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Although the SEC will lose a ton of talent in this year’s 2017 NFL Draft, there’s still plenty of high-level athletes coming back within the conference.
Pro Football Focus — one of the most reputable and respected football sites — made a list of the top-10 SEC players returning this upcoming year.
The top-two players hail from LSU. DE Arden Key registers as the best player returning from the SEC, and running back Derrius Guice comes in at No. 2.
Key is the prototype rush end in today’s game. He’s got freaky length and quickness, and motor that simply never stops. This past year, he accrued 12.0 sacks. With Myles Garrett, Jonathan Allen, and Derek Barnett gone to the NFL, Key will be the unquestioned top defensive line player in a conference chock-full of them.
There is a caveat in having Key ranked No. 1. It was recently announced that he will take a leave of absence from the team. It isn’t known as to when he’ll be back.
Fully out of Leonard Fournette’s shadow, Guice will demonstrate why he’s an elite player. He dominated the competition last year as a sophomore in limited time. Guice is powerful, quick, elusive, and nearly impossible to tackle in one-on-one situations. Don’t be shocked if he explodes and garners All-America honors.
Alabama DB Minkah FItzpatrick rolls in at No. 3 within the ranking. An incredibly versatile player, the New Jersey native routinely made plays in Nick Saban’s secondary. He’ll be the next in the long line of very good Crimson Tide defensive backs.
Arkansas received some incredibly good news this offseason — as Frank Ragnow returned for his senior season. Ranked No. 4, Ragnow is the leader of Arkansas’ offense. He sets the tone up front with his physical player, and he’s also incredibly smart — as he routinely makes the right calls at the line of scrimmage from his center spot. Ragnow has the look of a future 10-year NFL veteran.
Rounding out the top five is Georgia rusher Nick Chubb. Had he not suffered a gruesome knee injury, the Georgia Bulldogs star may be in the NFL right now. It generally takes a year to fully come back from an ACL surgery. Assuming this timeline will hold up, Chubb should be in line for a big 2017 season.
PFF also lists Alabama LB Shaun Dion Hamilton (6), Auburn G Braden Smith (7), Arkansas QB Austin Allen (8), Kentucky RB Benny Snell Jr. (9), and Georgia DT Trenton Thompson (10) as the others worthy of being within the SEC’s top 10 in ’17.
