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Both the Under Armour and Army All-America games took place over the past weekend and featured a number of future SEC stars.
So which SEC schools emerged as the biggest winners and losers from the events?
Here’s our list.
Winners
Tennessee — The Vols came away as a big winner from the All-America games. Not only did Butch Jones gain another commitment from a standout recruit — four-star defensive end Kyle Phillips — but current Vols commits performed well over the weekend. Defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie turned several heads throughout the week of practice prior to the Army All-American Bowl. Phillips, after committing to Tennessee at the game, led the East with five total tackles including 1.0 sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. also had a huge weekend, recording four tackles and one sack.
Alabama — Surprise, surprise. The Crimson Tide had another successful All-America weekend. Despite losing a stunner to Ohio State in the CFP semifinals, the Tide quickly picked up momentum in recruiting with two huge commitments from defensive tackle Daron Payne and five-star cornerback Kendall Sheffield during the Under Armour game. In addition to the new commitments, Alabama’s current commits like QB Blake Barnett and WR Daylon Charlot were both playmakers at Under Armour.
Georgia — It was a strong showing from several UGA commits at both AA games over the weekend. Led by five-star Trenton Thompson, UGA’s top recruit didn’t disappoint. He was a disruptive force at the Army game, racking up four tackles including two tackles for loss. UGA’s stellar defensive line class got even strong with a commitment from four-star D’Andre Walker and current commits Terry Godwin and Rashad Roundtree stood out at Under Armour. The future looks bright for the ‘Dawgs.
Losers
Florida — It was never going to be a big weekend for the Gators anyway, considering they had just one commit at Under Armour and only one at Army. Derrick Dillon led the West with three receptions for 57 yards, but other than that it was a quiet weekend for one of the SEC’s most prestigious programs. McElwain and his staff are high on the list for several All-American recruits, but the Gators missed out on a possible commitment from No. 1 overall recruit Martez Ivey, who was scheduled to announce his commitment at the Army game, but pushed it back. A commitment from Ivey would have given the Gators some much-needed momentum on the recruiting trail.
Texas A&M — Current commits Kyler Murray and Christian Kirk looked very explosive throughout the week at Under Armour, but it was more than likely a weekend that made Aggies fans’ stomachs churn. Concerns over Murray’s height emerged during practice and Texas A&M lost out on five-star cornerback Kendall Sheffield to Alabama, a SEC West rival. And defensive tackle Daylon Mack took home MVP honors from the Under Armour game after recording seven tackles, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Mack de-committed from the Aggies back on Dec. 19 and looks to be strongly considering TCU. Both Mack and Sheffield could have been instant impact guys for Texas A&M in 2015, but it appears the Aggies will come up empty in shoring up a weak defensive unit.
Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.
