I Hate You, John Crist: Like it or not, here comes Georgia preseason hype

This past year, it was Tennessee’s turn. Despite not having done much the season before, the Volunteers were darlings of the East at Media Days.

Needless to say, it didn’t turn out so well for coach Butch Jones and Co. Ravaged by injuries and also stressed out by so many nail-biting finishes, they only went 4-4 in conference play and didn’t make it anywhere near Atlanta.

Fortunately for the suddenly below-the-radar Vols, it’s Georgia’s turn. The Bulldogs were similarly disappointing in 2016 with a 4-4 league mark and 1-point losses to the likes of Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech — both between the hedges. Nevertheless, now coach Kirby Smart apparently has the team to beat.

Print, radio and TV types haven’t correctly picked the winner of the SEC’s lesser division in five years. And to be honest, I felt better about going with UT last season than I will putting the Dawgs atop my ballot this season.

Here are some of my favorite comments from this past week. It pleases me to know there is at least one fan of “The Office” out there.

I’m afraid it’s already too late for your precious hopes. Georgia is going to be the pick for the East at Media Days.

It’s not like the Bulldogs are ready to stake their claim for a national title. But with the division still trailing behind the West in terms of overall depth, they’re the best of a relatively mediocre bunch.

On offense, Jacob Eason is no longer a freshman. Both Nick Chubb and Sony Michel should be healthier. The receiving corps and protection up front — presumably, of course — have to be better than they were a year ago. Aside from Isaiah McKenzie, UGA didn’t say goodbye to anyone who should be missed all that much.

As for the defense, just about every quality contributor from last season returns. Assuming Trenton Thompson is back to his old self, he controls the trenches. The linebacking corps is virtually intact behind him.

Maurice Smith and Quincy Mauger are gone from the secondary, but neither of them is irreplaceable by any stretch of the imagination.

Yes, Florida is coming off back-to-back appearances in the SEC Championship Game. No, neither time was coach Jim McElwain’s club picked to make it that far. I’m sure the Gators are perfectly fine being overlooked yet again.

But on paper, the Dawgs are the better team. Their schedule is quite manageable, as well. With home games vs. Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina and Kentucky, that should be four wins right there. The Cocktail Party against UF is in Jacksonville, so their only true road games are at Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Auburn.

Remember, this is the East. Georgia won’t need to go 8-0 or even 7-1 in order to take the division. Chances are, 6-2 will be good enough to get the job done. The inevitable hype coming to Athens is plenty justifiable. Sorry about that.

I won’t be overwhelmingly confident making the pick, though. The East has been nothing if not unpredictable lately.

I wrote two columns this week, one for the East and West, pointing out a player each school would love to have back for 2017.

For Florida, I went with cornerback Teez Tabor. Currently a member of the Detroit Lions, he fell to Round 2 of the draft after originally being viewed as a first-round talent. He simply didn’t test well prior to the big weekend.

Make no mistake, though: Tabor was a classic cover man in Gainesville. He may not have run well at the Scouting Combine or his Pro Day, but he certainly played faster than a stopwatch suggests. He also put quality ball skills on display with 9 career INTs, three of which he returned all the way for TDs.

When making my choice for the Gators, it came down to Tabor and Jarrad Davis. In the end, I went with Tabor because he plays a more premium position. Linebackers don’t tend to be valued as highly as corners.

That’s not to diminish what Davis (above) did for UF. A different defense was out there when he was 100-percent healthy.

Still, quality cover men are worth their weight in gold. When NFL teams start putting together draft boards, there’s always one eye on pressuring the quarterback and the other on covering receivers.

Three-down linebackers are indeed a rare find in today’s game. Some are excellent when attacking the line of scrimmage, be it stopping the run or coming on a blitz. Others are more comfortable backpedaling in order to blanket backs and tight ends in coverage. Not very many are able to do both effectively.

Davis is one of them. Additionally, he appears to be of higher character than Tabor. His leadership has been praised.

But give me the lockdown corner. Even if Tabor may not be fast enough to survive on Sunday, he had some special Saturdays.

It’s only a column, of course, so there are no correct answers. My opinion simply differs from yours on this topic.

Reuben Foster made much more of an impact from game to game as a linebacker during his time in an Alabama uniform than O.J. Howard did as a tight end. I’m not debating that. It’s not up for debate, really.

That being said, part of my rationale is how easy or hard it is to replace the player in question. As terrific as Foster was in Tuscaloosa, he was simply the next in a long line of tremendous linebackers. Nick Saban has coached so many of them to All-American status and high selections in the draft.

Foster may be gone, but Saban signed a pair of 5-star linebackers for the 2016 recruiting class (Ben Davis, Mack Wilson). And then this past February, he signed another (Dylan Moses). At least one of them is a stud in the making.

Will Davis, Wilson or Moses be as great as Foster? Maybe, maybe not. That’s an awfully high ceiling, to say the least.

But Foster followed Reggie Ragland, who followed C.J. Mosley, who followed Dont’a Hightower, who followed Rolando McClain. Each was a linebacker at ‘Bama, and each was an All-American. Next man up, please.

The same story can’t be told at tight end, though. From a numbers perspective, Howard no doubt left a lot on the table with the Tide. We saw him rip Clemson to shreds twice in a row in the national title game, so he can be a force when given a chance. Many believe he’ll be better in the pros than he ever was in college.

Howard was really big, really strong and really fast. He could block. He could catch. He also occupied the middle of the field so Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart could work their magic outside the hash marks. Don’t forget that.

There’s no wrong answer here. But Saban will always have dominant linebackers. Howard was his lone dominant tight end.

John Crist

John Crist is an award-winning contributor to Saturday Down South.