Time to restock: Biggest recruiting needs for each SEC team
Every SEC school has lost a player or two who was vital to its program’s success in 2017.
Some schools will lose a large number of players to the NFL Draft and graduation. Others will suffer less depletion in their position groups. But they all have needs.
This is the first year of the early signing period. This new rule could change the college football recruiting landscape. Time will tell.
Anyway, here are the biggest recruiting needs for the 14 SEC teams:
Alabama
Needs: Secondary, special teams
JK Scott has been a weapon for Nick Saban. The four-year starter holds the career record for punting yards at Alabama, and has never averaged less than 43 yards per punt in a season. In 2016, he averaged 47.19 yards, third best among FBS schools.
Andy Pappanastos has been a reliable place kicker for the Crimson Tide — a position that has failed them in the past. He’s hit 100 percent of his extra points and is 15-of-19 on field goals this season. Pappanastos is another guy who will be missed.
The Tide also need a playmaker at wide receiver. Calvin Ridley has been the only consistent threat for Jalen Hurts. Ridley has 600 more receiving yards than the next closest Alabama wide receiver this season.
Skyler DeLong is the No. 1 punter recruit in the country and verbally committed to Alabama in June. While the Crimson Tide look like they have that position ready to reload, wide receivers could be lacking. Right now, 4-star Xaiver Williams is the only true wide receiver with a verbal commitment to Alabama.
Arkansas
Needs: Defensive and offensive linemen
Arkansas had abysmal offensive and defensive line play this season. After his firing, Bret Bielema admitted he and his staff didn’t recruit well enough in that area. New coach Chad Morris should know where to begin — in the trenches.
The Razorbacks will lose offensive linemen Jake Raulerson and Paul Ramirez to graduation. Nose tackle Bijhon Jackson also completed his eligibility. While Arkansas doesn’t lose a lot, the Razorbacks need to improve mightily in this category. The units ranked outside the top 100 FBS schools in sacks given up and sacks allowed.
The Razorbacks have three offensive linemen and two defensive lineman with hard commits in the 2018 class. That number needs to grow.
Auburn
Needs: Offensive linemen, secondary
While Auburn had a rocky offensive start to begin the season, the Tigers began to find their footing on offense. Against conference opponents, they averaged 37.1 points per game. Gus Malzahn loses Braden Smith, Darius James, Casey Dunn, Austin Golson and Wilson Bell to graduation.
Smith is one of the best offensive linemen in the country and will play at the next level. It might behoove Malzahn to focus more here. The Tigers have only two offensive linemen commits right now.
Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn had a salty secondary this season, giving up only 177.8 passing yards per game. Stephen Roberts, Tray Matthews, Jason Smith, and Nick Ruffin all graduate. Carlton Davis might skip his last season at Auburn for a shot at the NFL — WalterFootball.com has him as the no. 4 cornerback.
Malzahn is addressing this potential weakness. Christian Tutt is a good 4-star cornerback from Georgia who has verbally committed to the Tigers along with other strong secondary pieces.
Florida
Needs: Punters, quarterbacks
Johnny Townsend will be hard to replace. He earned All-America accolades from several outlets in 2016. This season, Florida was No. 3 in the country in punting average at 47.20 yards. At the moment, the Gators have not gotten a punter to commit.
Malik Zaire is graduating and Feleipe Franks didn’t look promising this season. This is a perfect opportunity for Dan Mullen to handpick his guy. Mullen might be able to transform incoming freshman Matt Corral, the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the country.
Georgia
Needs: Defense, running backs
Sony Michel and Nick Chubb did wonders for the Georgia rushing attack, helping the offense gain 263.54 rushing yards per game this season. Chubb won’t be able to catch Herschel Walker, but will end his career as the SEC’s second all-time leading rusher.
The Bulldogs lose a colossal amount on defense, especially in the linebacker group and in the secondary. Aaron Davis, Malkom Parrish and Lorenzo Carter are just a few players who will complete their NCAA eligibility this season.
Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Right now, Georgia has the fourth best recruiting class in the country. Zamir White is the No. 1 running back in the country. The defensive recruits are starting to stack up as well for Georgia.
Kentucky
Needs: Quarterbacks, receivers
Three senior wide receivers won’t be on the team in 2018, including Garrett Johnson, who has over 2,000 receiving yards in his career. Another Johnson, Stephen, will also be missed after having two solid seasons as the Kentucky starting quarterback. He threw for over 2,000 yards in both seasons.
Meechi Harris, a 3-star recruit, could be the next playmaker out wide for the Wildcats. Harris ran a 4.4-second 40 and had 18 offers. At this point, Mark Stoops must be trusting in Drew Barker, because the Wildcats don’t have a quarterback commitment.
