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Early enrollees often have a leg up on their fellow first-year comrades in the SEC, but that doesn’t mean fall arrivals must ride the bench in Week 1.
Less than three months away from moving to campus, there’s several JUCO transfers and incoming true freshmen with a chance to start in the SEC at positions of need this season, notably in the Eastern Division where NFL draft exits left the Gators and Tigers with holes up front.
Here’s a few SEC newcomers who will need to be fast-tracked in August in hopes of being ready to perform by the season opener:
Alabama — WRs Calvin Ridley and Daylon Charlot: Recruited as potential playmakers on the outside to help alleviate some of the lost production at wideout for Lane Kiffin, this coveted freshmen pair will provide instant competition for starting jobs during fall camp with Chris Black, Robert Foster and ArDarius Stewart according to coach Nick Saban. Alabama doesn’t have the depth at wideout to redshirt both and my guess would be Ridley having the best shot to unseat Stewart at the No. 3 spot. Ridley’s goal is to exceed Amari Cooper’s numbers at the Capstone and leave a lasting SEC legacy in his own right as a fellow Florida native. His brother, 2016 Alabama target Cavin Ridley, says the duo could one day even surpass Cooper’s fame. With just 15 catches, Black is the Crimson Tide’s top returning wideout from last season.
Auburn — DL Byron Cowart: Few would argue that pass rusher Carl Lawson is the magic piece to a stellar season on defense for the Tigers during Will Muschamp’s first campaign, but Cowart provides this unit with athletic flavor Auburn’s been missing for several years. Learning the Buck position — end/outside linebacker hybrid — on Muschamp’s defense will be a challenge for the wide-eyed five-star, but he’s in a perfect system to showcase his strengths. Like South Carolina last fall, Auburn struggled to force the issue up front and Cowart delivers an immediate upgrade in that department.
Florida — OT Martez Ivey and DL CeCe Jefferson: Two crown jewels in Jim McElwain’s first recruiting class, these two should bolster both sides of the football at the point of attack for the Gators when they arrive this summer. Ivey’s at a position of serious need thanks to injuries and NFL draft exits while Jefferson will likely serve as a situational pass rusher within one of the Eastern Division’s more talent front sevens. Ivey’s transition from prep All-American to potential Day 1 starter in the SEC will be a challenge matched up against some of college football’s most notable freaks off the edge, but he has the talent to learn blocking scheme and technique quickly.
Missouri — DL Terry Beckner Jr.: Can you imagine the Tigers’ power inside when this five-star’s ready to perform? Beckner won’t be a three-down rusher as a freshman, but he provides the Tigers and defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski with another interchangeable top-notch player up front to soften the blow of Shane Ray and Markus Golden’s departure. Beckner will be groomed to play the strongside end or three-technique tackle and is the ideal complement to a star like Harold Brantley, an All-American candidate in the trenches.
South Carolina — DL Dante Sawyer: Sawyer won’t be the only defensive lineman arriving this summer — Devante Covington, Shameik Blackshear, Quandeski Whitlow and Ulric Jones just to name a few — but he’s got the best chance of locking down a starting spot in the trenches before the season opener. The high-rated JUCO defensive end will battle incumbent Gerald Dixon for the left end position opposition of newcomer Marquavius Lewis on the other side. South Carolina’s lack of production from its defensive line last fall resulted in season-long headaches for Lorenzo Ward and the Gamecocks being dominated off the snap. Sawyer’s one of several incoming players coaches hope is ‘the real deal’ and ready to perform when he gets to campus.
