The SEC is often loaded with star power, and the 2014 season was no exception. However, because there’s so much talent spread throughout the conference, some of the SEC’s bright stars found themselves overshadowed throughout the season.
Here are our five most underrated players from throughout the SEC after the 2014 season:
5. Xzavier Dickson, LB, Alabama: In what turned out to be an odd year in Tuscaloosa, it was Alabama’s offense that actually outplayed its defense on its way to an SEC championship. Nevertheless, Dickson, the team’s best pass rusher, received nowhere near the credit he deserved upon leading the team in sacks (9) and tackles for loss (12.5) in 2014. He ranked in the top 10 in the conference in both categories, but found himself overshadowed by star defensive ends like Dante Fowler, Trey Flowers, Bud Dupree and others. The Alabama defense wasn’t as dominant as we’ve grown accustomed to under the Kirby Smart regime, but Dickson certainly played his role well enough.
4. Boom Williams, RB, Kentucky: The Wildcats lost their final six games of the season, five to SEC foes and the sixth to arch-rival Louisville, so it’s not hard to see how Williams was overlooked during his rookie campaign. However, despite the boatloads of other talented tailbacks in the SEC, Williams is deserving of some attention for what he achieved as a freshman. He only ran for 486 yards and 5 touchdowns while sharing time with three different tailbacks throughout the year, but he ran for 100 yards three different times and displayed playmaking abilities in losses to Florida and Louisville that Kentucky has lacked for some time now.
3. Otaro Alaka, LB, Texas A&M: Alaka emerged as a consistent weapon on an otherwise disjointed Aggies defense as a freshman in 2014. He recorded 28 of his 33 tackles on the year in the second half of the season, and pair of forced fumbles against a ranked Auburn team helped A&M score an upset of the 2013 SEC champions. Had he been given an established role from the start of the season, his numbers might have looked much more impressive and he might have received much more attention outside of College Station. Instead, he’ll have to wait until next year when he debuts for new defensive coordinator John Chavis.
2. Steven Scheu, TE, Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt’s passing offense was downright putrid in 2014, featuring four different starting quarterbacks and the league’s second-worst yards per game average at fewer than 180 yards per contest through the air. However, the lone bright spot in the passing game was Scheu, who led the team with 39 catches for 525 yards and 4 touchdowns on the year. What’s more impressive is that Scheu posted those numbers while trying to gain timing with four different signal callers throughout the year, and without a complementary pass-catching target to take some of the opposing defenses’ focuses away from him.
1. David Andrews, C, Georgia: When it comes to centers in the SEC, Auburn’s Reese Dismukes was the man garnering most of the attention upon being named a finalist for the Rimington and Outland Trophies. However, Andrews was among the most consistent centers in the nation, no less the SEC, throughout the season, and he’ll have a chance to earn a job in the NFL next year as a result. Andrews started every game of the last three seasons of his career with the Bulldogs, and he helped pave the way for talented tailbacks like Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb, who combined to rush for more than 2,400 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2014.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
