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Down the stretch we come.
In a month, we’ll be gathering in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.
Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU and Georgia all control their own fate to get there. Defending SEC champion Alabama remains in the conversation. So does (checks notes) (checks notes again) Vanderbilt.
The days grow shorter and the weather cooler and the football more meaningful. It’s November and it just means more.
It’s the stretch run for “The List,” too. This is Year 5 of “The List” and it’s never felt more wide open. Thus far, 2021, when Nakobe Dean prevailed, was the closest race for No. 1, but by the SEC title game, it was clear Dean was the best football player in the SEC and everyone else was playing for 2nd. Could we see that type of close before we get to Atlanta this season?
It’s possible, but this year, it feels like the margins between spots 1 through 10 are smaller than ever before.
The good news is there is more football to be played. We’re all grateful for that. Well, maybe everyone but Auburn fans, who have to keep watching Hugh Freeze coach their football team. That just seems cruel.
Last week’s list is here, for those tracking at home.
As always, a maximum of 2 players per program at Honorable Mention, which we rank first.
(That rule is why the “List” won’t feature Jordan Watkins, for example, despite becoming the 2nd SEC Player this season to score 5 touchdowns in a game last week in Ole Miss’ blowout win over Arkansas. Still, what an accomplishment for Mr. Watkins.)
Alabama: Ryan Williams, WR; Kadyn Proctor, OL. Arkansas: Patrick Kutas, OL; Andrew Armstrong, WR. Auburn: Jalen McLeod, DL; Jarquez Hunter, RB. Florida: Jake Slaughter, C; Jeremy Crawshaw, P. Georgia: Brett Thorson, P; CJ Allen, LB. Kentucky: Jamon Dumas-Johnson, LB, D’Eryk Jackson, LB. LSU: Bradyn Swinson, Edge; Will Campbell, OT. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S. Missouri: Corey Flagg Jr., LB; Armand Membou, OT. Oklahoma: Robert Spears-Jennings, S; Eli Bowen, CB. Ole Miss: Tre Harris, WR; Suntarine Perkins, DL. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Raheim Sanders, RB. Tennessee: Cooper Mays, C; James Pearce Jr., Edge. Texas: Kelvin Banks, OT; Jahdae Barron, DB. Texas A&M: Shemar Stewart, DL; Le’Veon Moss, RB. Vanderbilt: Jesse Mirco, P; CJ Taylor, S.
10. Michael Taaffe, DB (Texas)
Texas had a bye to prepare for Florida’s visit to Austin on Saturday. Taaffe ranks 3rd on the nation’s top-ranked defense in tackles this season with 39 and is tied for 2nd in pass breakups with 4. He grades out as one of college football’s best safeties for a defense that ranks 2nd in pass defense success rate.
9. Whit Weeks, LB (LSU)
Weeks has gobbled up a team-high 74 tackles for LSU this season, ranking 5th in the SEC in that category. The LSU linebacker also has 3 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception for a LSU defense that enters the Alabama game ranked 35th in SP+ defense and 40th in defensive success rate. Those numbers might seem modest, but they are a vast improvement over last year’s generationally bad LSU defense and Weeks, a ball-hawking tackling machine, is at the center of that improvement.
8. Jihaad Campbell, LB (Alabama)
Alabama had a bye last week to prepare for Saturday’s rivalry tilt at LSU. Campbell leads Alabama in tackles, ranks 2nd in tackles for loss (6.5), and grades out as the best player on an improving Alabama defense, per PFF. All-American honors are very much possible with a strong finish to the campaign.
7. Kyle Kennard, Edge (South Carolina)
Kennard had 4 pressures, 4 hurries, 2 quarterback hits and 3 tackles in South Carolina’s 44-20 blowout win over Texas A&M. On the season, Kennard has 30 pressures and 8.5 sacks, good for 2nd in the SEC in both categories. The Gamecocks rank 2nd in the SEC in quarterback pressures and sacks as a team as well — a huge reason they stand on the precipice of bowl eligibility entering Week 11.
