So let me get this straight.

Georgia, which will start the season at No. 3 in the Associated Press poll, only had one non-kicker on the Associated Press Preseason All-American teams? Something doesn’t add up there.

That was my initial reaction when I saw the AP All-America squads heading into 2018. Do they mean a whole lot? Not really. If you dominate at Georgia or anywhere in the SEC, you’ll earn a spot on one of those teams by season’s end.

But there were a handful of Georgia/SEC players who I thought deserved to make the preseason All-America cut based on what they showed us last year.

1. D’Andre Swift, Georgia RB

Swift’s absence didn’t necessarily surprise me, considering he was a third-string running back in his first and only season at the college level. So why would I put him ahead of the likes of second-team backs like A.J. Dillon and Damien Harris?

For starters, I had Swift ahead of Harris on my preseason All-SEC ballot, as well. That’s not a knock on Harris, who’s tremendous. But part of this has to do with opportunity, and with nearly 400 carries suddenly available at Georgia, I believe Swift’s 2017 efficiency projects well for him to maximize said opportunity.

We’re talking about someone who averaged 7.9 yards per touch as a true freshman. He caught passes out of the backfield, he broke long runs and he was successful running in between the tackles. On almost any other team in America, he would have been starting and getting 250 touches like the backs ahead of him (Dillon actually had 300 carries in 13 games).

Swift didn’t get the workload to make him an obvious preseason All-America candidate, but that’ll change in 2018.

2. Benny Snell, Kentucky RB

Ask Josh Allen (the Kentucky one). Ask pretty much anybody who wears Kentucky blue and they’ll tell you the same thing — Snell is the best back in America.

While I’m personally not putting Snell above the likes of Jonathan Taylor or Bryce Love, I would put him ahead of Harris and Dillon. Snell, like Harris, already has a pair of 1,000-yard seasons under his belt. The difference is that Snell isn’t surrounded by next-level playmakers. For that reason I’d argue that his numbers were tougher to obtain than Harris’ (Snell forced 44 missed tackles, which was far and away the most of all returning SEC backs).

He and Dillon are alike in that way. But they’re different in that Snell is the more accomplished back having already had consecutive seasons with 1,000 rushing yards and 13-plus touchdowns. In fact, Snell reached pay dirt 19 times compared to 14 for Dillon last year. That disparity would’ve probably been even greater had Snell not been wrongfully ejected from the Music City Bowl.

Snell says that he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves as one of the nation’s best. I’m starting to agree with him more and more.

3. Andrew Thomas, Georgia OL

I’ll be honest. I’d put Tennessee’s Trey Smith in this spot if he didn’t have the health concerns. But Thomas gets the nod as another Georgia player who did nothing but impress as a freshman. The ESPN Freshman All-American was key in protecting Jake Fromm during the Dawgs’ run to the National Championship Game.

As a right tackle last year, Thomas started all 15 games and helped a team that not only produced the No. 9 running game in the country, but also allowed just 1.47 sacks per contest. Georgia allowed the fewest quarterback pressures in the SEC, according to Pro Football Focus. Thomas was a huge part of that.

His stock has been rising since the moment he stepped on campus. Now, Thomas will take over at left tackle for first-round pick Isaiah Wynn. There’s an expectation that the Georgia offensive line won’t skip a beat after it was dominant last year. A lot of that is because of Thomas’ emergence. He already looks like an NFL offensive tackle and he’s still a teenager.

I don’t care that Thomas only has one season under his belt. He’s already deserving of that kind of preseason love.

4. Albert Okwuegbunam, Mizzou TE

Lost in the shuffle of Drew Lock’s SEC record season was the fact that his tight end put up some monster numbers himself. Okwuegbunam was a force in the red zone last year, and he led all tight ends with 11 touchdown catches. That was as a redshirt freshman.

It’s somewhat baffling that he didn’t get love as a preseason All-American with Lock back for his senior season. I believe Iowa’s Noah Fant is worthy of the first-team selection, but I was surprised to see Stanford’s Kaden Smith get the honor.

With all due respect to Smith, who’s a fine player, Okwuegbunam was clearly more productive last year from a receiving standpoint:

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The man they call “Albert O.” in Columbia might not be able to match that touchdown total, but it’s not like Lock and the Tigers are going to suddenly stop scoring points. The sophomore tight end still figures to be a big part of that, especially if they can find ways to target him more between the 20s.

5. J.R. Reed, Georgia S

Let’s finish the Georgia theme of this list. Reed is vastly different from what’s becoming the overwhelming majority of Kirby Smart’s roster. The former Tulsa transfer doesn’t lack All-America talent, though. The last we saw of Reed was him watching 2nd-and-26 happen from the far side of the field.

Correction: This was the last that I* saw of Reed:

Swag.

But Reed’s on-field style was what should have earned him a preseason All-America honor. Georgia’s second-leading tackler — pretty much anyone would be second to Roquan Smith — also had 5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 touchdown. In other words, Reed has no problem filling up the stat sheet.

A second-team All-SEC selection last year, I thought you could make a case for Reed instead of Wyoming safety Andrew Wingard. That’s more based on the competition level and what Reed did on the game’s biggest stage last year.

The AP didn’t see it that way, though. Nobody will play the disrespect card for Georgia, but only 1 non-kicker on the preseason All-America team suggests that Reed and the Dawgs still have plenty to prove in 2018.