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College Football

Ranking the Top 10 players in the SEC entering Week 10

Neil Blackmon

By Neil Blackmon

Published:

It’s Halloween, which means college football is headed down the home stretch.

November in our sport is always bittersweet.

The bulk of the SEC’s best rivalry games beckon, beginning with the Cocktail Party on Saturday in Jacksonville.

Conference championship games and the first expanded, extended College Football Playoff loom in the not that distant horizon.

Still, we have fewer Saturdays left in the season than we’ve already played. College football feels as if it is gone only moments after it begins.

If October is “spooky season,” November is also “Separation Season” in college football.

In the SEC, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Texas A&M have separated themselves. All 4 programs are poised to not only make the College Football Playoff but obtain a high seed should they simply take care of business moving forward.

Alabama still has a puncher’s chance at a Playoff berth, but they’ll likely need some help, especially if LSU — their best opportunity at a quality win down the stretch — stumbles again. It’s hard to see a path for any other SEC program, though LSU and Florida would have arguments if they won out (in LSU’s case, that’s genuinely possible, as opposed to Florida, which could easily lose its next 4 games). Ole Miss would complain at 10-2, to be sure, but it’s hard to see how they get in with a terrible loss (Kentucky) and a loss to another contender (LSU) on the final résumé.

November will separate these teams.

November will also separate the contenders from the pretenders on “The List.”

Who will join prior “List” champions Joe Burrow, DeVonta Smith, Nakobe Dean, Bryce Young and Jayden Daniels?

Last week’s list is here, and there’s more movement this week after Texas escaped Vanderbilt and Brian Kelly’s program again failed to live up to his championship expectations in a loss at Texas A&M. As always, we do honorable mentions first, limited to 2 per program. Also please remember if your favorite player isn’t ranked in the top 10, they probably need to play better. Or I just don’t understand football and you could rank the 10 best players in the best league in college football much better. Whatever blows your hair back.

Alabama: Ryan Williams, WR; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Arkansas: Patrick Kutas, OL; Taylen Green, QB. Auburn: Jalen McLeod, Edge; Jarquez Hunter, RB. Florida: Jake Slaughter, C; Jeremy Crawshaw, P. Georgia: Brett Thorson, P; Trevor Etienne, RB. Kentucky: Jamon Dumas-Johnson, LB, Deone Walker, DT. LSU: Bradyn Swinson, Edge; Whit Weeks, LB. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S. Missouri: Corey Flagg Jr.,  LB; Armand Membou, OT. Oklahoma: Robert Spears-Jennings, S; Eli Bowen, CB. Ole Miss: Suntarine Perkins, DE;  Princely Umanmielen, Edge. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Kyle Kennard, Edge. Tennessee: Cooper Mays, C; Jermod McCoy, CB. Texas: Kelvin Banks, OT; Jahdae Barron, DB. Texas A&M: Reuben Fatheree II, OT; Nic Scourton, Edge. Vanderbilt: Eli Stowers, TE; Delfin Xavier Castillo, OL.

10. Jihaad Campbell, LB (Alabama)

The Crimson Tide linebacker led one of the dominant defensive performances of the 2024 season in Saturday’s 34-0 rout of Missouri. Campbell collected 8 tackles, including a sack, as Alabama forced 3 turnovers and limited Missouri to just 15 first downs. Campbell’s 66 tackles rank 5th in the SEC this season. He’s also responsible for 3 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, an interception, and a fumble recovery. An All-American season in the making on the Capstone.

9. Le’Veon Moss, RB (Texas A&M)

Moss rushed for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 14 carries in Texas A&M’s 38-23 comeback win over LSU. He did lose a fumble, but his powerful running kept A&M in the game early as Conner Weigman struggled. Moss is also a tone setter in how he embraces physicality, as evidenced by this body blow to Jardin Gilbert early in the game.

But he’s also a runner with spectacular vision, as this touchdown run showed.

https://twitter.com/Tony_Catalina/status/1850676617456062958

A complete running back in an offense that continues to improve and complement Mike Elko’s championship caliber defense.

8. Chris Paul Jr., LB (Ole Miss)

The Arkansas transfer leads the Rebels in tackles with 58, adding 8 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks on the season. He also has 7 quarterback hurries and 4 pass breakups, and was all over the field in Saturday’s 26-14 victory over Oklahoma, when he had a team-high 12 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss. He also recovered a fumble for Ole Miss, which forced 2 turnovers and produced 14 tackles for loss, including 10 sacks, in the victory. Paul grades out as the nation’s best linebacker this season, per PFF.

