I’m not one of the kool kidz who received an advanced copy of the mag, but Steele has his preseason All-SEC picks posted at his site. Here’s what they look like:
Yes, Dawg fans, that’s Isaiah Crowell manning one of the fourth team running back slots.
I see a total of thirteen Georgia players (Boykin is listed twice, for a total of fourteen slots) dotting Steele’s list, five of those on the first team. Alabama leads the conference with eighteen. Arkansas matched Georgia’s tally.
A few random thoughts and observations:
- It’s a long way down for Auburn. Steele isn’t impressed with the returning national champs. There are only three Auburn players on his list, none of those on his first team. Word is that Steele has picked Auburn to finish last in the West this season and you can see why he does that – even Vanderbilt had six names out of the 112 total.
- Is Chris Relf still in the SEC? I don’t see listing Bray and Brantley ahead of Relf at this point in time. And while I understand the need to hedge bets, it’s a little weird not seeing Garcia’s name there, either.
- Lots of running backs. The conference is loaded. Some of the names missing from Steele’s top eight: Perkins, McCalebb and Demps.
- Ditto at wide receiver. Steele screws one spot up by including Chris Rainey, but even with that, I’d have a hard time leaving any of Arkansas’ top four wideouts off the list, but who else do you bump off? (Before you go there, Tavarres King is likely to produce enough to justify inclusion.) And I think Dustin Hunter is primed to have a big year for Tennessee.
- If Georgia has another mediocre year, don’t blame the talent. Did you ever think you’d see a preseason list which includes more players from Georgia than Florida or LSU?
- Alabama’s defense is going to be sick. Steele has two of the Tide’s linemen, all four of their linebackers and three starters in the defensive backfield on his first, second and third teams. (The other two had better step it up.)
- Precocious. Aside from Crowell, check out Jadeveon Clowney, third team defensive lineman.
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UPDATE: Year2 has some chart action. The math is interesting for the East; Steele looks like he’s got Georgia and South Carolina in a dog fight.
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