I hope everyone got their weddings and other events out of the way already. It’s time to pack the coolers, light up the grills, and remind your neighbor, spouse, boss, teacher, preacher, etc., that their team serves no use other than to assume the role of proverbial punching bag.
It may not exactly feel like fall in Alabama, but football is back.
While Week 0 provided college football fanatics a small appetizer of what’s to come, Week 1 is upon us, and everyone is ready for the entrée to be served. In preparation for the new season, it’s due time for a preview of the greatest conference in all of sports: the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama
After a rebuilding year in Tuscaloosa that included an appearance in the National Championship, a Cotton Bowl victory, SEC title, Heisman Trophy winner, Maxwell Award, Nagurski Award, six All-Americans, etc., Alabama, again, is in the catbird seat heading into the 2022 season.
Coach Nick Saban is loaded with talent per usual, but he returns the Heisman winner and the best player in college football. Yes, you read that correctly. While no one can diminish the talent, skill, and poise of quarterback Bryce Young, many will agree that Will Anderson is the best and most dominant player in all of college football.
Young loses his top two receivers to the NFL draft, but he reloads with Georgia transfer Jermaine Burton and Louisville speedster Tyler Harrell. Additionally, Alabama has a host of young receivers such as Ja’Corey Brooks, JoJo Earle, Kobe Prentice, and many more to complement the transfers and veterans Traeshon Holden and end zone magnet Cameron Latu.
The running back room is loaded with talent led by Swiss army knife and Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs who has the potential to put up more than 2,000 all-purpose yards and is truly a threat in every phase of the game. Joining him are three running backs all returning from various injuries in Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams, and Trey Sanders. Expect to see all four running backs rotate with Gibbs being the bell cow of the quartet.
The offensive line is a supremely talented bunch, but it lacks experience. Vanderbilt transfer Tyler Steen will fill the void left by top 10 pick Evan Neal on Young’s blindside, and behemoth blue-chipper J.C. Latham will occupy the other bookend spot. The interior offensive line benefits from the return of Ekiyor, Randolph, and Dalcourt/McLaughlin at center.
On defense, this unit is going to be special if it can remain healthy. Will Anderson is being mentioned in the same rarified air as Derrick Thomas, and he has super sophomore Dallas Turner and pass rush specialist Chris Braswell salivating at the opportunity to make plays as teams will fruitlessly scheme to double/triple-team superhuman Anderson. In addition to the edge rushers, the Tide welcomes back Henry To’oto’o and program veteran Jaylen Moody to round out the linebacking corps.
The defensive line will return veterans with only Phil Mathis having departed the group. Newcomer Jaheim Oatis has shown tremendous promise and talent throughout the offseason. He lost more than 100 pounds to get into shape and earn a spot as a co-starter as a true freshman. He has the potential to be a major disrupter in the middle of this defense.
The secondary for Alabama is about as mixed of a bag as it can be for a team of this caliber. The safety position ranks amongst the best, if not the best, in the country with safeties Jordan Battle (2021 All-American), Demarco Hellams, Brian Branch, and Malachi Moore all returning. However, the cornerback position remains in flux. LSU transfer and freshman All-American Eli Ricks was presumed to be a lock to start at one of the cornerback positions, but he has yet to fully solidify that role. Pinson Valley product Kool Aid McKinstry put his talent on display last year, and he looks to be a budding star. Both Kyree Jackson and Terrion Arnold are also very much in the mix to start and/or get meaningful reps at defensive back.
Saban looks to field one of his most talented fields to date in Tuscaloosa. The preseason hype around Alabama is legitimate. They are ranked No. 1 in every major preseason poll, and it’s well-warranted. Saban and his teams have responded very well when avenging a loss in the national title. After the rebuilding year that was 2021, the message is clear in Tuscaloosa for the Tide: it’s national championship or bust.
Arkansas
Arkansas made significant strides in 2021 with Head Coach Sam Pittman in his second year. Arkansas was on the cusp of a double-digit win season, but ultimately fell one win shy. While Arkansas lost some key contributors such as wideout Treylon Burks, the Hogs replenished their roster with some proven playmakers from the transfer portal.
The Razorbacks success begins and ends with one of the SEC’s most dynamic players in quarterback K.J. Jefferson. Jefferson appears as though he was built in a lab somewhere at 6-3 and 242 pounds. In addition to his prowess as a passer, Jefferson was the leading rusher for an Arkansas team that had three running backs rush for more than 500 yards in 2021. They also return four of their five starters up front on an offensive line that was really impressive a year ago.
The loss of Burks to the Tennessee Titans in the first round of the NFL draft certainly left a void in a receiver room that returns only one player with more than 150 receiving yards. However, Pittman plucked Jadon Haselwood from the transfer portal from Oklahoma. Haselwood initially struggled adapting to the college game, but he really came into his own toward the end of last season. Additionally, backup quarterback Malik Hornsby has flashed in camp at receiver. He will have the opportunity to see the field in a variety of roles this season.
