In many ways, the SEC hasn’t changed very much. Alabama remains the best team in the conference, and the gap is wider than ever.

However, Texas A&M wide receiver and return man extraordinaire Christian Kirk has taken over as the league’s best player, despite the fact that he suits up for one of the worst teams in the West. The Aggies might be 3-1, but it’s an unimpressive 3-1.

And if not for Kirk, A&M would be 2-2 considering what he did in this past Saturday’s crazy 50-43 defeat of Arkansas — the 1-2 Razorbacks aren’t going anywhere in the division, either — at neutral-site AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Not only did he catch 5 passes for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he returned a kickoff 100 yards for an additional TD.

His first score tied it 7-7 early, his second gave the Ags a 40-36 lead late and his third proved to be the game-winner in overtime.

In four contests, Kirk has 19 receptions for 251 yards and 4 touchdowns, which put him fourth, seventh and tied for first in the SEC, respectively. He’s also second in the conference with a kickoff-return average of 32.4 yards on 9 attempts.

While Kirk has only been credited with 1 punt return for 0 yards on the season — teams don’t kick to him all that often, plus he’s been forced to call for a bunch of fair catches — the junior has 5 TDs in his career after 2 as a freshman and 3 as a sophomore. That’s a Texas A&M record, tied for second in conference history and just 1 behind the all-time mark of 6 set by Kentucky’s Derek Abney from 2000-03.

The league is a bit short on star power compared to last year, but Kirk is the brightest and a surefire first-round draft pick come spring.

He may have been a 5-star recruit and the No. 5 wide receiver prospect nationally, but he's relatively new to the position.

Alabama’s Jalen Hurts is probably the league’s top quarterback, as he’s thrown for 550 yards, run for 360 more and been responsible for 7 total scores, all without committing a single turnover. Still, he’s not asked to do much as a passer.

Tennessee’s John Kelly is probably the SEC’s top running back — seriously, who saw that coming? — racking up a conference-leading 450 yards on the ground and sprinkling in an additional 182 through the air. Bigger names like LSU’s Derrius Guice and Georgia’s Nick Chubb have been good thus far, but neither has been as great as Kelly.

A case can be made that the league doesn’t have a dominant defender in 2017. No Myles Garrett. No Jonathan Allen. No Derek Barnett.

What’s scary is that Kirk is still learning how to be a pass catcher. He may have been a 5-star recruit at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro High School and the No. 5 receiver prospect in the nation, but he’s relatively new to the position.

Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

“He was more of a running back than he was a wide receiver, and I think that has been his thing,” Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said Wednesday on the SEC’s weekly coaches teleconference. “He moved to little bit more receiver over the course of time, and when he got here he really had to work at his receiving ability. He was always a great screen guy, run-after-catch guy, but now he’s become a better overall receiver because of his work ethic and his patience and just how he’s gone about things.”

Nevertheless, the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder was a quick study. He made an immediate impact at the collegiate level in 2015 with 80 grabs for 1,009 yards and 7 touchdowns — the QB situation was unsettled, too — for an A&M club that already had the likes of Speedy Noil, Josh Reynolds and Ricky-Seals Jones. Kirk put up better numbers than all of them.

"We are very, very cognizant of his pitch count not just on Saturday, but Monday through Friday. We looked at that last year and what we're doing with him in practice because he's one of those guys, he's either all or nothing, and so that takes its toll, too." -- Kevin Sumlin

“He’s a guy that with the ball in his hands knows what to do with it instead of just running real fast,” Sumlin said. “He can read blocks, he has good vision and I think you see him utilize that in his return game and in the screen game.”

It’s incredibly taxing to have a dual role as primary target and primary returner, so sometimes Kirk has to pick his spots.

“I think if you watch us closely, he’s probably gotten off the field more this year than he has previous years,” Sumlin said. “I think he’s been explosive because of that. We’re playing a lot of guys at wide receiver in a rotation.”

Keep in mind that A&M operates a spread-based offense designed to go a million miles per hour, so it’s not unusual for a wideout in this system to run 40-50 routes per game. Keeping enough gas in the tank for punt and kick returns can be a challenge.

“We are very, very cognizant of his pitch count not just on Saturday, but Monday through Friday,” Sumlin said. “We looked at that last year and what we’re doing with him in practice because he’s one of those guys, he’s either all or nothing, and so that takes its toll, too.”

By the way, Ags signal caller Kellen Mond is currently the conference’s lowest-rated passer. The true freshman — a talented one, sure, but an inexperienced one — was forced into action because of a season-ending injury to Week 1 starter Nick Starkel. Despite fewer snaps and Mond’s erratic arm, Kirk is delivering as many big plays as ever.

“At this point, Year 3, and him playing since he’s been a freshman, we got a good feel for when he’s ready to go,” Sumlin said. “He’s one of those guys that doesn’t like to stand around and watch, but he’s become a coach on the sideline during practice. And I think that’s helped his attitude by not getting as many reps maybe as he used to get.”

Texas A&M may be going nowhere, but Kirk is special. The league better appreciate him for the short time he has left in College Station.