Ad Disclosure
With the 2014 season in the rearview mirror and rosters for next season starting to take shape, we can already start to project how the SEC will look in 2015.
There’s still a long way to go, of course. National Signing Day is a little more than three weeks away, and there are spring practices and games and a month of preseason workouts to get through. It’s not too early to look at team constructions around the SEC and see where the problem issues could be in 2015.
What are the areas each team could struggle with?
- Alabama — Secondary: The Crimson Tide had trouble defending the pass late in the season, and losing both starting safeties won’t help matters. Alabama should be stronger at cornerback, with Cyrus Jones and Eddie Jackson gaining a year of experience and young hotshots Tony Brown and Marlon Humphrey getting their turns, but safety will be a sore spot. Geno Smith returns as a senior, but there will be a big question as to who plays beside him.
- Arkansas — Run defense: After having the second-best run defense in the SEC in 2014, Arkansas will have to guard against taking a step back after losing their two best defenders to graduation. Arkansas had a lot of young contributors on defense, with six sophomores among their 10 leading tacklers, but they’ll need a few to make the leap to stardom to replace Trey Flowers and Martrell Spaight.
- Auburn — Offensive continuity: Gus Malzahn is going to have to adapt on the fly with a new type of quarterback. Nick Marshall ran the Tigers’ read-option attack to near-perfection, but he heads to the pros after graduating, as does Cameron Artis-Payne. How much different will the offense be with Jeremy Johnson, more of a pocket passer? The defensive performance should improve with Will Muschamp on board, but Malzahn will have to keep his offensive machine humming.
- Florida — Downfield passing: With Jim McElwain comes an offense that moves the ball downfield far more than the Gators did under Will Muschamp. Watching Treon Harris attempt to throw deep as a freshman was pretty rough, and there are questions as to whether the diminutive passer can fit into McElwain’s offense.
- Georgia — Quarterback: The Bulldogs have to replace a senior passer for the second consecutive season, and the options behind Hutson Mason are inexperienced. Brice Ramsey didn’t look great in spot action this season, but the rising sophomore will have the entire offseason to work with the first team.
- Kentucky — Experience at receiver: Patrick Towles emerged as a promising young quarterback in 2014, but he’ll be throwing to a group of young receivers in 2015. Kentucky’s second- and third-leading receivers were seniors, and many of the players behind them were freshmen. Talent is not an issue, as many of them were touted as recruits before going to Lexington, it’ll be a matter of having them ready to handle a bigger workload.
- LSU — Rushing the passer: Everyone knows quarterback is a weak spot, but most overlooked the weakest spot on the 2014 defense. LSU was 13th in the SEC in sacks, and the Tigers lose their two starting defensive ends, both of whom played a vast majority of snaps this season.
- Mississippi State — Secondary: The Bulldogs had the worst pass defense in the SEC in 2014 and lose two starters from the secondary. Mississippi State has the talent to replace the departing members of the front seven, but the secondary is not as deep.
- Missouri — Passing game: The Tigers bring back Maty Mauk and his rambunctious quarterbacking skills, but Mauk is losing many of his top targets. Missouri’s top four pass catchers were seniors in 2014, leaving Mauk with a trove of inexperienced receivers to throw to in 2015.
- Ole Miss — Quarterback: Another program facing a major quarterback change in 2014, the Rebels have to replace senior Bo Wallace. The options behind him are certainly not pretty, as indicated by junior college transfer Chad Kelly being viewed as the top option before legal troubles put a hold on his enrollment. Hugh Freeze is an offensive-minded coach, but he (and the defense) may be held back by the lack of a competent passer in 2015.
- South Carolina — Depth: It’s been a rough couple of years for Gamecocks recruiting. Last year, a big chunk of the recruiting class didn’t qualify academically, and already seven players from the 2015 class have dropped their commitments. South Carolina is looking like it will be short on talent if the losses keeps up.
- Tennessee — Offensive line: Just as it was in 2014, the offensive line will be a sticking point for Tennessee in 2015. The good news is that they return four players; the bad news is that none of those four played very well this year. Continuity and a year of experience should help, but the Volunteers will need a serious performance upgrade if they really want to contend in the SEC East.
- Texas A&M — Secondary: The Aggies struggled mightily everywhere on defense, with the secondary just one of the sore spots. Will John Chavis be able to turn an inexperienced group into a Texas version of Defensive Back U? The Aggies graduate three of four starters and will be relying on freshmen and sophomores, many without much playing experience, to anchor the back of the defense.
- Vanderbilt — Talent: James Franklin built up an impressive run before leaving for Penn State, and when he left many of the Commodores’ stars went with. Derek Mason has work ahead of him to rebuild the talent on the field, something Vandy showed flashes of with freshmen standouts Nigel Bowden and Ralph Webb.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
