Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 players for 2017 features several notable SEC omissions

We are currently in the dog days of the college football calendar. To celebrate the occasion, Sports Illustrated recently unveiled its Top 100 players of 2017 list. The SEC was featured prominently on the list, as one quarter of the selections were players from the league.

While there were several worthy players featured, the list contained several interesting choices. For example, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year Jalen Hurts ranks behind Jarrett Stidham, a player with a ton of potential but one who hasn’t played in over a year and has yet to take a single snap against an SEC defense. Another move that was odd, Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro made the cut but Auburn’s Daniel Carlson did not. Pineiro’s teammate Antonio Callaway also wasn’t found on the list.

Alabama had an SEC-high nine selections, Auburn had four selections, while no other SEC school had more than two representatives.

Notable SEC omissions: Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson, South Carolina tight end Hayden Hurst, Florida receiver Antonio Callaway, Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen, Kentucky linebacker Jordan Jones, Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith, Kentucky safety Mike Edwards, Tennessee kick returner/defensive back Evan Berry.

Here’s the criteria Sports Illustrated provided when publishing the list:

Essentially the idea is if one were to conduct a fantasy draft to build a college football team from scratch, these are the players we’d want most. Here is the complete list of all 100 players.

Despite the criteria, 37 of the 100 players featured on the list came from only three positions — 15 QBs, 11 RBs and 11 WRs made the cut.

Here’s a breakdown of every SEC player featured on the list and their ranking:

Michael Wayne Bratton

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com