LSU
Needs: Linebackers, receivers
Looking at Dave Aranda’s defense, the Tigers lose a monster amount at the linebacker position. Junior Arden Key will likely enter the NFL Draft. LSU always manages to find a hybrid linebacker/defensive end to wreck opposing quarterbacks, and the list of 2018 commits has a number of potential candidates to fill that role.
D.J. Chark was Mr. Reliable for the Tigers this season, averaging over 23 yards per catch. LSU has potential replacements coming down to “The Bayou.” Kenan Jones might be the next spectacular wide receiver who thrives in “Death Valley.”
Mississippi State
Needs: Secondary, receivers
Besides losing its head coach, Mississippi State loses a massive amount of talent in the secondary. This unit allowed the 13th least passing yards among FBS schools. Esaias Furdge is a Mississippi native ready to put on a maroon uniform. He’ll be needed to step up and contribute right away.
The Bulldogs also suffered an abnormal amount of injuries to wide receivers this year. Two of their best recruits in 2018 play that position. New coach Joe Moorhead will have to sort it out.
Missouri
Needs: Defensive linemen, recievers
Defense has to be a priority for a squad that gave up way too many points this season. The defensive line loses three seniors. Daniel Parker needs to come in and tear it up like Tigers alums Shane Ray and Michael Sam.
J’Mon Moore is gone after this season, much to the chagrin of Barry Odom. Moore had a phenomenal 2017 with over 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. If Drew Lock ends up moving on to the NFL, this group is even more important to recruit. Two of Missouri’s top four recruits are wide receivers.
Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Ole Miss
Needs: Linebackers … and a miracle
While Ole Miss may be concerned about Shea Patterson leaving, Jordan Ta’amu looks like a solid quarterback. He should be the guy for the next few seasons. The Rebels need to focus their attention on recruiting linebackers, as three seniors are exiting. If he keeps his commitment, Jacquez Jones should see playing time right away.
Ole Miss likely will lose players due to transfers after the sanctions. It’s going to be hard to recruit kids to Oxford in these conditions.
South Carolina
Need: Defense
South Carolina won’t retain much of the defense that allowed only 20.8 points per game in 2017. Skai Moore isn’t just one of the best defensive players in the SEC … he belongs in the national conversation as well.
Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately for Will Muschamp, he isn’t the only key cog who won’t be returning in 2018. Six big contributors on defense won’t be back. Muschamp’s team is gathering recruits on defense, including Marlon Character Jr. — the No. 1 safety in the country.
Tennessee
Needs: Everything
The offense was awful. The defense was atrocious. New coach Jeremy Pruitt has an uphill battle, with a lot of positions that need recruits.
Texas A&M
Need: Defensive linemen
Jimbo Fisher had some solid defensive units at Florida State. In order to establish a good start at Texas A&M, he’ll have to start with the big boys up front on defense. Jarrett Johnson and other senior members of the Aggies’ front four helped accumulate 40 sacks this season, tied for sixth in the country. Bobby Brown and others will need to step up if Fisher is to have a successful first season.
Vanderbilt
Needs: Running backs, receivers
Derek Mason is losing a stalwart running back in Ralph Webb. Webb holds the Vanderbilt record for career rushing yards. Khari Blasingame will assume the starting role, but the team will need a reliable backup.
There is little reason to believe that Kyle Shurmur won’t return for his senior year. That being said, he’ll need new weapons with four of Vanderbilt’s better receivers graduating. Enter Camron Johnson, the hometown kid. Johnson has the potential to be one of the better wide receivers in Vanderbilt history.
Typical quick research SDS article.
Drew Barker may be the QB next season but I would not be surprised if it goes to Gunnar Hoak.
Great name: Gunnar.
I wonder about Barker’s back injury. That has been a brutal rehab mentally and physically.
As far as LSU goes, Key missed half the season and Chaisson should be ready to take over. Alexander was average at best at LB, so Taylor and Phillips should actually be an upgrade there. Corey Thompson will be missed, but Divinity has played some and will need to step up. The DLine loses two of three starters, so we will need more depth there, even though Shelvin will be eligible as will the transfer from TT. LSU’s biggest loss is at RB. We don’t have much there coming back. The young WR’s will also have to step up in a big way, but at least we have raw talent there. Not so much at RB.
Somehow, LSU always seems to land on its feet. Always.
Recruiting.
Dawg fan here, obviously. Got to ask, what is the SDS hate going on towards ut? “Everything?” They were bad, no doubt, but kicking them while this down? C’mon SDS.
They pander to the trending teams. It’s typical exaggeration.
Don’t lose your Dawg card for being too sympathetic to UT. As bad as they are, Pruitt wont even be there for early signing since he will still be coaching at Bama.
