One month of college football is done and dusted and here at “The List.” We have a belly filled with freshly crafted artisanal questions lingering after a more exciting than usual September.
Was the summer of Sumrall right all along? Did Florida finally find its guy? The vibes around Florida’s hire were elite all summer but did anyone expect Florida to look like a Playoff contender this quickly?
Sleeping giants only slumber so long, and Florida’s decimation of Ole Miss suggests the sleepy spell is wearing off in The Swamp.
Will the SEC have 2 Heisman Trophy finalists? It’s happened before and it may happen again. Right now, there aren’t many players in America I’d take before I selected Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss or Florida’s star running back Jadan Baugh.
If Chambliss is the present, do Kamario Taylor and Keelon Russell have next? We’ve seen Alabama quarterbacks shine and fade before (Jalen Milroe). I’m not sure Milroe visibly improved each week the way Russell has in one month as the starter in Tuscaloosa.
And Kamario Taylor? He’s preposterous.
Is this Georgia team that good? Or is Oklahoma that bad? Time will tell, but Brent Venables is running out of time to make the right call and bench John Mateer. The Red River Shootout may get ugly but then again, weird things happen in the Cotton Bowl.
“The List” has questions for our rankings, too.
Quarterback is the most important position in sports. Every quarterback who has topped “The List” has also won a Heisman Trophy. Is that inevitable this year, too?
We’ve got a new No. 1 this week, which means no wire-to-wire run for Trinidad Chambliss. But is a defensive champion out of the question? It’s happened before. Nakobe Dean was the best football player in the SEC in 2021. Does one of the dominant pass rushers in this week’s group have a shot at the crown?
An offensive lineman has finished in the top 5 for 3 consecutive seasons. Is that inevitable again in 2026?
Do I hate your favorite team? Or should they just play better football?
You decide but first, please review our list of Honorable Mentions. As always, we limit the Honorable Mention group to 2 per school.
Honorable Mentions: Alabama: Yhonzae Pierre, Edge; Keelon Russell, QB. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Chas Nimrod, WR. Arkansas: Carlon Jones, DT; Chris Marshall, WR. Florida: Myles Graham, LB; Jayden Woods, Edge. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Chris Cole, LB. Kentucky: Jordan Castell, S; Lance Heard, OT. LSU: Jordan Seaton, OT; Whit Weeks, LB. Mississippi State: Anthony Evans III, WR; Jett Jefferson, CB. Missouri: Cayden Green, OL; Daeden Hopkins, Edge. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; David Stone, DT. Ole Miss: Deuce Alexander, WR; Patrick Kutas, OG. South Carolina: Nyck Harbor, WR; Vicari Swain, DB/Return. Tennessee: Arion Carter, LB; Tyree Weatherby, DL. Texas: Rasheem Biles, LB; Trevor Goosby, OT. Texas A&M: Mario Craver, WR; Bravion Rogers, DB. Vanderbilt: CJ Heard, S; Nick Rinaldi, LB.
* – injured players removed from list after missing 2 weeks or more
10. Cayden Lee, WR (Missouri)
Eli Drinkwitz has consistently been terrific at diving into the portal and maxing out players who were productive but not prolific at prior stops. Cayden Lee is the latest example. The Ole Miss transfer was splendid on Saturday in Starkville, catching 11 passes for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns. He’s ranked second in the SEC in receptions (27) through the month of September and tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns with Ole Miss blazer Deuce Alexander. A matchup against a Florida team that’s been vulnerable in 1v1s on the perimeter waits on Saturday.
9. Fluff Bothwell, RB (Mississippi State)
Much has been made of the brilliant Kamario Taylor, and rightly so (see below), but Bothwell’s emergence as a lead back has been immense in Mississippi State’s undefeated September. Bothwell is second in the SEC in rushing and the only back not named Jadan Baugh averaging 100 yards per contest. He piled up 122 yards in State’s 31-24 win over then No. 19 Mizzou last weekend, providing the healthy balance to keep defenses honest and allow Taylor to do his thing in the passing game.
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8. Luke Metz, LB (Alabama)
Metz continues to put together an outstanding sophomore campaign. He led Alabama with 13 tackles in the Tide’s 49-18 rout of the Gamecocks, recovering a fumble in the win.
He can also find the ball and deliver a big hit.
