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College Football

Breakdown of Phil Steele’s 2017 SEC positional unit rankings

Michael Wayne Bratton

By Michael Wayne Bratton

Published:

The 2017 edition of Phil Steele’s annual preseason college football magazine hit the shelves nationwide this week. This year’s magazine is packed with content on each of the 352 pages of the book, with virtually no regard for empty space on any page.

When it comes to the SEC, Steele is joining the list of virtually every other preseason prognosticator and picking Alabama to win the league and return to the College Football Playoff for the fourth consecutive year. Steele is picking Florida to win the East and punch its ticket to Atlanta to meet the Crimson Tide in what would be a third consecutive SEC Championship Game between the two programs.

Aside from analyzing matchups based on the schedule, position units are a big factor in Steele’s projections heading into a season. According to his metrics, eight of his nine units of power ratings call for Alabama to be the superior unit on the field in each of Alabama’s 12 games.

To get an idea of which position groups are the best in the league, take a look at how all 14 schools measure up in the nine positional rankings per Steele’s metrics:

Alabama: QB-1 RB-1 WR-2 OL-1 DL-1 LB-1 DB-1 ST-7 Coach-1

Auburn: QB-1 RB-4 WR-7 OL-3 DL-3 LB-4 DB-4 ST-4 Coach-2

LSU: QB-9 RB-3 WR-11 OL-2 DL-3 LB-3 DB-2 ST-4 Coach-9

Texas A&M: QB-12 RB-5 WR-2 OL-9 DL-6 LB-5 DB-6 ST-3 Coach-5

Arkansas: QB-3 RB-9 WR-11 OL-7 DL-11 LB-13 DB-10 ST-12 Coach-4

Ole Miss: QB-8 RB-13 WR-7 OL-5 DL-7 LB-11 DB-10 ST-6 Coach-5

Mississippi State: QB-4 RB-13 WR-9 OL-13 DL-8 LB-9 DB-14 ST-13 Coach-5

Florida: QB-9 RB-6 WR-1 OL-8 DL-2 LB-5 DB-2 ST-1 Coach-3

Georgia: QB-5 RB-2 WR-4 OL-13 DL-3 LB-2 DB-5 ST-9 Coach-11

Tennessee: QB-12 RB-10 WR-10 OL-6 DL-8 LB-5 DB-6 ST-2 Coach-8

South Carolina: QB-6 RB-8 WR-4 OL-11 DL-11 LB-9 DB-8 ST-14 Coach-9

Kentucky: QB-12 RB-10 WR-11 OL-10 DL-14 LB-5 DB-9 ST-8 Coach-11

Missouri: QB-7 RB-10 WR-4 OL-4 DL-10 LB-13 DB-12 ST-11 Coach-14

Vanderbilt: QB-9 RB-7 WR-11 OL-14 DL-11 LB-12 DB-12 ST-10 Coach-11

Michael Wayne Bratton

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com

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