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With apologies to Britney Spears, oops, we did it again. Hindsight is 20/20, but foresight … well, it’s pretty limited. A good case in point would be the media All-SEC selections. Plenty of the players chosen have been superb, but some of the SEC’s top players so far are conspicuously missing from those lists.
Here are 10 SEC players who have been great so far that we flat out missed on when it was all-SEC picking time.
Shea Patterson, Ole Miss
The selections of Jalen Hurts and Nick Fitzgerald were solid work, but holy Walter Cronkite, how did we get Austin Allen on the all-SEC team (52% completions, 502 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) and leave off Patterson (70%, 1,281 yards, 11 TDs, 4 INTs)? Patterson is on pace to become the SEC’s all-time single-season passing leader.
John Kelly, Tennessee
The all-SEC running back list includes several guys outside the league’s top 10 in rushing yardage. Who is missing? Only the league’s leading rusher. Kelly has 450 rushing yards on 5.6 per carry and six touchdowns on the ground. Admittedly, Derrius Guice and Nick Chubb have looked first-team worthy. But Kelly should have at least been on the second team.
Damien Harris, Alabama
It’s usually a hard case to argue that an Alabama player was disrespected. But it happened here. Bo Scarbrough was chosen all-SEC second team. But we got the wrong ’Bama back. Harris rushed for 1,000 yards last year, and this year he has 309 rushing yards and six touchdowns (Scarbrough has 221 yards and three scores). Harris’s 8.1 yards per carry is just filthy — and tops in the SEC.
A.J. Brown, Ole Miss
Maybe the same lack of logic that kept Patterson off the all-SEC teams was responsible for Brown’s omission. If Patterson throws for 4,000 or so yards, somebody has to make those catches. So far, Brown’s been the man for that job. His 16 catches for 389 yards and four touchdowns in three games is a fine start. Fellow Rebel DaMarkus Lodge could make the same argument as Brown — he’s third in the SEC in receiving yardage, and also has four touchdowns, and he was also left off of the all-SEC teams.
T.J. Brunson, South Carolina
All the sophomore linebacker from South Carolina has done is lead the SEC in tackles so far this season with 42 stops. That’s eight more than teammate Skai Moore, who did get onto the all-SEC teams.
Charles Wright, Vanderbilt
Given the pass-rushers who were picked for the all-SEC squad, you’d figure that the sack leader for the 2017 season would be on those lists. Not so much — it’s Vandy’s Wright (above), who has 6 sacks already this year.
Corey Thompson, LSU
Take everything said above about Wright and apply it to Thompson, whose 4.0 sacks are tied for second best in the league. LSU star Arden Key was a first-team pick, but he has five tackles and 0.5 sacks so far. Thompson has 17 tackles, and has two additional QB hurries.
Josh Allen, Kentucky
Stop me if you see a theme. Among those tied with Thompson for second in the SEC in sacks is Allen, who was also omitted from all-SEC selection. Allen’s teammate Denzil Ware made the lists, but his stats (1.5 sacks) fall short of Allen’s so far this season.
Daniel LaCamera, Texas A&M
Specialists are kind of a crap-shoot, but LaCamera has been one of the SEC’s best, tied for second in the league in field goal percentage and perfect on extra points. He is tied with Alabama’s Andy Pappanastos for most points in the league, and he wasn’t on any all-SEC teams. Gary Wunderlich, who has missed two extra points for Ole Miss and has barely half of LaCamera’s number of points, was chosen.
Jaylon Jones, Ole Miss
The most dangerous kick returner in the league so far, Jones is averaging nearly 35 yards per return and has one of the SEC’s five kickoff return touchdowns so far. For his trouble, he was left off the all-SEC list. With Antonio Callaway of Florida yet to see the field (or look likely to do so soon), Jones’s omission is especially glaring.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
