After the latest most interminable offseason in sports and a talking season that lasted longer than a Baptist preacher serving up brimstone during Lent, college football is finally and mercifully back.
That means “The List” is back too, granted a seventh season by providence and the good folks who edit my work here at Saturday Down South.
What is “The List,” you wayward souls might ask, having obviously only recently converted to college football, the south’s most cherished Saturday tradition.
Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s the definitive list of the 10 best college football players in the country’s best college football conference.
Like southern hospitality served up on game day in The Grove, it’s a “List” with all the fixins’—no positional limitations, an honorable mention list limited to 2 players per school, and a concern for production over reputation and NFL scouting projections. “The List” doesn’t care how many mock drafts you are in or how many preseason All-SEC lists you donned. “The List” likes the guys who prove it on the grass.
While it is obviously a simple job to rank the 10 best players in a 16-team league that prides itself on gridiron excellence and is known as a NFL factory, it’s still an honor to do it. After 7 years, I’m told “The List” is essentially SEC gospel (or was it fish wrapping?) in Harris Teeters and Piggly Wiggly’s across the SEC footprint. In other words, pay attention. You might learn something. Or you might decide (rightly, of course) that I hate your favorite player and the reason your team’s star didn’t make the top 10 is because (1) I do not know ball and (2) I hate your favorite team. After all, it’s easy to pick only 10 players from a 16-school league that’s dominated the sport for the last 4 decades.
In addition to being great paper for wrapping a bespoke butcher cut Sunday roast, “the List” is also predictive. Here are the 6 players crowned “Best Football Player in the SEC” since this Nick Saban-like (too soon, Alabama fans?) journey to the summit of college football listhood began in 2019:
- 2019: Joe Burrow, QB (LSU)
- 2020: Devonta Smith, WR (Alabama)
- 2021: Nakobe Dean, LB (Georgia)
- 2022: Christopher Smith II, S (Georgia)
- 2023: Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
- 2024: Dylan Sampson, RB (Tennessee)
That’s 5 College Football Playoff appearances, 3 national champions, 3 Heisman Trophy winners, a Butkus Award winner, 5 unanimous All-Americans (Dylan Sampson was robbed). In other words, the winner of “The List” is almost certainly a player who earns individual acclaim while attaining tremendous team success.
Who will join them this season?
We were told it would be Arch Manning, the kid from college football royalty who entered the season as the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy despite starting just 2 career games. We learned this past weekend that at least as of Week 1, Arch isn’t even a top 10 quarterback in the SEC.
We were told South Carolina might suffer a bit defensively after losing “List” mainstay Nick Emmanwori (last year’s No. 3) and multiple defensive linemen from Shane Beamer’s best defense in Columbia. The Gamecocks stifled an excellent Virginia Tech offense to open their campaign, quickly silencing critics.
We were told Ryan Williams and a ferocious defense would help Alabama overwhelm a Florida State team coming off a 2-win 2024 season that spent too much time talking trash in the summer. The Seminoles beat Alabama in every facet of football on Saturday and Williams was a non-factor.
And that’s just the start of a Week 1 that brought upsets, statement wins, and special teams magic, like this Rayshawn Pleasant 98-yard, high speed jaunt to the house in Auburn’s 38-24 win over Baylor last Friday night.
Largely to let folks know that we at “The List” watch as much SEC football as humanly possible even when it’s a tape delay of a 61-6 Mizzou bloodletting of hopeless FCS Central Arkansas—we have an “Honorable Mention” section, limited to two players per program. If your favorite player isn’t on that list…well, I don’t like them. Or they should play better. You decide.
Keep in mind a Week 1 list is pure chaos. No player has ever won “The List” and been No. 1 after Week 1. But chaos is a ladder, or something. It’s better to be in the mix than not discussed.
Starting with Honorable Mentions, here are the best football players in the SEC after Week 1.
Honorable Mention: Alabama: Germie Bernard, WR; Keon Sabb, S. Auburn: Damari Alston, RB; Jackson Arnold, QB. Arkansas: Taylen Green, QB; Shakur Smalls, DB. Florida: Austin Barber, OT; Bryce Thornton, DB. Georgia: Zachariah Branch, WR; CJ Allen, LB. Kentucky: Dante Dowdell, RB; Jonquis Hardaway, DB. LSU: Braelin Moore, C; Patrick Payton, DE. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, DB; Brylan Lanier, S. Missouri: Connor Tollison, C; Jeremiah Beasley, LB. Oklahoma: John Mateer, QB; Febechi Nwaiwu, OG. Ole Miss: Zxavian Harris, DT; Harrison Wallace III, WR. South Carolina: Nyck Harbor, WR; Fred Johnson, LB. Tennessee: DeSean Bishop, RB; Arion Carter, LB. Texas: Michael Taaffe, S; Anthony Hill Jr., LB. Texas A&M: Trey Zuhn III, OT; Mario Craver, WR. Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, QB. Eli Stowers, TE.
10. Jeremiah Wright, OG (Auburn)
Wright graded out as Auburn’s best offensive linemen (78.6 PFF grade) on an evening when the Tigers simply steamrolled Baylor in the run game, piling up 307 yards rushing and 4 rushing touchdowns on their way to an impressive 38-24 win in Waco. Wright also did not surrender a single quarterback pressure on the evening, making him Auburn’s best pass blocker in the win in addition to best overall lineman. Hugh Freeze felt his veteran offensive line was one of the nation’s more underrated units all offseason. Wright helped show why in Week 1.
