Even if it seems like Simeon Castille is in his seventh year at Alabama or Jacob Tamme played tight end when Tim Couch was at Kentucky, the truth is that college rosters are almost always in flux. It's the reason pundits make such a big deal about returning starters -- though I've never figured out why returning starters is such a good thing if they all stunk the year before, but I digress -- since the window to play in college is so short, getting guys with experience back is a luxury. Like Bruce Ciskie and his Big Ten preview, I could have written this whole post about one team: Florida. In fact, I could have just written it about Florida's defense, which had seven players (Jarvis Moss, Reggie Nelson, Ray McDonald, Marcus Thomas, Joe Cohen, Ryan Smith, and Brandon Siler) drafted last April. And of course there are other big losses that nearly every team has to recoup.
But instead, I felt it better to spread the love around and look at the really big shoes that need filling, and the shoes which, if filled properly, could help their teams compete for a SEC championship. It starts with some of the biggest shoes -- both literally and figuratively -- that a quarterback could leave behind...
| 1. Matt Flynn, QB, LSU (JaMarcus Russell) |
JaMarcus Russell showed up in Baton Rouge with all the trappings of a highly-touted recruit -- the recruiting service stars, the high-school all-American status, and the kind of arm that offensive coordinators drool over. Plus, he's freakin' huge. Russell's mere appearance on a football field is daunting, and I can only imagine what flashed through the minds of SEC defensive lineman when they got to Russell in the backfield and realized "that dude's as big as me." Russell jumped right in and showed what he could do, starting four games as a freshman and most of his sophomore year (when he wasn't hurt). Last year, he completed 68% of his passes for over 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns, led LSU to an 11-2 record including a Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame, and was the number one NFL draft pick in April. And as if that's not a big enough act for Matt Flynn to follow, LSU is expected to contend for SEC and national championships this fall. But no pressure, right?
The good news is that Flynn has experience. He was offensive MVP of LSU's 2005 Peach Bowl win over Miami and has played sporadically (and pretty well) throughout his career. The other thing Flynn's got going for him is a solid brick wall of an offensive line in front of him, silly-fast running backs to hand off to, and wide receivers like Early Doucet catching his passes. The bad news is that the #2 quarterback is always one of the most popular guys with the fans, but Flynn won't be that guy anymore. He'll need to handle the pressure of being the man as well as he handled Miami in that '05 bowl game.
| 2. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida (Chris Leak) |
Tebow is already used to the celebrity of being a star at Florida, and he had plenty of meaningful playing time in the Gators' national championship run last fall. So how exactly is he filling Leak's shoes?
Chris Leak, despite being called a "shockingly inaccurate passer" recently by a Chicago Sun-Times writer at the Bear's training camp, was a stunningly efficient college quarterback in his four years in Gainesville. Leak left Florida as the school's all-time leading passer (11,213 yards) despite carrying the label of "not a good fit" for Urban Meyer's offense the last two years. In their national championship season, Leak led the Gators' offense with help from Tim Tebow. Now Tebow's role with Urban Myer's offense should change dramatically this fall.
Unless Meyer plans on changing the way college football is played -- and he well might be -- Tebow has to stop being the moose in shotgun who bulldozes left 90% of the time he has the ball and start showing the ability to sit in the pocket and throw 25-30 times a game if needed. He's got to be a manager and get his team in the right play at the line of scrimmage. And he's got to play in places like Baton Rouge and Columbia, SC, without losing his cool when things go wrong.
The pressure is on from both fans (UF alum and Fanhouse blogger Ryan Ferguson named Tebow -- who has never started an SEC game -- the #2 quarterback in the conference) and coaches (Urban Meyer declared Tebow "ready to go play quarterback at Florida" at the end of spring practice).
| 3. Tennessee's Wide Receivers (R. Meachem, J. Swain, B. Smith) |
According to the Tennessean, when Erik Ainge was asked at SEC Media Days how the wide receivers at Tennessee would play this year, he responded by saying that the tight ends are really good. In other words, he doesn't know. And he's the quarterback. The truth is that nobody knows what UT's receiving corps will look like. The only known is that when Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain, and Bret Smith departed Knoxville, they took their 159 catches, 2439 yards, and 22 touchdowns from 2006 with them. The returning wide outs have a total of 31 career catches among them. And David Cutcliffe plans on running a no-huddle offense this fall. Yikes. So who (besides the tight ends) is going to catch passes this fall for Tennessee?
