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Ryan Williams in Alabama's win over Georgia.
College Football

Ranking the Top 10 players in the SEC entering Week 6

Neil Blackmon

By Neil Blackmon

Published:

It’s the games, stupid.

Wasn’t Alabama-Georgia the latest reminder that no matter how much college football has changed, the game is why we watch.

Take your 12 team Playoff, transfer portal and NIL grievances somewhere else because the game is what has always been compelling about this sport.

And yes, it’s different down here, on Saturdays Down South.

From the moment Saban and the Bear appear on the video boards at Bryant-Denny Stadium to the moment Zabien Brown hauled in the game-clinching interception, halting a frenetic Georgia comeback for good, it’s the games.

Campuses live and breathe for the games. Families reunite and in some cases, fall apart. Coaches, some of them narcissistic maniacs, insist furiously that they’d win 9 of 10 games on Mondays and then blow 11-point fourth-quarter leads the following Saturday. What the coach says on Mondays doesn’t matter as much when you win the game.

When you do lose, the feeling is almost spiritual. You feel it in your bones and in the quiet of your Sunday morning coffee.

You might even hear about it at your place of worship. After all, there’s no shortage of folks down here who won’t hit their knees ask God to favor their team and hope, against hope, that the prayers going up in the same moment asking God to favor the other team aren’t answered.

There’s a great story my Dad used to tell about yours truly when, after a rare loss in the Steve Spurrier era, I asked my Dad why God didn’t “smile on the Gators” that day, as Spurrier himself was fond of saying.

“God,” my Dad told me plaintively, “expects you not to throw 5 interceptions.”

Saturday night in Tuscaloosa was the latest reminder that it’s the games that make this sport.

All the changes come so fast and furious that it is easy to lose that for a moment or even a few interminable offseason months, I suppose.

But the games make the sport. They are why men like my uncle sit around car mechanic shops in Jacksonville, Florida, on Fridays in an old Gators shirt and men like my friend Ryland wear a red and black tie to teach Sunday school. They are why the south has fewer weddings on autumn Saturdays than any other area in the United States and why grown men from Ohio won’t buy gasoline in Michigan.

The games are why this sport is a fabric stitched through every inch and fiber of our lives.

Here in the SEC, the games produce the best players.

“The List” features a host of changes this week, including the appearance of a certain Alabama quarterback back in the top 10 for the first time since the end of the 2023 season. “The List” rewards production — and we told y’all the cream tends to rise to the top.

As always, honorable mentions come first, limited to 2 per program. Last week’s “List” is here for those scoring at home.

Alabama: Deontae Lawson, LB; Jihaad Campbell, LB. Arkansas: Ja’Quinden Jackson, RB; Landon Jackson, DL. Auburn: KeAndre Lambert-Smith, WR; Jalen McLeod, LB. Florida: Jason Marshall Jr., DB. Georgia: Carson Beck, QB; Malaki Starks, S. Kentucky: Deone Walker, DT; Jamon Dumas-Johnson, LB. LSU: Will Campbell, OT; Garrett Nussmeier, QB. Mississippi State: Stone Blanton, LB. Missouri: Luther Burden III, WR; Connor Tollison, C. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; R Mason Thomas, DL. Ole Miss: Chris Paul Jr., LB; Jaxson Dart, QB. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Kyle Kennard, Edge. Tennessee: Joshua Josephs, Edge; Nico Iamaleava, QB. Texas: Vernon Broughton, DT; Andrew Mukuba, DB. Texas A&M: Reuben Fatheree II, OL; Nic Scourton, Edge. Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, QB; Steve Hubbard, OL.

10. Robert Spears-Jennings, S (Oklahoma)

The top ranked safety in the country, per PFF, Spears-Jennings and the Sooners’ defense keyed Oklahoma’s fourth quarter rally on The Plains. Spears-Jennings had 6 tackles and a sack, raising his season total in tackles to 35 with a team-best 24 of those of the solo variety. The junior has also collected 2 sacks, forced 2 fumbles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. Not a bad month’s work for the anchor of a stout Oklahoma defense which ranks 14th in SP+ defensive efficiency and 15th in defensive success rate. 

9. Chris McClellan, DT (Missouri)

Missouri struck portal gold when they landed McClellan from Florida this winter. Leaner and quicker off the snap then in his time at Florida, McClellan has 17 tackles, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, 2 pass deflections, 10 pressures and 8 quarterback hurries in 4 games for the Tigers. McClellan is grading out at 80.4 as a pass rusher — a nearly 25-point grade jump from his time at Florida, which makes you wonder exactly what Billy Napier’s staff was trying to do when deploying the former top-100 recruit.

