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Overlooked SEC players worth watching during bowl season
By Dave Holcomb
Published:
Including the National Championship, there will be a record 42 bowl games in 24 days this college football postseason.
There will be an SEC team in at least 10 of those contests. With so many games to chose from, it is hard to find the motivation and time to watch them all.
We can at least help with the motivation factor. Here is one overlooked player from each bowl eligible SEC team worth watching during bowl season.
RB Peyton Barber, Auburn: Barber is rarely mentioned among the best running backs in the conference. The sophomore basically came out of nowhere to lead the Tigers with 976 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
RB Derrius Guice, LSU: With so much attention going to sophomore Leonard Fournette, it’s no wonder Guice gets overlooked. Guice had an outstanding freshman season with 397 rushing yards on 47 carries. His yards per carry came out to an impressive 8.4 average.
OT Kolton Houston, Georgia: Houston was one of Georgia’s best offensive players once Nick Chubb went down with his injury. The six-year player has started a game at every position on the offensive line except center. He is a big reason why three different Bulldogs running backs averaged over five yards per rush this year.
OG Joseph Cheek, Texas A&M: The senior offensive guard started two years on the Aggies offensive line. In 2014, he provided pass protection for the top passing attack in the SEC.
WR Antonio Callaway, Florida: The freshman wide receiver was the most important weapon to the Gators’ offensive attack. In SEC games where Callaway had at least 50 yards receiving, Florida averaged 26.75 points. In conference matchups where he had fewer than 50 receiving yards, the Gators scored only 19.4 points per game.
DT Jarran Reed, Alabama: Fellow Alabama defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and Jonathan Allen each have more tackles for loss and sacks, so it is easy to forget about Reed, but many consider the senior just as good. He had 53 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack this season.
DE Derek Barnett, Tennessee: It’s hard to call a player who made the All-SEC second team overlooked, but one could definitely argue Barnett deserved to be on the first team. He posted double digit numbers in tackles for loss and nine sacks for the second straight season at Tennessee. Barnett finished 2015 with 61 total tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss.
LB Beniquez Brown, Mississippi State: Mississippi State’s defense doesn’t really get the proper recognition it deserves. The Bulldogs were a solid group on defense in 2015. Brown was second on the team with 84 tackles, including 8.0 for loss, and 2.0 sacks.
LB Brooks Ellis, Arkansas: Ellis led a great front seven for the Razorbacks this season. Despite 101 tackles, including 7.0 for loss, the sophomore did not make the coaches’ All-SEC teams. In addition to the tackles, Ellis had three pass defenses, an interception, a forced fumble and 0.5 sacks.
DB Trae Elston, Ole Miss: The senior was the unsung hero of the “Landsharks Defense” in 2015. Elston led the team with four interceptions and returned two for TDs. He also finished second with 66 tackles, including 4.5 for loss.
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
