O’Gara: The 5 players that I wish we were speaking with at SEC Media Days

I don’t mean to disrespect the 48 SEC player representatives who’ll be in Dallas for SEC Media Days next week.

Y’all are great. I’m sure every one of you will be engaging people to talk with, and perhaps you’ll even get to duck a head-scratching remark or two.

(Last year, Ricky Pearsall had his sunglasses on the back of his neck and I asked him if he was trying to be like Guy Fieri. He proceeded to look at me like I had 6 heads.)

But when we got the list of SEC Media Days attendees, I couldn’t help but notice some frustrating omissions.

These are the 5 players I wish that we were going to speak with in Dallas:

1. Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee QB

I’m somewhat surprised that Tennessee isn’t bringing Iamaleava to Dallas. He’s locked in as QB1. Each of the Vols’ past 2 starting quarterbacks made the trip to SEC Media Days, but they were also 23 years old. Iamaleava is a 19-year-old who just finished his freshman year of college. He was also at the center of the NCAA investigation over NIL, which ultimately was ruled in favor of Tennessee. Perhaps there’s some resistance to exposing him to questions related to that, but if Iamaleava is 75% of the player he’s been billed as, he’ll have countless more media opportunities thrown his way. It would’ve been nice to get his perspective on being the program’s most-hyped quarterback since Peyton Manning.

2. Nic Scourton, Texas A&M DL

I’m a huge Scourton guy. Why? At the age of 19, he was named a team captain and he led a Power 5 conference in sacks. That’s absurd. Of course, Scourton is no longer in that Power 5 conference. That might be why he wasn’t picked to represent A&M in Dallas. The Purdue transfer is at A&M, where he figures to be a monumental piece of Mike Elko’s Year 1 defense. Back in Bryan-College Station, Scourton looks like he’s in his element. After his dominant spring game showing, he was a breath of fresh air at the postgame podium. Scourton is the type of guy who probably wouldn’t have had a ton of people at his podium, but those who knew how easy going he was would’ve stayed for the full 20 minutes.

3. Deion Burks, Oklahoma WR

Burks, like Scourton, transferred into the SEC from Purdue. Burks, like Scourton, is about to become a household name in the SEC. In a receiver room that’s already loaded with talent, I expect Burks to be the best of the bunch. It would’ve been interesting to hear his perspective on why he picked Oklahoma when on the surface, he’ll have more competition for targets and he’ll have a new quarterback in Jackson Arnold. Speaking of Arnold, I applaud Oklahoma for doing what Tennessee didn’t do by bringing the decorated sophomore to Dallas. It just would’ve been nice to hear about Burks’ story of buying into Oklahoma with the role he figures to step into.

4. Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss Edge

I realize that I’m talking a lot about transfers here. A lot of coaches opt not to bring transfers simply because they haven’t played a game with their new team yet. New FSU QB DJ Uiagalelei even opted out of attending ACC Media Days because he thought that honor should go to someone who was part of last year’s team. So I understand that a transfer like Umanmielen wouldn’t have been an obvious choice for an Ole Miss program that’s loaded with established veterans. But after Umanmielen called out Florida’s defensive staff in his first spring at Ole Miss, it’s safe to say the All-SEC edge rusher isn’t afraid to hurt any feelings. You need a bit of that at SEC Media Days. That’s something that Lane Kiffin himself can get on board with. Unfortunately, the guy who might be the best player on the Ole Miss defense won’t be attending.

5. Trevor Etienne, Georgia RB

Again, I’m not surprised that Etienne won’t be in Dallas. Offseason arrest or not, we’re still talking about a transfer. That’s at a place that doesn’t exactly utilize the transfer portal quite as much as others because honestly, it doesn’t have to. Etienne was never going to be UGA’s selection here. But at the same time, I’d love to get Etienne’s perspective on crossing enemy lines from Florida to Georgia. It’s a rare move — Brenton Cox did it the other way — and it’s one that I’m sure came with a ton of skepticism. I would’ve loved to have talked to Etienne about that, as well as the differences in the 2 offenses he played in. I wouldn’t expect Etienne to go scorched earth on Billy Napier, but would I be intrigued as to how he’d talk about his former program in that setting? Yeah. This is the same guy who made the rounds for saying that he could’ve been RB2 on a “losing team” or possibly “go somewhere to be an RB1 and win a natty” (H/T On3).

Needless to say, Etienne would’ve had quite the crowd in Dallas.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.