7. Michael Taaffe, DB (Texas)

The second Longhorns defensive back to grace “The List” in as many weeks, Taaffe intercepted a pass, broke up another and made 6 tackles in Texas’ 27-24 win over No. 25 Vanderbilt. Taaffe ranks 3rd on the nation’s top-ranked defense in tackles this season with 39 and is tied for 2nd in pass breakups with 4. He grades out as one of college football’s best safeties for a defense that ranks 2nd in pass defense success rate.

6. Tre Harris, WR (Ole Miss)

Harris missed the Oklahoma game due to injury. Despite his absence, the star receiver continues to lead the SEC in receptions with 59 and yards with 987. That’s 10 more receptions than the 2nd-closest receiver and 265 more yards — all without the benefit of a full slate of games. Harris is expected to return this week at Arkansas. He remains the Biletnikoff Award frontrunner as the season enters November.

5. James Pearce Jr., Edge (Tennessee)

Pearce is the SEC leader in quarterback pressures (31) and his pressure percentage of 22.3% ranks 2nd nationally. That’s elite. Pearce’s 25 quarterback hurries rank in the top 5 nationally as well, and his ability to consistently get pressure is a huge reason Tennessee ranks 3rd nationally in total defense, 4th in SP+ defense and 3rd in success rate defense. Pearce and the Vols begin a November march to the Playoff with a visit from rival Kentucky on Saturday.

4. Nick Emmanwori, S (South Carolina)

Emmanwori leads the SEC with 4 interceptions and it would be 5 but for a phantom penalty that negated a pick-6 against LSU. The Thorpe Award favorite through 2 months of football, Emmanwori leads a South Carolina defense that ranks 17th in success rate against the pass and 12th in pass efficiency defense. That’s over 50 spots better in both categories than a season ago for the SEC’s most improved defense. South Carolina’s last All-American in the secondary was Stephon Gilmore. The Gamecocks have never produced a Consensus All-American in the secondary, but Emmanwori has a chance to change that in the coming month.

3. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)

Pavia, who played through an injury in the second half Saturday, nearly pulled off another top-5 upset for the Commodores against Texas, producing 210 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns in a 27-24 loss. Pavia did throw 2 interceptions and averaged a season low 4.9 yards per attempt against a sensational Texas defense. Vanderbilt had a chance to win in the end, though, thanks to more Pavia magic.

Still, Pavia remains the lone SEC quarterback to lead his team in passing and rushing, and he’s accounted for 19 Vanderbilt touchdowns against only 4 turnovers this season. He’s also completed a career high 64.5% of his passes — not bad for a guy making the step up in competition from New Mexico State to the SEC.

2. Jalon Walker, LB (Georgia)

Walker’s statistics don’t tell the story of his dominance, as often is the case with Kirby Smart’s defensive stars. Sure, the 30 tackles, 17 pressures, 8 quarterback hurries and 4.5 sacks are outstanding, as is the 88.5 tackle percentage, highest among Georgia’s linebackers. But it’s what Walker does schematically that makes Georgia so much better that has the largest impact.

“He’s a guy like Nakobe Dean in the sense that they can put him anywhere. I think he could play in the middle or in a stance on the edge — he’s that quick and that tough. You have to account for where he is, too. He’s a guy who can get pressure up the middle or whip your tackle. You have to try to get a tight end over where he is, but if you do that, you basically play 10 v. 11. He is whip quick to the ball in run support, too. It’s a tough deal,” an SEC offensive coordinator told SDS discussing Walker this week.

The best player on a defense that still has something to prove after a sluggish start to the season.

1. Dylan Sampson, RB (Tennessee)

No change at the top this week despite Sampson and the Vols spending Week 9 on a bye.

Sampson ranks 2nd in the SEC in rushing yards and 3rd in success rate. He also ranks 3rd nationally in rushing touchdowns with 17, already a modern-era (post-integration) Tennessee record. The Vols play only 2 defenses down the stretch ranked in the top 50 nationally (Vanderbilt, Georgia), which suggests Sampson might pad those stats and more as the Vols chase a Playoff spot in November.

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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