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With the first half of the season in the books, it’s time to turn to the good people over at Pro Football Focus to help us settle who is among the best players in the SEC so far during the 2015 campaign.
Pro Football Focus has condensed 48,000 hours of game footage into its unique algorithm that essentially grades every single player’s performance on every single play to formulate a rating.
Here’s a look at a few of the perceptions and their realities in the SEC as the conference readies itself for Week 8 action.
PERCEPTION: THE BEST QB IN THE SEC IS … DAK PRESCOTT
Dak Prescott’s stellar career keeps chugging along and Mississippi State and SEC passing records keep falling every time the senior lines up under center. In Week 7, for example, the Bulldogs quarterback joined Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel as the only players with at least 50 career passing and 30 rushing touchdowns. Prescott has exactly 1,700 yards on the season, 11 touchdowns, and also leads Mississippi State in rushing (254 yards). At his current pace, Prescott (7,283 career yards) should be able to leapfrog 17 places or so on the SEC’s all-time passing leaderboard, finishing with roughly 8,750 yards, good enough to supplant the likes of Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler and Manziel for No. 17 in conference history.
REALITY: THE BEST QB IN THE SEC IS … BRANDON HARRIS
Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly might bristle at the notion of Dak Prescott being considered the conference’s top signal-caller. The Rebels quarterback, after all, does lead the SEC in passing (2,234 yards) with 534 more yards than conference runner-up Prescott. And while both players boast gaudy numbers, the top player under center in the first half of the 2015 season, according to Pro Football Focus, is Brandon Harris. Take a moment to ponder that one. The LSU quarterback is more than just a vessel in which the Tigers get the ball into NCAA leading rusher Leonard Fournette’s hands. Harris’ stats are fairly middling, and not helped by the fact that the Tigers had their Week 1 contest against McNeese State cancelled due to inclement weather. But the sophomore from Bossier City, La., is accurate when it counts under duress and simply doesn’t turn the ball over. Harris has connected on 59.26 percent of his attempts on the year, but that number jumps to 73.9 percent when under pressure. He joins Prescott as the only two SEC quarterbacks that have yet to throw an interception this season. LSU is 6-0 with Harris and that might be his best stat of them all.
PERCEPTION: THE SECOND-BEST RB IN THE SEC IS … DERRICK HENRY
Leonard Fournette might not just be the top player in the SEC, but arguably the nation, routinely posting Tecmo Bowl-type numbers (1,202 yards, three 200-plus yard games) for the LSU Tigers. A brutal knee injury to Nick Chubb sadly settled the debate between the hobbled Georgia running back and Alabama’s Derrick Henry, as to who follows in Fournette’s footsteps as the second-best rusher in the SEC. Henry (901 yards) surpassed Chubb for second in the SEC in rushing, courtesy of a 236-yard performance against Texas A&M in Week 7. The Crimson Tide junior’s 12 touchdowns trail only Fournette’s 14 scores for best in the conference. The Alabama offense is rolling right now, thanks in large part to the SEC’s second-best tailback Derrick Henry.
REALITY: THE SECOND-BEST RB IN THE SEC IS … PEYTON BARBER
When you stop seething, we’ll explain. Peyton Barber is the only SEC player after Leonard Fournette to crack Pro Football Focus’ top-10 for the best running backs in the nation, ranking No. 8 overall. The sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., has 709 all-purpose yards, accounting for more than 33 percent of Auburn’s total yardage on the season. His 650 rushing yards rank him behind Fournette and Henry, as well as injured Georgia Bulldog Nick Chubb (who hasn’t played in two games) and Arkansas’ Alex Collins. But with the Auburn offensive line settling in, Barber has been on fire of late, rushing for seven touchdowns in his past two games. He now has four games of 100 yards or more, missing a fifth by eight yards last week against Kentucky. According to Pro Football Focus, only Fournette maximizes his carries more than Barber this season. As a result, the Tigers, who struggled mightily on offense to begin the year, have begun to turn around their season.
PERCEPTION: THE BEST TE IN THE SEC IS … JAKE McGEE
It’s seemingly a down year for big-name tight ends in the SEC. Florida’s Jake McGee tends to stand out for his knack of catching touchdowns in big games. The SEC’s touchdown leader at his position (3 TDs) hauled in two big scores against LSU and added another in the Gators’ upset of then No. 3 Ole Miss. McGee’s 200 yards receiving are fourth-best in the conference behind Arkansas’ Hunter Henry (286 yards). The Virginia transfer combines size (6-foot, 6-inches, 249 pounds), great hands and is clutch on third down (38 career catches, 6 TDs).
REALITY: THE BEST TE IN THE SEC IS … JERELL ADAMS
Jerell Adams is quietly building a résumé that’s going to land him in the NFL. The South Carolina tight end isn’t just the best at his position in the SEC, he’s tops in the entire nation, according to Pro Football Focus. Adams, the only SEC tight end ranked in PFF’s top-10, has 232 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season. The senior’s 15.47 yards per catch, however, rank him No. 13 overall in the conference among all pass catchers, and would make him the team leader on nine SEC squads in yards per catch. Adam’s yards per catch rank him higher than several notable SEC wideouts, including Ole Miss’ Laquon Treadwell (13.35 YPC), Calvin Ridley (11.50) of Alabama and his own Gamecock teammate Pharoh Cooper (14.68). Making Adams’ high ranking more remarkable is the fact that South Carolina has employed six different players this season to throw a pass in the Gamecocks’ struggling air attack.
Extra Point: Laquon Treadwell is the top wide receiver in the SEC, according to Pro Football Focus. The Ole Miss junior ranks No. 10 in the nation among the website’s analytics for wide outs, catching 49 passes for 654 yards and 4 touchdowns on the season.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
