The term franchise player is used more often in the realm of professional sports than at the college level, indicating not only the most talented player in a given organization but also the most iconic player.

To be a franchise player one must of course be a transcendent talent perceived to be among the elites of the sport, but he or she must also be marketable and must possess leadership qualities on and off the field as well.

Franchise players are the faces seen on advertisements to renew season tickets, on television commercials promoting an upcoming game, on ESPN interviews talking about a future matchup. To simplify even further, a franchise player is the first name you think of when his or her team is even uttered in conversation. They truly are the face of the team.

College teams certainly aren’t franchises — they can’t pay their players nor can they keep them longer than four years. Nevertheless, each college team still has that one iconic talent on its roster who fans think of before all other members of the team.

The 2015 SEC football season is still many months away, but there aren’t likely to be many changes to anyone’s roster between now and Week 1 this fall. With that in mind, we went ahead and named a franchise player for all seven SEC West teams in looking ahead to a new season:

Alabama — LT Cam Robinson: Alabama has a lot of question marks heading into 2015. The team doesn’t have a quarterback or a proven primary receiver or a running back that’s carried a full workload before. What the Crimson Tide do have is a cornerstone for the offense in Robinson. The freshman All-America selection started all 14 games at left tackle on a line that allowed the fewest sacks in the SEC, making good on his five-star rating coming in. With all the tools you’d want in a guy protecting the blind side, there’s talk that Robinson might be the best Crimson Tide lineman since Chris Samuels.

Arkansas — RB Jonathan Williams: Arkansas lost its franchise player from 2014, relentless defensive end Trey Flowers, and a nasty defense is retooling for 2015. On the offensive side, the Razorbacks got a major victory when Jonathan Williams decided to return for his senior season. While it’s hard to distinguish between Williams and his backfield partner, Alex Collins, it’s Williams the team often looks to in crucial situations. He carried the ball 24 times on third down and converted 18 of them in 2014. Much of the credit goes to Arkansas’ dominant offensive line, but that’s as big of a team effort as a an line in the league. Williams, along with Collins, will be the players to push Arkansas to success in 2015.

Auburn — QB Jeremy Johnson: We’re about to find out a lot about Gus Malzahn’s program. His offenses have thrived the last two years with a dangerous runner at quarterback. Now, Jeremy Johnson is ready to step into the role, and despite not having the same mobility as Nick Marshall, he’s expected to have a huge year leading the Tigers. He’s shown enough flashes in his limited action to earn the faith of the coaching staff, and he’ll be tasked with leading a fresh receiving corps. Johnson’s Heisman odds are pretty darn good for a guy who has yet to start a college game, and how quickly he masters the Tigers offense will help determine how far Auburn can go in 2015.

LSU — RB Leonard Fournette: Fournette’s hype train rolled into the station last fall, with folks from Baton Rouge and beyond gleefully jumping on. While Fournette didn’t live up to crazy-high expectations, he did show that he was ready to run over and around SEC defenses as a teenager. With his upperclassmen backfield mates graduated, Fournette will take over a starring role in 2015. If offensive coordinator Cam Cameron makes good on his talk of handing the ball off to Fournette 20-plus times per game this coming year, the rising sophomore will be in the thick of the Heisman conversation for real this time.

Mississippi State — QB Dak Prescott: There’s no bigger returning star in the SEC than Prescott. He skyrocketed to national prominence in leading the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking for five weeks in 2014, becoming a finalist for several major national awards in the process. Mississippi State is losing a chunk of talent on both sides of the ball, but Prescott deciding to return for his senior season is what will keep Dan Mullen’s squad competitive. Simply having the dual-threat passer under center is enough to create ample opportunities for the rest of the offense. Not only is Prescott a franchise player for MSU, he might be the most valuable player in the SEC.

Ole Miss — DT Robert Nkemdiche: Nkemdiche doesn’t put up monster numbers; he registered 4.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and 35 tackles in 2014. Those relatively paltry totals don’t come close to reflection Nkemdiche’s impact on Ole Miss. He was the lynchpin of a defense that finished first in the country in scoring and 13th in yards allowed in 2014. The rising junior’s disruptive presence in the middle requires multiple blockers on just about every play, throwing offenses out of whack and allowing the rest of the Landsharks to turn every possession into a feeding frenzy.

Texas A&M — DE Myles Garrett: From 2011-13, the SEC saw that you can build a top-10 defense around a dominant pass rusher. While Myles Garrett isn’t Jadeveon Clowney quite yet, he certainly has the raw talent to be the cornerstone of what should be a revamped Aggies defense come fall. While there’s room for improvement — adding bulk, stiffening up against the run, beating double teams — Garrett has the ability to take a step forward in 2015. With reinforcements on the way, he’ll garner a little less attention, and under John Chavis’ tutelage, the defense could be tailored around his skill set.