Once again UGAarmyret you’re wrong. Pruitt will be at UT until the dead period. He’s recruiting for UT now.
At first I figured the RET in your name meant retired. I’ve come to realize RET stands for “Retard”.
Tennessee isn’t even one of the top 100 universities, so either you’re a typical Walmart Tennessee fan or you’re a idiot who actually paid them for a worthless degree.
Nope, not retarded, just uninformed. 20+ years of military service is not an easy accomplishment.
From one retiree to another, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
VFFL USAF RETIRED!
GO VOLS!
VFFL & UGARMYRet
Thank you for your service and thank you to those who support our armed services.
Volbeef88, I’m assuming the 88 is your birth year. You’re still very young and immature, but perhaps someday you will learn to respect our armed forces and be thankful for their service. Without their service, you wouldn’t have the freedom to post all of your meaningless nonsensical drivel on a sports blog.
At Mizzou, following mid-year, many senior starters were passed over for underclassmen. This evidently had a positive effect. This is why 5 positions (4 players) on the SEC All Freshman list were Mizzou frosh. It seems the fix was a youth movement, not experience. That’s a good thing.
That said, Moore will be missed indeed, as will all the seniors for their leadership. We could use some DEs as you mentioned to bookend Beckner, but secondary guys and a QB for the chart would be comforting.
Florida’s biggest need is linebacker. We are switching from the 4-3 to the 3-4 and we don’t even know if the guys from the credit card theft are coming back. At least at qb we have 3 scholarship guys. Mullen will land 1 or 2 this class but LB is the biggest need.
Franks will be All-Sec caliber as a junior. That’s what Mullen does. Look at Chris Relf.
Who’s going to run the ball for Auburn? Didn’t look like they had any SEC caliber back after Johnson.
Who cares? Just enjoy kicking them when they are up and kicking them when they are down.
I think LSU’s biggest needs are in the trenches and at RB. They lose most of the 2-deep in the defensive line. The offensive line is thin already, and they will lose 1, 2, maybe 3 starters there. And they lose the 1 and 2 RBs. They could use some help at LB. At WR, they could always use more depth, but it’s not a major position of need.
The LSU line could also have everyone back outside of Malone, and he missed much of the season anyway.
Let’s hope so. Weathersby and Clapp are both better than Malone, and both will be drafted if they declare early. I agree Malone won’t be missed, but the team needs offensive linemen anyway.
You’re going to have to point out this massive amount of talent we are losing in the secondary, cause most of them will be back. We need a punter and a longsnapper. Between this year and last year, we should (pending signing day) continue to have depth at secondary. We have a bevy of young receivers but we need a home run wideout and a mismatch would be nice too. Our recruiting seems to have panned out well-balanced, OL is always tough so we always need one or two priority there. Hevesy did pretty good work with good players, but we had gaps in recruiting OL, though if we continue to pull from out of state in years MS doesn’t produce we should avoid that. Overall, you seem to be way off on most of these. Seriously, stop doing this piece.
Yeah, he does seem kind of clueless.
Tennessee doesn’t need a RB and won’t need a WR if Jennings returns with Calloway. But yeah, everything else. :D
The, why would you mention backfield and and special teams for Bama and then mention receivers?
This is the laziest “recruiting analysis” I’ve ever seen. This guy literally just pulled up the rosters and picked two positions where they’re losing seniors. “Yupp, that’s what they need to recruit.” I hate to break it to this great reporting job, but you don’t replace seniors with freshmen. Getting into that position will basically guarantee you 3 more losses. To make this analysis, you would need a depth chart analysis, numbers and expected/proven production from 2nd stringers. Not that difficult of a task, but it has become more than obvious that SDS just wants volume of clicks with little to no actual substance.
Tn is better than you think. We have some great talent but a lack of coaching, and play calling makes it looks worse than it is. Sure Coach Pruitt has a lot of work to do, but to say we need everything is not doing any research on what players we have. We have TONS of talent just didn’t have any leadership.
Really Tye?!??!? Our running back corp at UGA are pretty deep. How can you even say there is any need. We have Swift(true freshman coming back), Real Deal, Jr. Holyfield(soph), Herrien(soph)—all these guys coming back. Next class commits coming in are: Zeus Zamir White, James Cook, and yes I will add in even though he is a dual threat QB, Justin Fields because he will be in the mix on RPO plays UGA will be utilizing. Kirby has one more spot open at RB to be named later. You’re spot on about defense though because like life insurance, you can never have enough. We need more D-line guys and LB’s but Mel is doing a good job focusing in on pulling more in on the recruiting trail.
Nope not retarded. 20 plus years of military service is no EASY accomplishment. RET will always stand for retirement.
From one retiree to another, Thank you for your service.
VFFL USAF RETIRED!