The Arkansas defense from 2021 was, in a word, average. They ranked right in the middle in every major statistical category. This year, the Razorbacks return the heart-and-soul of their team with linebacker Bumper Pool. Pool is a tackling machine who racked up 125 tackles to the lead team a year ago. He will be joined by Alabama transfer Drew Sanders. Sanders was a five-star prospect out of high school who assumed the starting role at Alabama due to injuries. He is an incredible athlete with a high football IQ and will be a standout for years to come.
The Arkansas defensive line has a group of veterans that looks to finally move into the starter roles. They will be pushed by a couple of transfers that are competing to be in the rotation for playing time. The secondary is the most experienced as it returns three starters from a year ago. Safety Jalen Catalon is a big-time player who will be playing on Sundays soon.
The excitement around Fayetteville is palpable. The Razorbacks have stars on both sides of the ball, a coach that has everyone bought in, and a fanbase that yearns to be a consistent contender. This team has a legitimate chance to be a ten win program this year, and they could find themselves in a New Year’s Six Bowl. Arkansas starts out of the gate with legitimate competition Saturday as College Football Playoff participant Cincinnati comes to Fayetteville.
Auburn
Auburn endured one of the most tumultuous off-seasons of any program. Between the Brian Harsin drama and the recent resignation of Athletic Director Allen Greene, Auburn has not been able to catch a break. Add to the personnel instability the off-the-field issues of TJ Finley being arrested and the transfer of former starting quarterback and Auburn legacy Bo Nix to Oregon, and you have the perfect concoction for Auburn to probably win a national championship. It seems like the voodoo on The Plains is at work whenever everyone else has counted this team out.
This year’s Auburn Tigers will be headlined by one of the best running back tandems in the country with Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. Both backs are capable of blowing a game wide open at any time during the course of a game. They also benefit from running behind an offensive line that has three returning starters (center Nick Brahms announced this week he was stepping away from football).
Auburn will need the running game to open up opportunities for TJ Finley to stretch the field. Finley beat out Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada (the only quarterback to beat Alabama in the regular season a year ago) to win the starting job. Finley is a menacing figure at 6-6 and 249 lbs. Finley’s career has been inconsistent, and he needs to be more accurate if this Auburn offense wants to be anything more than one dimensional.
The biggest question outside of quarterback for Auburn is at the receiver position. Auburn returns Shedrick Jackson who should become a household name by year’s end if he isn’t already among Auburn fans. Moreover, Auburn has done a nice job of incorporating its tight ends in their game plan, and John Samuel Shenker looks to make a big impact this upcoming season.
Harsin promoted linebacker coach Jeff Schmedding to defensive coordinator after Derek Mason made the lateral move to take the same position at Oklahoma State. Schmedding had coached with Harsin at Boise State. Schmedding will have to replace defensive stalwarts Roger McCreary, Zakoby McClain, and Chandler Wooten, which will be a challenge.
Along the defensive line, Auburn brings back their best player from last year in Derick Hall. Hall could have left for the NFL, but he elected to return for his senior season. He will be a force to be reckoned with as he anchors the Tigers’ line. Behind the d-line, Auburn will have to replace McClain and Wooten, but Owen Pappoe is one of the most talented sideline-to-sideline linebackers in the SEC if he can stay healthy. Hall and Pappoe will set the tone for the Tiger defense this upcoming season.
Auburn loses Roger McCreary and Smoke Monday in the secondary, but Auburn replaces them with more than capable players that can make an immediate impact. The Auburn secondary may not have the most recognizable names now, but they will be well-known by season’s end if they play up to their potential. DJ James is a name to watch. He is a Spanish Fort native who transferred back home from Oregon.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that there is still a Carlson on Auburn’s team. Anders Carlson is returning from a torn ACL, but he is the real deal. He will have plenty of opportunities to put his powerful leg on display this upcoming season. Additionally, starting punter Oscar Chapman returns. He could find his way on the all-SEC team at the culmination of the season. He has the ability to flip the field and pin opponents deep as he did in the Iron Bowl.
Harsin is hoping for a phoenix-like rise after the offseason he was put through. He will desperately need Finley to exceed expectations to prevent this from being another mediocre-to-lackluster season for Auburn. An early, week 3 matchup against Penn State will serve as a litmus test of sorts for this program. As always, Auburn has the potential to knock off some teams that are better on paper, but they also tend to play down to their opponents (see: Georgia State). Auburn should be contending for bowl eligibility, but they will need to drown out the outside noise and avoid getting derailed as they did to end last season.
