINA: B

247Sports Composite Rank: 19

South Carolina’s nine decommitments in the month leading up to National Signing Day were more than any other team in the nation, and yet the Gamecocks still managed to secure a top 20 class when all was said and done.

The Gamecocks were especially strong in recruiting along the defensive line, their greatest area of need after the 2014 season. Among South Carolina’s 29 signees, seven are defensive end prospects and four of those are four-star prospects.

South Carolina also added a couple of four-star offensive linemen as well as four-star dual-threat quarterback prospect Lorenzo Nunez, who could compete for the starting job right away in the aftermath of Dylan Thompson’s graduation after one year under center.

The class was great, but could’ve been better had it maintained some of those decommitments like cornerback Mark Fields and defensive end Arden Key. Nevertheless, South Carolina still succeeded in addressing areas of need, which maintains an above-average grade for the class.

TENNESSEE: A

247Sports Composite Rank: 4

If winning football starts with winning the line of scrimmage, then no team in the East did a better job of building a winning foundation on Wednesday than the Tennessee Volunteers. Among the 27 members of Tennessee’s 2015 class, 11 play along the offensive or defensive line and seven of those players were rated four-stars or better.

In addition, the Vols added the No. 2 junior college tailback and the No. 7 high school wide receiver in the nation, and built much-needed depth at quarterback behind Joshua Dobbs by adding the No. 6 dual threat quarterback and No. 12 pro-style quarterback in the country.

Tennessee gained 16 four- or five-star prospects and 10 early enrollees this year, making their A grade a no-brainer.

VANDERBILT: A-

247Sports Composite Rank: 46

For a program that fell from consecutive nine-win seasons to a 3-9 record in the first year under a new coach, then fired both its coordinators after its first season, Vanderbilt’s fate on the recruiting trail seemed bleak this winter.

However, Derek Mason and his new staff managed to break into the top 50 in the nation with this year’s class, adding three four-star prospects among its 18 signees.

The headliner of the class is four-star quarterback Kyle Shurmur, who is the highest-rated quarterback signee in school history. He’s regarded as the No. 14 pro-style quarterback in the class, and joins a team that used four different starting quarterbacks in 2014.

The Commodores also added two four-star prospects on the defensive side of the ball, which is where Derek Mason earned his reputation as a coach while serving as the defensive coordinator at Stanford.

Virtually every position on the team is a position of need, and Vandy hauled in a better class than some expected despite a rocky 2014 and an ugly start to the offseason.