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If you’re 1 of the Top 25 players in the SEC entering a given season, you’re likely in the preseason All-America discussion.
That’s reality. To be among the best returning players in the SEC is no small feat, which is why missing the cut is by no means a slap in the face. There will be preseason first-team selections who aren’t listed among my Top 25 returning players in the conference. There’ll also be second and third-teamers who did make the cut. After all, this is my list.
To rank players who play different positions in different systems isn’t easy, but I try to define it as how well you do your job, and how impactful you are in doing that job. Yeah, that means kickers and punters probably aren’t going to crack my list. Oh well.
At the same time, I can’t just rank 7 or 8 quarterbacks and not include any interior offensive linemen. It’s a delicate balance.
Also keep in mind that this is based on who these players are based on what I’ve seen them do. I love guys like CJ Allen, CJ Baxter and Nico Iamaleava, but I can’t say that they’re already a Top-25 player after the relatively limited sample size we saw of them as true freshmen.
I base this on who these guys are as college players. I won’t give the benefit of the doubt to high NFL projections for a guy like Walter Nolen, who is getting a ton of preseason love even though he essentially had half of a season of looking the part before he got hurt against Tennessee last year. I’ll instead trust what my eyes have told me about these guys and who they are as football players right now.
So, here are my Top 25 SEC players heading into 2024:
25. Jarquez Hunter, Auburn RB
One thing I like — No returning player in the SEC had more rushing yards than Hunter, and of those 909 rushing yards, 93% of them came against Power 5 competition.
24. Trevor Etienne, Georgia RB
One thing I like — Even though he often split duties or deferred RB1 duties to Montrell Johnson at Florida, the only SEC players who had more rushing yards against AP Top 25 finishers were Cody Schrader and Jayden Daniels … and that was with Florida’s offensive line, not Georgia’s.
23. Brady Cook, Mizzou QB
One thing I like — The only returning Power 5 quarterbacks who had more 20-yard completions than Cook (52) in 2023 were Jaxson Dart, Dillon Gabriel and Carson Beck.
22. Billy Bowman, Oklahoma S
One thing I like — He was No. 2 in America in interceptions (6) and No. 1 in America in both pick-6s (3) and interception return yards (238), both of which were single-season Oklahoma records.
21. Landon Jackson, Arkansas DL
One thing I like — The former LSU transfer had more tackles for loss per game (1.13) than any returning SEC player.
20. Dominic Lovett, Georgia WR
One thing I like — Among SEC returning players who were in the conference the past 2 years, the only receiver with more yards than Lovett (1,459 yards) is Burden (1,587 yards), who was his teammate at Mizzou in 2022 before Lovett transferred to Georgia.
19. Parker Brailsford, Alabama C
One thing I like — The center of the Joe Moore Award-winning Washington offensive line might’ve been in a pass-heavy system, but PFF had him as the top-graded FBS center on zone runs (90.7).
18. Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma LB
One thing I like — In his first 2 years in Brent Venables’ defense, he has a combined 229 tackles and 26.5 tackles for loss.
17. Tyler Booker, Alabama OL
One thing I like — He’s the heart and soul after just his second season at Alabama, where he established himself as one of the top returning offensive linemen in the sport having already played 1,096 snaps with just 3.5 sacks allowed and 7.5 pressures.
16. Tre Harris, Ole Miss WR
One thing I like — There were 5 Power 5 receivers who totaled 50 catches with 18 yards/catch, and Harris and Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins are the only 2 who are returning in 2024.
15. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss QB
One thing I like — After his QB rating was 126.7 against FBS with a winning record in 2022 (1 spot behind AJ Swann in the SEC), he improved to 160.8 in 2023, which was No. 8 in America.
14. Emery Jones Jr., LSU OL
One thing I like — When he was healthy, he played at least 51 snaps in all 11 games that he finished, and he did so for an LSU offense that had the second-most yards/play (8.4) of any FBS team in the Playoff era.
