SEC Preseason Superlatives: Which players, programs garner the most hype entering 2015?
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
Really only one month separates you from college football.
Things are about to kick into high gear, and players are about to start hitting the practice field once more.
Let’s dive into preseason superlatives for college football’s best conference:
Best player: Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
The debate will wage on throughout the season, and it certainly should. But entering the season, Georgia running back Nick Chubb is the SEC’s best player. That doesn’t mean he’ll exit 2015 in the same role. Things change weekly in the SEC, and other players will emerge and have tremendous seasons; we just don’t know about them yet. Is Chubb the Bulldogs’ most indispensable player? I’m not so sure they couldn’t pencil in Keith Marshall and Sony Michel and have just as good of an offense, but neither player is of the same caliber as Chubb. He’s the biggest workhorse and has the most physical stamina of any player in the country. Chubb rushed for 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns during his freshman season and piled up eight 100-yard games, including 266 against Louisville’s defense in the Belk Bowl. He also added 18 receptions and two touchdowns on the year. Chubb is the complete back in this conference, and he enters as the SEC’s best overall player.
Program on the rise: Tennessee Volunteers
Isn’t it amazing what a competent coach can do for a sleeping giant of a program? Butch Jones hasn’t even put the pieces together yet on the field, but he’s built relationships off the field that has paved the way for future success. Tennessee is the program on the rise, and they are led by a genius — literally! — of a quarterback, talent around him on offense and a veteran defense that’s more than capable of winning the division. If Tennessee beats Oklahoma during week two, look out! Momentum and belief can transform a good team into a great one. The two most crucial games on the schedule are Florida and Georgia. Still, Jones is packing Tennessee full of talent, and it could come together in 2015.
Program that could take biggest step back: Mississippi State Bulldogs
Last season’s 10-3 record will be talked about for many years in Starkville. Somebody has to finish last in the SEC West, right? The media recently predicted the Bulldogs will be the team to do it. It’s all going to be okay, because MSU will use all of it as locker room material. Teams won’t be able to show up and beat the Bulldogs, and led by a veteran quarterback, the Bulldogs could again make their rise in college football’s nastiest division. I just don’t see it happening. If you’re looking for one team to have the biggest decrease in win totals, many would choose the Bulldogs.
Program that could come out of nowhere: Texas A&M Aggies
Nobody is predicting Texas A&M will do much in 2015. If I’m buying stock in one program that could potentially have an awesome return, it’s Texas A&M. Led by a returning quarterback and an offense that will score 40 points per game, Kevin Sumlin’s team is being overlooked. Nobody has a clue how much the defense will improve under John Chavis, but it won’t get worse. The Aggies’ defense doesn’t have to be really good; it can be average in the SEC and still win double digit games. The Aggies get Alabama and Auburn in College Station. That’s just about as good as it gets in the West. It wouldn’t surprise me if TAMU wins 10 games or more, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if it wins seven either. The Aggies are the conference’s biggest unknowns, and that’s not a bad thing.
Best chance at the Heisman Trophy: Jeremy Johnson, QB, Auburn
One thing we’ve learned in recent history: running backs have a tough time winning the Heisman Trophy. The last back to win the award was Alabama’s Mark Ingram in 2009. Before Ingram, the last running back to win it was Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne in 1999. (Yeah, I know Reggie Bush’s trophy was vacated). It’s turned into a quarterback award. Three quarterbacks come to mind in the SEC: Auburn’s Jeremy Johnson, MSU’s Dak Prescott and Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs. Out of the three, Johnson has the best chance. He plays in an offense conducive for big numbers, and we know the Tigers’ running game will be spitting out big plays. As long as Auburn remains in the Top 10, Johnson should be the conference’s best chance to win the award. If the Tigers win the West and the SEC Championship, he’ll have a massive hand in the process and should get invited to New York.
Most underrated coach: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Who was the SEC’s Coach of the Year in 2014? Gary Pinkel didn’t come to mind first, did he? Although Pinkel rarely makes headlines, he lets his teams do his talking. Two straight division crowns has been an incredible feat. Missouri has won 23 games in two seasons, the highest back-to-back win totals of Pinkel’s career. He’s 113-66 at Mizzou, and his developmental program is better than many teams across the country. Pinkel isn’t very quotable, and he isn’t sought out by the media. All he does really is win. So, before you scratch Mizzou off your preseason SEC East ballot as being a contender, the reason the program will be is because of its head coach, Gary Pinkel.
Potential to electrify the SEC: Speedy Noil, WR, Texas A&M
Perhaps the player I’m most excited to watch week-in and week-out not named Leonard Fournette is TAMU do-it-all Speedy Noil. If there’s one player who can become a Percy Harvin-type electrifying player, it’s Noil. He’s one of the five fastest players in the SEC, and he has one of the highest ceilings of any player in the league. A player like Noil in A&M’s wide-open offense creates must-watch football. In 2014, he became the first player in TAMU history with a 40-yard catch, a 60-yard punt return and a 50-yard kickoff return in the same game.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