Potential group #1 is the veterans, who really aren't that veteran. Juniors Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe are the "old guard" by now, and both have been largely dismissed as pass droppers/fumblers by a large portion of Vol fans. Sophomore Quintin Hancock is gaining a reputation as a great practice player, and fellow soph Austin Rogers is considered a possession receiver. In fact, according to Fulmer:
"I know those guys that we got will be in the right place and they'll catch the ball," UT Coach Phillip Fulmer said. "The difference is there's no Robert Meachem out there. We have to find some dynamics so when we get press coverage, we can make people pay."... which is a nice way of saying "all we've got is possession receivers."
The dynamic Fulmer is looking for might have to come from group #2: the freshmen. Well, three freshman (Gerald Jones, Brent Vinson, and Ahmad Paige) and a JUCO-transfer junior (Kenny O'Neal), all of whom come with the trappings of high-school all-America yadda yadda and around-4.4 speed. All of them are fast and had moves at the level they came from, but whether or not that translates to being playmakers in college ball could make the difference between Tennessee being a SEC contender and a Music City bowl candidate.
| 4. Kenny McKinley, WR, South Carolina (Sidney Rice) |
South Carolina is everybody's dark horse to compete for the SEC championship this fall, and Spurrier himself declared the Gamecocks ready to compete for a conference title at SEC media days. And with good reason: they've got an improved defense, a veteran quarterback in Blake Mitchell, and quality running backs with Corey Boyd and Mike Davis. All they need to ignite Spurrier's Cock 'n Fire offense is a big-play wide receiver. D'oh.
Sidney Rice opted for the NFL over another year in Columbia, which means Carolina has to replace his 72 catches, 1090 yards, and 10 TDs. Fortunately they have Kenny McKinley, who had over 800 yards and five touchdowns of his own last year, as well as having a higher per-catch average than Rice did.
Unfortunately, one reason for McKinley's success was that defenses had to focus on Rice. Now McKinley has to fill that role for someone else, most likely JUCO transfer Larry Freeman. Spurrier also signed a ton of highly-ranked freshman receivers who could help out, guys like Chris Culliver, Jason Barnes, Joseph Hills, and Dion LeCorn.
Like Tennessee, Carolina will need another receiver to step up for the team to contend this year.
| 5. King Dunlap, OL, Auburn (Ben Grubbs) |
There's not a lot of stats I can throw at you for offensive linemen, but Ben Grubbs was an all-SEC lineman last year and the Ravens' first-round draft pick. He was also pretty well recognized as the leader of Auburn's offensive line, which also lost fellow all-SEC guard Tim Duckworth as well as center Joe Cope and tackle Jonathan Palmer.
Now Dunlap (though he plays tackle and Grubbs played guard) will be filling the shoes of Grubbs as the leader of Auburn's offensive front. Dunlap is by far the most experienced of Auburn's linemen -- meaning he's started more than four games. The rest of the line is put together with guys who have started sporadically or otherwise seen a little action. How fast they come together will largely determine how the Tigers' season goes... something Tommy Tubberville hasn't had to worry about recently.
The line will also feature Tyrone Green (who is actually taking Grubbs's position), Leon Hart (who was the high school all-America type as a recruit) and possibly true freshman Lee Ziemba (the task of playing one of football's most physically demanding positions as a true frosh? no, thanks).
| Honorable Mention |
Malcom Shepard, DE, Arkansas (Jamaal Anderson): Don't expect Shepard to replace Anderson's 13.5 sacks from last year, but he shouldn't have to if the rest of the defensive line plays as well as they did in 2006.
Tony Fein, LB, Ole Miss (Patrick Willis): Fien and the other Rebel linebackers have to replace SEC defensive player of the year Willis' 137 tackles. If that's not enough, Ole Miss also lost it's second leading tackler, LB Rory Johnson (94 tackles). Good luck.
Tripp Chandler, TE, Georgia (Martrez Milner): UGA has been "Tight End U" of late, Chandler tries to keep it going when he returns from suspension.
