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Sometimes players just don’t live up to their press clippings. They get hurt or they get edged out for playing time. In some cases, they transfer and wait another year to make an impact on a new team.
But every season is a new opportunity. New coaches are in place, different players are in the starting lineup and the overall team chemistry changes a bit every year.
Since spring practices are going on around the SEC, now is a good time to pick out a few players that will be trying to make 2016 far more memorable than last season:
TONY CONNER, DB, OLE MISS
Conner is still rehabbing his knee injury, suffered in last season’s win over Alabama, so he’s not taking part in drills this spring. He missed the last eight games for the Rebels last fall, finishing the season with just 17 tackles after racking up 69 in 2014.
Assuming his rehab continues to go well, Conner is the favorite to start at the “Huskie’ position, which is a linebacker/safety hybrid. He’ll be the only experienced safety in the Rebels’ 4-2-5 defense after the graduation of starters Mike Hilton and Trae Elston, so he should get every chance to play a key role.
TREVOR KNIGHT, QB, TEXAS A&M
Knight’s last appearance in a college football game was in November’s 30-29 win for Oklahoma against TCU. He was 5 for 16 for 76 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in relief of Heisman Trophy contender Baker Mayfield.
In all, he threw 40 passes last season, completing 22 of them. He has since transferred to Texas A&M, where he may get the chance to reach that total in the season opener.
Assuming he holds off Jake Hubenak for the starting job, Knight should easily surpass his 2014 numbers as a Sooner, where he threw for 2,300 yards and 14 touchdowns.
HAROLD BRANTLEY, DT, MISSOURI
Brantley missed the 2015 season after a car crash in June left him with a broken leg and an injured knee. He’s back this spring, running through some drills and slowly working his way back into football shape.
His return to good health would be a boon for the Tiger defense (assuming he’s also academically eligible), as Brantley showed what he could do in a 2014 campaign in which he tallied 54 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks. Then-head coach Gary Pinkel described Brantley as an All-American candidate before the accident.
Another likely starter on the defensive line, Terry Beckner Jr., is also recovering from a knee injury. New Missouri coach Barry Odom would like to have him back at 100 percent this fall, too.
KEON HATCHER, WR, ARKANSAS
No Razorbacks receiver caught as many passes per game (6.5) than Keon Hatcher. The problem was that he only appeared in two contests last fall before suffering a foot injury that ended his season.
His absence last fall provided plenty of growth and experience for guys like Drew Morgan, Dominique Reed and Jared Cornelius at the position. The return of Hatcher, the team’s leading receiver in 2014, gives Arkansas a bevy of receiving options for the eventual winner of the team’s ongoing quarterback competition.
CARL LAWSON, DE, AUBURN
Lawson injured his hip just five plays into the opener against Louisville, limiting him in that contest and forcing him to miss the next six games to start last season.
He returned against Ole Miss, and ended the year with 17 tackles and a sack. This came on the heels of a lost 2014 season thanks to a torn ACL.
A fully healthy Lawson would be a difference maker to the Auburn defense in 2016, and he sounds eager to live up to his potential.
“I need to get better as a football player, that’s pretty much it,” Lawson told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “And I’ve got a lot to prove, a lot to prove to myself, nobody else. I still have a lot of stuff I want to accomplish. That’s pretty much it. I just need to become a better football player.”
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
