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By the end of the weekend, every team in the SEC will have played at least six games this season. So with Week 7 being the midway point of the season, here’s a look at the current SEC leaders — both individual and team — and predictions on the end of the season leaders.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing
Mid-season: Nick Chubb, Georgia (103.0 YPG)
Final: John Kelly, Tennessee
This is hardly a reflection of Chubb’s season to this point. You can make the case he is the Offensive Player of the Year in the SEC and currently is the only player in the conference averaging over 100 yards a game on the ground.
The difference here will be the schedule. After Missouri this weekend, Georgia faces some potentially tough defenses down the stretch. The Bulldogs will visit Florida and Auburn while hosting South Carolina and Kentucky. And the final regular-season game will be at Georgia Tech, which currently has the No. 1 defense in the ACC.
And if the Bulldogs are able to reach the SEC Championship Game, likely waiting for them will be Alabama, the nation’s top rushing defense.
John Kelly and Tennessee still have games left against Missouri, Southern Miss and a Vanderbilt team that has allowed 334.5 rush yards per game over its last four games. As the Volunteers top offensive weapon, Kelly should have a chance to increase his 98.8-yard average, even if only slightly.
Passing
Mid-season: Shea Patterson, Ole Miss (358.4 YPG)
Final: Patterson
Patterson, who ranks in the top five nationally in passing yards per game, is averaging 60 yards a game more than the No. 2 QB on the list in the SEC, Missouri’s Drew Lock.
Lock has a chance to increase his passing average of 294 yards per game, especially with a school like Connecticut still on the schedule. The Huskies, in case you weren’t aware, rank dead last out of 130 FBS teams in pass defense.
But Patterson’s lead in the SEC appears to be too much to overcome. Ole Miss still has games against two teams that are among the worst pass defenses in the SEC, Kentucky and Texas A&M.
Receiving
Mid-season: A.J. Brown, Ole Miss (100.8 YPG)
Final: Brown
Brown has one of the largest leads of any receiving leader in any conference. It could grow even more if Florida’s Tyrie Cleveland, second in the SEC in receiving, continues to miss games with his high ankle sprain.
Brown is having an outstanding season. He leads the SEC in receptions per game (5.4) and has the highest yards per reception average (18.67) of any SEC player with at least 20 catches.
Scoring
Mid-season: Kerryon Johnson, Auburn (18.0 PPG)
Final: Johnson
Technically, Johnson doesn’t lead the conference in scoring, because he hasn’t played the required 75% of his team’s games. Johnson has only played in four of the Tigers’ six games so far.
But Johnson does lead the conference in total points, a feat all the more impressive when you consider he’s missed two games due to a hamstring injury. Now healthy, it appears Johnson will be Auburn’s go-to guy the rest of the season in terms of finding the end zone.
Johnson’s 12 rushing touchdowns not only are tied for the most in the FBS, but he has more rushing touchdowns than nine SEC teams.
Sacks
Mid-season: Josh Allen, Kentucky (6.5 sacks)
Final: Charles Wright, Vanderbilt
Allen has had at least one sack in all six games this season, so it’s fair to expect the same consistency the rest of the season, which could mean Allen will finish as the SEC sacks leader.
Meanwhile, Wright has been anything but consistent. After posing six sacks in the Commodores first three games, the junior linebacker has been held without a sack for three straight games.
But don’t read too much into that drought. Vanderbilt’s past three opponents were No. 1 Alabama, Florida and No. 4 Georgia. And among the remaining opponents for the Commodores are Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee and South Carolina. Those are the top four teams in the SEC in pass attempts per game.
TEAM LEADERS
Scoring offense
Mid-season: Alabama (43.0 PPG)
Final: Alabama
Many fans forget that in a conference featuring a number of high-octane offenses, it was Alabama that lead the SEC in scoring offense last season at 38.8 points per game.
The Crimson Tide lead by over seven points a game over the second-highest scoring offense in the SEC — Auburn. And with Alabama playing five of its last six games at home, expect the Crimson Tide to maintain their scoring lead.
Scoring defense
Mid-season: Georgia (10.0 PPG)
Final: Alabama
Georgia is off to an amazing start defensively. Along with leading the SEC in scoring defense, the Bulldogs have held all six opponents under 20 points.
But, just as Alabama’s offense should benefit from its home schedule the rest of the season, its defense should equally benefit from that schedule.
Meanwhile, Georgia still has road games against Auburn and Georgia Tech, two of the highest-scoring teams in the nation. While Georgia can certainly win those games, it may be difficult to completely shut down those teams in the same way it handled its first six opponents this season.
Total offense
Mid-season: Alabama (483.0 YPG)
Final: Missouri
Alabama’s offense, especially its running game, is clicking at the moment. And once again, with five of its final six games at home, the opportunity is there to continue dominating teams on offense as well as defense.
But the Crimson Tide do have games against some strong defenses in the second half of the season, including LSU and Auburn.
And do not read too much into Missouri’s recent offensive woes against Purdue and Auburn (271.5 YPG). The Tigers offense got back on track against Kentucky last week, with a season-high 76 plays and 568 total yards.
And last season, Missouri got hot down the stretch, averaging 521.3 YPG over its final four games. Expect just enough offense to pass Alabama and claim the total offense crown for the second straight season.
Total defense
Mid-season: Georgia (242.7 YPG)
Final: Georgia
Just like with the scoring defense “race,” this figures to be a very close finish between Georgia and Alabama. While Georgia could get passed by Alabama in the scoring defense category (Georgia has only allowed two fewer points than Alabama so far), the Bulldogs lead the Crimson Tide by 16 yards a game in total defense.
While that lead is hardly insurmountable, three of Georgia’s final five games are against Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky. All three rank in the bottom five in the SEC in total offense.
Whether the Bulldogs can shut down Missouri this weekend will go a long way to seeing whether they will finish as the total defense leaders this season.
Michael covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