8. Princely Umanmielen, Edge (Ole Miss)

Like McClellan, Umanmielen left Florida for another SEC destination this offseason and the move is paying dividends. The senior defensive lineman is grading out at 87.5, per PFF, a 10-point leap from what was a productive junior year at Florida where he led the Gators (and ranked 3rd in the SEC) in quarterback pressures. While Umanmielen lost a 3rd straight game to Kentucky on Saturday, he was active in defeat, registering 5 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss. On the season, Umanmielen has 20 quarterback pressures, 11 hurries, 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss.

7. Nick Emmanwori, S (South Carolina)

The Gamecocks were idle this week as they ready for No. 12 Ole Miss in Columbia this weekend. Emmanwori and a vastly improved Gamecocks defense will be tested by an explosive Ole Miss offense that should arrive to Williams-Brice Stadium angry. A big hitter with outstanding coverage ability, Emmanwori will need to play his best football for South Carolina to win.

6. Kelvin Banks, OL (Texas)

The SEC’s highest graded tackle, per PFF, Banks earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors in Texas’ 35-13 win over Miss State. The Longhorns gained 522 yards, including 198 yards rushing, on the afternoon in Arch Manning’s second career start. Banks protected the young quarterback perfectly, allowing zero sacks or pressures from the blind side as Manning completed 26-of-31 passes for 324 yards with 2 touchdowns. Banks and the Texas offense rank 3rd in SP+ efficiency on offense and 4th in success rate offense through the season’s opening month.

5. D’Eryk Jackson, LB (Kentucky)

Does Jackson jump off the film with athleticism like fellow defender Deone Walker? Nope.

Does Jackson play with one of the highest IQs in the sport and rarely miss  a tackle? Yep.

The veteran Kentucky linebacker returns to “The List” for a second consecutive season after a 7-tackle, 2-tackle for loss performance in Kentucky’s upset win at No. 6 Ole Miss. On the season, Jackson has a team-high 26 tackles, including 3 for loss and 4 pass breakups, for a defense that ranks 17th in SP+ defensive efficiency and 14th in success rate defense. Jackson’s fundamentals, which included the lowest missed tackle percentage in the SEC over the past 3 seasons, should give him a chance to play in the NFL next year.

4. Tre Harris, WR (Ole Miss)

Ole Miss gained 353 yards in their 20-17 loss to Kentucky on Saturday.

Tre Harris gained 176 — nearly half.

This 48-yard catch, cut and run touchdown gave Ole Miss the lead entering the fourth quarter.

Harris had a quiet fourth quarter, catching just 1 pass on 3 targets on 3 Ole Miss possessions, including their final one, which ended in a missed kick by Caden Davis. But in his first game this season against a quality defense, Harris showed up and showed out, catching 11 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown. Had he received a little help from his friends, Ole Miss likely leaves the game unbeaten.

3. Ryan Williams, WR (Alabama)

Have you heard that Ryan Williams is only 17?

The freshman sensation turned Biletnikoff Award frontrunner pulled Alabama out of the fire on Saturday night when he made this stupendous play to give the Crimson Tide the lead back late in the fourth quarter.

The “Baby Julio” and “Justin Jefferson” comparisons seemed premature when they were made a month ago. Not anymore. And what if Williams is better — more fluid than Julio and more skilled as a route runner early in his career than Jefferson? What if, as Dave Waters of the great podcast Gators Breakdown said this week, “Ryan Williams is the first Ryan Williams?”

A cousin in Muscle Shoals texted me the most accurate “Roll Tide” synopsis late Saturday night, moments after the Williams catch.

“That recruiting battle is the moment I fell in love with Kalen DeBoer.”

I get it.

2. Jalen Milroe, QB (Alabama)

A maestro of a performance lands Milroe in the Top 10 after lingering in the Honorable Mentions.

The numbers were near perfect: 27-for-33 passing with 374 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game winner to Williams, coupled with a team high 117 yards rushing and 2 more touchdowns. “The List” could gush about the improved reads and accuracy of Milroe as a thrower, and believe us, there will be weeks of that to come.

But Milroe’s leadership and poise won that game for Alabama, which has still not lost an SEC game that Milroe has started.

Would we like to see Milroe consistently play like this as a passer? Of course. But when the lights were brightest, Alabama’s All-SEC quarterback answered the bell.

1. Dylan Sampson, RB (Tennessee)

A bye week does not displace Sampson from the top of “The List.”

The Vols’ offense is rolling, ranking 5th in SP+ offensive efficiency, 3rd in total offense, and leading the country in scoring.

Their best player is Sampson, who ranks 4th in the SEC in rushing yards (449) and yards per attempt (6.5), and No. 1 in touchdowns (10). Sampson also grades out as the SEC’s best running back, per PFF, a testament to his ability to influence the game not only as a runner but as a pass catcher and blocker.

This remains the most productive, consistent player in the SEC through a month of football.

Neil Blackmon

Neil Blackmon covers Florida football and the SEC for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.

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