HOOVER, Ala. — It’s not all fun and games for media members at SEC Media Days here in Hoover. There is also some responsibility that goes along with being here coming in the form of voting for the All-SEC teams as well as picking an eventual SEC Champion.
We — as media members — are historically bad at picking an SEC Champion. The media have only chosen the correct SEC champion four times since 1992. So, sorry Alabama, it doesn’t look good for you this season.
The Gators didn’t receive a single first place vote in the SEC East and were picked to finish third in the division behind South Carolina and Georgia. So, historically speaking, Florida has a better chance at winning the SEC than Alabama. Eat your heart out, Saban.
Florida did, however, earn votes and put players on the preseason All-SEC list. Vernon Hargreaves and Dante Fowler were both named to the first-team defense, as expected. Hargreaves received the third-most total first team votes behind Landon Collins and Trey DePriest. Fowler trailed only Robert Nkemdiche with his 212 votes.
Andre Debose was also recognized — despite sitting out last season with an injury — as the second-team return specialist and Chaz Green — who also missed 2013 with injury — was named to the third-team offensive line.
OFFENSE
First-Team
QB Nick Marshall, Auburn (241)
RB T.J. Yeldon, Alabama (281)
RB Todd Gurley, Georgia (280)
WR Amari Cooper, Alabama (282)
WR Sammie Coates, Auburn (207)
TE O.J. Howard, Alabama (188)
OL La’el Collins, LSU (231)
OL Arie Kouandjio, Alabama (188)
OL Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss (183)
OL Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M (174)
C Reese Dismukes, Auburn (226)
Second-Team
QB Dak Prescott, Mississippi State (118)
RB Mike Davis, South Carolina (240)
RB Alex Collins, Arkansas (126)
WR Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss (182)
WR Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia (71)
TE C.J. Uzomah, Auburn (141)
OL A.J. Cann, South Carolina (166)
OL Vadal Alexander, LSU (112)
OL Alex Kozan, Auburn (112)
OL Corey Robinson, South Carolina (107)
C Ryan Kelly, Alabama (126)
Third-Team
QB Bo Wallace, Ole Miss (94)
RB Corey Grant, Auburn (52)
RB Keith Marshall, Georgia (44)
WR Jameon Lewis, Mississippi State (67)
WR Marquez North, Tennessee (66)
TE Hunter Henry, Arkansas (72)
OL Austin Shepherd, Alabama (106)
OL Chad Slade, Auburn (101)
OL John Theus, Georgia (96)
OL Chaz Green, Florida (94)
C Evan Boehm, Missouri (77)
DEFENSE
First-Team
DL Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss (239)
DL Dante Fowler, Jr., Florida (212)
DL A’Shawn Robinson, Alabama (208)
DL Gabe Wright, Auburn (192)
LB Trey DePriest, Alabama (253)
LB A.J. Johnson, Tennessee (186)
LB Ramik Wilson, Georgia (147)
DB Landon Collins, Alabama (274)
DB Vernon Hargreaves, III, Florida (243)
DB Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss (210)
DB Deshazor Everett, Texas A&M (183)
Second-Team
DL Trey Flowers, Arkansas (181)
DL Chris Jones, Mississippi State (150)
DL Alvin “Bud” Dupree, Kentucky (134)
DL Markus Golden, Missouri (125)
LB Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State (143)
LB Jordan Jenkins, Georgia (137)
LB Denzel Nkemdiche, Ole Miss (116)
DB Robenson Therezie, Auburn (144)
DB Tre’Davious White, LSU (141)
DB Damian Swann, Georgia (127)
DB Tony Conner, Ole Miss (116)
Third-Team
DL Ray Drew, Georgia (102)
DL Montravius Adams, Auburn (94)
DL Carl Lawson, Auburn (87)
DL Jermauria Rasco, LSU (79)
LB Kwon Alexander, LSU (112)
LB Cassanova McKinzy, Auburn (82)
LB Serderius Bryant, Ole Miss (76)
DB Jon Mincy, Auburn (99)
DB Corey Thompson, LSU (86)
DB Rashard Robinson, LSU (84)
DB Brison Williams, South Carolina (81)
SPECIALISTS
First-Team
P Drew Kaser, Texas A&M (221)
PK Marshall Morgan, Georgia (224)
RS Christion Jones, Alabama (262)
AP Christion Jones, Alabama (130)
Second-Team
P Sam Irwin-Hill, Arkansas (136)
PK Colby Delahoussaye, LSU (142)
RS Andre Debose, Florida (97)
AP Terrence Magee, LSU (111)
Third-Team
P Jamie Keehn, LSU (81)
PK Andrew Baggett, Missouri (103)
RS Marcus Murphy, Missouri (72)
AP Trey Williams, Texas A&M (89)
It surprises me that the SEC does not recognize longsnappers as a specialist position that deserves recognition for preseason honors. Any idea why that is?
I think it’s just a position that you don’t really notice until the long snapper messes up. It’s hard to quantify what makes one long snapper better than others because there aren’t stats that are readily available to the media that would allow us to make an informed decision.
I agree, no one knows or cares about the long snapper , except the coach. Something happened last recruiting cycle that I had never seen before, tough. FSU actually signed a guy to just be a long snapper in this year’s class. He was a legacy, so perhaps that had something to do with it. But I don’t recall ever seeing a guy that was strictly recruited to be a long snapper occupying a space in a signing class. Usually a long snapper is a walk-on player who may be given a scholarship later. Does anyone recall someone else who was signed to strictly become a long snapper?
Longsnapping has come of age in the past several years. Many D1 programs are now are offering full-ride scholarships to the most accomplished HS snappers. Ohio State has a junior LS who was offered a scholarship as an incoming freshman. They also offered a scholarship to a LS from the class of 2015. I agree with the statement that many do not know who the LS of the team is, but it’s not accurate to say that no one cares but the coach. The performance of the longsnapper, measured by consistency, accuracy, speed and spiral, matters a great deal to the punter and place kicker as well. If the snap is not good, that impacts the effectiveness of the other specialists, with potentially disasterous outcomes for FG’s, and PAT’s. Let’s not forget the punter, who relies upon a good snap to assure a good punt, an essential weapon in the battle for field position.