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9. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)
Lane Kiffin poached Lacy from Missouri after the compact Texan touched the ball just 23 times for Eli Drinkwitz as a freshman. Lacy eclipsed his total season yardage at Missouri in just one game in Oxford, tallying 108 yards on 16 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns in a 63-7 Ole Miss romp over Georgia State. Will Lacy have staying power on “the List”? That’s tough to say, given LSU-by-way-of-Notre Dame transfer RB Logan Diggs is also on the roster and will command carries of his own for an Ole Miss team committed to running the ball more effectively than a season ago, when Jaxson Dart or bust was the mantra too often in big games. But it’s instructive that Lacy played 56 snaps on Saturday, nearly 40 more than Diggs (17). His flexibility and willingness to block should assure him of future Saturdays where he’s the primary option for the Rebels, affording him the chance to hang around on “The List.”
8. Will Whitson, DE (Mississippi State)
Whitson was a bit of a portal afterthought after transferring in from Coastal Carolina this spring, but he looked like one of the SEC’s best football players in Week 1, collecting 4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and a sack for Mississippi State in its dominant 34-17 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg. Whitson, who graded out as the SEC’s top defensive lineman in Week 1, per PFF, added a game-high 5 pressures and 4 quarterback hurries in the win, which should help State build confidence for a huge home opener this coming weekend against 2024 College Football Playoff program Arizona State.
7. Harold Perkins Jr., LB (LSU)
A “List” mainstay early in his career as a freshman, Perkins battled injuries and inconsistency since but looked like a dominant player again on Saturday night at Clemson. Perkins tallied 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a sack in LSU’s 17-10 statement win. More vitally, he showed none of the negatives that made him a run defense liability at times a season ago. Perkins played under control, assignment football, missing 0 tackles and helping LSU limit Clemson’s run game to just 1.6 yards per carry on the evening. With Whit Weeks bound to appear on “the List” or honorable mentions this season, the re-emergence of a dominant Perkins could be a championship level difference maker for this LSU program.
6. Raylen Wilson, LB (Georgia)
Wilson was all over the field for the Junkyard Dawgs defense in Georgia’s 45-7 rout of Marshall. The junior from Tallahassee tallied 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 quarterback pressures, and 2 hurries to help Georgia limit the Thundering Herd to just 207 total yards and 7 first downs on the afternoon. Kirby Smart’s embarrassment of riches at the linebacker position (CJ Allen was fantastic Saturday, among others) makes it difficult to pick just one Bulldogs defender for “List” honors, but Wilson’s Week 1 warranted inclusion as it was the best performance on a Saturday full of brilliant ones for Georgia’s outstanding defense.
5. Alex Afari Jr., LB (Kentucky)
The preseason Butkus Award candidate was absolutely dominant in Kentucky’s opening week win over Toledo, registering 13 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, a sack, and a hurry for Big Blue. A 3-year starter who is a clinical tackler, Afari was a perfect 13 for 13 in tackle opportunities on Saturday.
His performance was the highest graded performance by a linebacker in the SEC in Week 1, helping earn the senior a spot on “The List.”
4. Mansoor Delane, DB (LSU)
It’s too soon to know if “DBU” is back in Baton Rouge, but Delane’s performance, allowing just 1 catch on 8 targets against one of the nation’s best receiving corps, is a huge leap in the right direction.
Delane punctuated the performance with an interception and was perfect (2 for 2) in tackle opportunities, showing a willingness to get dirty defending the run and preventing yards after the catch on the rare instance Cade Klubnik found a receiver in space. If Blake Baker is as good as LSU looked schematically in Week 1, Delane could be a secondary anchor for a national championship contender. That’s the kind of thing that keeps a guy on “The List” all season.
3. Jake Slaughter, C (Florida)
In a week when plenty of preseason award candidates stumbled, Slaughter delivered. The Florida senior center, a 2024 First-Team All-American and the SEC’s highest graded returning offensive lineman, per PFF, graded out at a preposterous 91.4 in Florida’s season opening rout of overwhelmed Long Island. Slaughter did his work blocking for 2 quarterbacks (DJ Lagway in the first half, impressive freshman Trammel Jones in the second half), while helping the Gators grind out 201 yards rushing in ho-hum 55-point win.
RELATED: Florida faces a tough Week 2 matchup against USF. Check out all the best Florida sports betting apps to get in on the action.
2. Dylan Stewart, Edge (South Carolina)
Stewart became the first freshman to ever sit atop “The List” last season and he begins this season just 1 spot removed from pole position after a terrific opening week performance in South Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech. Stewart registered 7 tackles, showcasing improved edge setting in run defense, helping the Gamecocks limit the Hokies to just 3.1 yards per carry and a 27% success rate running the football. Meanwhile, the first step and burst that made him an elite pass rusher in year showed up too, as Stewart tallied 4 hurries and a sack in the South Carolina victory. In other words, a preseason All-American looked like an All-American.
1. Garrett Nussmeier, QB (LSU)
If it was just about numbers, it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to shrug at Garrett Nussmeier’s 232 yards, 6.1 yard per attempt, 1 touchdown performance in LSU’s 17-10 win at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on Saturday night. But football is played on grass, not stat sheets, and Saturday night’s LSU win — the best victory of the Brian Kelly era — belonged to Nussmeier. In one of college football’s toughest road environments, playing behind a rebuilt offensive line against a steady pass rush, Nussmeier’s toughness and ability to stand in and make the correct read and throw consistently were the difference in the football game. He also should have had better numbers — a dime to Barrion Brown (below) should have been a touchdown and there were 0 hospital ball throws or turnover worthy plays:
In other words, in a battle of 2 quarterbacks on preseason awards list, Nussmeier played the smarter, more efficient, cleaner game against an extremely talented defense. His development is an incredible story — and LSU’s 2025 story may become legendary because of it.
RELATED: Sports betting is live in Louisiana. Check out the best LA betting apps head of LSU’s Week 2 contest.
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.