On the season, Metz leads Alabama with 30 tackles. He’s also scored a touchdown, intercepted a pass, and recovered a fumble. A playmaker who can play sideline to sideline.
7. Earnest Greene III, OT (Georgia)
Greene’s anchoring one of the best offensive lines in college football, grading out ahead of preseason All-American Drew Bobo, a dominant lineman in his own right. The Dawgs handled their biggest challenge yet on Saturday, keeping an excellent Oklahoma defensive line at bay in a 41-13 win. Greene grades out as the SEC’s best offensive tackle through the first month of the season, per PFF, and he’s allowed just 1 pressure this season, the fewest of tackles playing over 100 snaps in the SEC.
6. Raylen Wilson, LB (Georgia)
I’m not sure there’s a more valuable linebacker in America than Raylen Wilson, who understands Glenn Schumann’s defense and is Kirby Smart’s defensive quarterback on the field. Outstanding at pre-snap diagnosis, Wilson is a marvelous run stopper who fills gaps quickly and rarely misses a tackle. He posted a team-high 11 tackles in the rout of Oklahoma, adding a sack and 2 tackles for loss in the win. A preseason All-American candidate who is delivering and playing the best football of his career.
5. Princewill Umanmielen, DE (LSU)
LSU’s defense ranks third nationally in total defense, success rate defense, and yards allowed per play. That’s on course to easily be LSU’s best defense this decade and one of its most competitive since the Les Miles era. Umanmielen is at the center of things, ranking second in the SEC in havoc rate (behind Colin Simmons), sacks (7), and tackles for loss. Led by Umanmielen, the Tigers lead the SEC in havoc rate (22.4%) and quarterback pressures.
4. Kamario Taylor, QB (Mississippi State)
What else is there to say?
Taylor is taking the sport by storm, with 1,377 yards of total offense, 15 touchdowns (14 passing, 1 rushing) and just 3 turnovers this season. He’s now led back-to-back comeback wins in SEC play, and with a dynamic playmaker on the perimeter in Anthony Evans III (Honorable Mention, above) and a bellcow back in Fluff Bothwell (above) and one of the SEC’s most-improved offensive lines, State seems like an outfit poised to continue surprising opponents as the calendar turns to October. We’ve seen September Heisman winners fade before (Jalen Milroe, take a bow). But if Taylor plays his game on Saturday against Alabama, he’ll make a national case that he’s more than a fun September storyline.
3. Colin Simmons, Edge (Texas)
Stupid penalty aside, Simmons has been the SEC’s most dominant defender through a month of football, and he’s done it against one of the nation’s most difficult schedules as Texas has upended then-No. 1 Ohio State and then-No. 14 Tennessee.
I haven’t seen more performances as dominant as the one he just put on film against Tennessee. He absolutely won the football game for Texas on a day the offense (once again) sputtered. Now the SEC’s leader in pressures (18), hurries (11), and sacks (8), Simmons should feast again when the Longhorns face a wounded, reeling Oklahoma in Dallas on October 10.
2. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)
Chambliss falls to number 2 in large part because you can’t lose a game by 3 scores to the guy in second place and remain at the top of the “List.” Head-to-head matters, especially when the guy who was second plays a whale of a football game.
Chambliss was good against Florida, willing the team back into the game in the second and early third quarter with pinpoint passing, especially downfield to Deuce Alexander. But it wasn’t enough without Kewan Lacy, and Chambliss had 2 late turnovers that all but sealed the Rebels’ fate.
1. Jadan Baugh, RB (Florida)
Baugh is a bona fide Heisman contender after barreling through the Ole Miss defense for 142 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in Florida’s 52-28 rout of the No. 4 Rebels. The game marked Baugh’s fifth-consecutive game with more than 100 yards, making him the third Florida player ever to achieve that feat, alongside Fred Taylor (1997) and Emmitt Smith, who did it twice (1987, 1988).
When you are mentioned with Fred Taylor (a future Hall of Famer) and Emmitt Smith (the NFL’s all-time leading rusher), you are in special company. But none of those are my favorite Baugh stat. That’s “missed tackle rate,” where Baugh has now forced 35 missed tackles this season and he averages 4.3 yards per carry after contact. That’s 10 more missed tackles forced and 1 more yard per carry after contact than any other back in the Power 4.
How would Jon Sumrall characterize that?
“Good.”
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Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