6. Jaxson Dart, QB (Ole Miss)
Dart played his best game of the season on Saturday in Ole Miss’ 63-31 decimation of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The senior quarterback threw for 515 yards and 6 touchdowns. His touchdown total matched his incompletions. Dart has yet to deliver against a great team this season, but will get another opportunity on Saturday when No. 3 Georgia visits Oxford. Dart leads the SEC with 3,210 yards passing and he ranks 2nd in completion percentage, behind only Florida’s Graham Mertz.
5. Nick Emmanwori, S (South Carolina)
The Gamecocks’ star graded out lower than he has all year in South Carolina’s rout of No. 10 Texas A&M. But he did pick up a tackle for loss and he continues to grade out as the best coverage safety in college football, per PFF. Emmanwori continues to lead the SEC in interceptions (4) and he has yet to allow a completion in coverage of 20 yards or more, a staggering accomplishment for a safety. He was named a Thorpe Award semifinalist last week.
4. Princely Umanmielen, Edge (Ole Miss)
Umanmielen earned SEC defensive lineman of the week honors for the 2nd time this season with 2 sacks, a fumble recovery and defensive touchdown in the Rebels’ rout of Arkansas.
TJ Dottery : 6 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 2 sacks & a forced fumble
JJ Pegues : 5 tackles; 2 carries for 3 yards & a TD (6th rushing TD this season)
Princely Umanmielen : 3 tackles, 2 sacks & a fumble recovery in the endzone for a touchdown pic.twitter.com/o6FVCHGU4e— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) November 2, 2024
Umanmielen has 8 sacks for an Ole Miss defense that leads the country with 41. The senior transfer from Florida is also the SEC’s leader in quarterback pressures with 31 — something he’s done despite missing time with an injury.
3. Jalon Walker, LB (Georgia)
Walker had 5 tackles and a massive special teams fumble recovery in Georgia’s comeback Cocktail Party win over Florida.
Pretty nice burst here by Georgia LB/EDGE Jalon Walker pic.twitter.com/WwtQvKY4zp
— Benjamin Hodge (@benjaminwhodge) November 4, 2024
The Gators did manage to limit Walker to just a single pressure, his low output of the 2024 season. Still, Florida clearly keyed on the Dawgs’ budding star, bringing help from tight ends to block him and creating opportunities for Georgia linebackers CJ Allen and Chaz Chambliss to take advantage of with the extra numbers. Those players had marvelous games, with Allen grading out as the SEC’s best LB last week and Chambliss earning SEC co-defensive player of the week honors. That’s a testament to Walker’s increasing schematic value as coordinators begin to plan to limit his direct influence on the game.
2. Dylan Sampson, RB (Tennessee)
The Tennessee star continued his All-American push with 142 yards rushing and 2 more touchdowns in the Vols 28-18 win over Kentucky. Sampson’s 980 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns are both SEC bests. The latter is a school record in Knoxville. And he’s on the verge of more history.
Tennessee star Dylan Sampson is about to join the SEC's exclusive, single-season 20-rushing TD club. Sampson already has 19, a Tennessee single-season record. pic.twitter.com/FogvOU4Wsw
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) November 5, 2024
Sampson should eclipse 1,000 yards rushing this weekend when Tennessee hosts a Miss State team that has been dreadful against the run all season. He will also join an elite fraternity with a touchdown run vs. Miss State.
1. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)
Pavia’s fatherhood of Hugh Freeze continued last weekend in Vanderbilt’s 17-7 victory over Auburn. The win marked the 3rd consecutive season that Pavia defeated a team coached by Freeze, beginning with a 2022 New Mexico State win over Liberty. Every one of Pavia’s wins over Auburn or Freeze has come by double digits.
In Saturday’s win, Pavia threw for both of Vanderbilt’s touchdowns and added 26 yards rushing. He remains Vanderbilt’s leading rusher and the lone quarterback in the SEC who also leads his team in rushing. More critically, he has Clark Lea and Vanderbilt bowl eligible — and in the SEC Championship Game hunt — with 4 weeks of football remaining. That’s enough to get him back to No. 1 on our list this week.
Neil Blackmon covers Florida football and the SEC for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
