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SDS talent evaluators Jon Cooper and Brad Crawford spent several months breaking down last year’s highlights, incoming talent and projected 2014 impact following spring practice to compile a list of the SEC’s Top 100 players heading into fall. Athletes were selected by position then ranked overall counting down to No. 1.
Stick with SDS throughout summer and get in on the action using the hashtag #SDSTop100 as we unveil a new player daily leading up to opening night on Aug. 28.
43. Braylon Webb, Sr., S, Mizzou
The unsung hero for Gary Pinkel and his staff at Mizzou, Webb’s the most versatile safety in our Top 100 and enters his final campaign as a multi-year playmaker with more starts — 30 — than any player within the program. Mizzou’s hardest-hitter in the secondary also holds kicks on special teams and is one of just four returning starters off last year’s Eastern Division champion defense.
Mizzou’s unit proved a penchant for big plays, producing an SEC-high 32 takeaways and 41 sacks despite finishing near the middle in total defense. Webb contributed three interceptions and finished second on the team with 89 total tackles. Webb’s 60 solo stops is a conference-best among returning players in the secondary.
Mizzou’s strong safety is one of the league’s most underrated, only because he shined in relative low light as an impact player in the shadows of Michael Sam and Kony Ealy last fall. Preseason mag extraordinaire Phil Steele has Webb as a preseason All-SEC fourth-teamer and we have him as the fourth-best safety in the league, No. 1 in the East.
By season’s end, he should be in the running for best safety overall.
2013 statistics: 89 tackles, 3 INT
2014 projection: 90 tackles, 3 INT