13. Mykel Williams, Georgia DL
One thing I like — Even though he played just 1 game with 40 snaps with UGA’s deep front-7 rotation, Williams led Georgia in sacks and is now moving to a more traditional outside linebacker role, which should create even more opportunities for him to do what he does best.
12. Nic Scourton, Texas A&M DL
One thing I like — As a 19-year-old, he was named one of Purdue’s captains and he led the Big Ten in sacks (10) … and that was before he returned home to get coached by defensive line guru Mike Elko.
11. Tate Ratledge, Georgia OL
One thing I like — In the past 2 seasons as a pass-protecting machine on Georgia’s interior offensive line — Stetson Bennett IV and Carson Beck both admitted in postgame press conferences that they had games in which they didn’t get touched — PFF had Ratledge with a 1.3% pressure rate allowed in 2023, which was a slight improvement from his 1.4% pressure rate allowed in 2022.
10. Jalen Milroe, Alabama QB
One thing I like — I understand that he’s undergoing a transition, albeit with one of the best minds in the sport, but not enough people are acknowledging that Milroe finished higher in the 2023 Heisman Trophy voting than any returning player in America.
9. Quinn Ewers, Texas QB
One thing I like — In 5 games against AP Top 25 finishers, Ewers averaged 358 passing yards per contest (No. 1 among FBS QBs with at least 3 such games) on 9 yards/attempt with a 158.0 QB rating.
8. Carson Beck, Georgia QB
One thing I like — The only FBS quarterback who had a better quarterback rating than Beck against FBS teams who finished with a winning record (177.3) was Jayden Daniels. There’s a reason Beck has some of the best odds to win the Heisman Trophy.
7. Malaki Starks, Georgia S
One thing I like — We knew that Starks was a ball-hawking safety as a true freshman starter in 2022, but he took his game to the next level by becoming one of UGA’s most reliable run-game defenders, and he finished with PFF’s best run-defense grade (84.8) among SEC safeties.
6. Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas OL
One thing I like — In addition to starting all 27 games at left tackle since he arrived at Texas as a true freshman in 2022, he had the second-highest PFF pass-blocking grade among all Power 5 returners, which he earned on 550 snaps (the only other P5 tackle who played 550 snaps and had a pass grade of at least 85.0 in 2023 was No. 20 overall pick Troy Fautanu).
5. Deone Walker, Kentucky DL
One thing I like — Kentucky’s leader in tackles for loss (12.5) played 50 snaps all but once at 345 pounds, but the most memorable snap of Walker’s season was when he dropped into coverage and forced an interception against Florida … which he did at 345 pounds.
4. Harold Perkins Jr., LSU LB
One thing I like — Sure, last season was a disappointment in his transition to inside linebacker (his coverage skills did improve as the season progressed), but Perkins still has 27 tackles for loss in 27 career games, which is a pretty remarkable thing to say about someone who is 19 years old.
3. James Pearce Jr., Tennessee DL
One thing I like — If you need something beyond the fact that Pearce’s get-off is as good as there is in the sport, consider this — he had 14.5 tackles for loss even though he only played 462 snaps, which is a tackle for loss every 31.9 snaps.
2. Will Campbell, LSU OL
One thing I like — Rarely do we see someone instantly step into the SEC and be a Day 1 left tackle starter, but Campbell took advantage of the opportunity by becoming PFF’s No. 5 most valuable Power 5 tackle during that stretch while blocking for Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
1. Luther Burden III, Mizzou WR
One thing I like — If I have to pick one thing for Burden, it’s not just that he lived up to that 5-star billing in his transition to Mizzou’s primary slot receiver position as a sophomore; it’s that he had 710 receiving yards after the catch (No. 3 in FBS) and he broke 32 tackles (No. 5 in FBS), which tells you everything you need to know about the tough-as-nails, sub-6 foot superstar receiver.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