LSU
With Louisiana’s native son being relieved of his duties, LSU made a major offseason splash by hiring Massachusetts-native Brian Kelly. Kelly brings an impressive record of winning and turning around programs at every stop. Somewhere along the way he also picked up some awful dance moves and a cringe-worthy creole accent (trust me, it’s worth looking up the videos). LSU is one of the largest wild cards coming into 2022, especially with only six returning starters on the team.
LSU went into fall camp with a three-man battle to win the quarterback job. Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels ended up prevailing and looks to begin his SEC career against Florida State on Sunday. Daniels is a true dual-threat, but he struggled with turnover issues in 2021 (10 TDs and 10 INTs). If LSU hopes to have success, he will have to clean up the turnover issues as he plays significantly tougher competition than he faced in the PAC-12.
Daniels will have the opportunity to throw to one of the top receivers in the country in Kayshon Boutte which should serve as a safety blanket given the lack of experience everywhere else. LSU has two of the best running backs from 2019 in John Emery Jr. (suspended to begin the season) and Noah Cain (Penn State transfer), but both have fallen short of expectations. They will be running behind an offensive line that does not return a single full-time starter from a year ago, though some saw time in a reserve capacity.
The Tiger defense will have no shortage of talent, especially along the defensive line. Although they return few starters from a year ago, they have plenty of talent who can make their presence felt immediately. The linebacking corps is led by BJ Olujari who had a team-high seven sacks in 2021. Olujari is expected to give quarterbacks on LSU’s schedule nightmares as he seeks to gain on last year’s success.
For a program that claims to be “DBU,” they will need to improve upon their woeful 2021 campaign where they ranked in the bottom half of the country against the pass. Couple their inexperience with playing some of the SEC’s best quarterbacks (Young, Hooker, Rogers, Jefferson, etc.), LSU is a prime candidate to get torched in the meat of the SEC schedule.
Kelly has been successful everywhere he has gone, and LSU will likely be no exception. However, as it is with any coaching change, it takes time for a coach to get his own players, system, and culture in place to make that leap. LSU is littered with talent up-and-down the roster, but they are going to experience some growing pains in year one of the Kelly era.
Mississippi State
Pirate-crazed lawyer and Head Coach Mike Leach enters his third year in Starkvegas with high hopes for his veteran team. His air raid offense has proven to be effective even against the most fierce of competition in the SEC, and this year looks to be no different as he returns his gunslinger at quarterback.
Quarterback Will Rogers enters his third year as the starting quarterback in Leach’s pass happy offense. Rogers is a year removed from passing for nearly 4,000 yards and 36 touchdowns. Furthermore, Rogers improved his decision-making and displayed a tremendous amount of confidence within the system.
Rogers returns two starting receivers from last year as well as the top two running backs. The Bulldogs have reliable veterans catching passes from Rogers, but they are lacking the explosive threat that teams would have to scheme around as they lost Makai Polk to the NFL draft.
Up front, Mississippi State loses both offensive tackles, including all-SEC and top 10 NFL draft selection Charles Cross. Those two losses alone are reason for concern among the Bulldog faithful. Will Rogers and the offense will struggle mightily to move the ball if he is consistently being pressured.
The front seven of the defense is the known commodity as they return experienced players at every position. This is fantastic news for Mississippi State who posted one of the best rushing defenses a year ago (3rd in the SEC, 12th nationally).
The biggest unknown is the secondary. While both safeties return from a year ago, the rest of the secondary remains a question mark. Former Alabama cornerback Marcus Banks made the 90-minute commute west along U.S. 82 to join forces with Mississippi State, and he looks to be in the rotation for some meaningful playing time.
The Bulldogs are a team that will give other teams fits with their air raid attack, but there are plenty of question marks that remain. Mississippi State is likely a bowl team, but it could be an uphill battle with games against Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Arkansas. If nothing else, the air raid offense will be as annoying to opposing defensive coordinators as their cow bells are to everyone else.
Ole Miss
The Ole Miss Rebels/Black Bears/Landsharks were one of the most enjoyable and exciting teams to watch in 2021. Realistically, whenever Head Coach Lane Kiffin is involved, you can expect to be entertained. And he fielded a team last year that moved fast and made explosive plays.
Ole Miss lost many key contributors across the board, including star quarterback Matt Corral, running back Jerrion Ealy, and All-American defensive end Sam Williams. Fear not Rebel fans, for Coach Kiffin reloaded a la the transfer portal.
Former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart is the new signal caller in Oxford, and he brings a skillset reminiscent to that of Corral’s. Joining him is former five-star recruit and TCU transfer Zach Evans. Evans is incredibly versatile on the ground and as a receiver. Kiffin will certainly find creative ways to get the ball in what should be their best playmaker’s hands. Unfortunately for Dart, Ole Miss does not return much production at receiver with only one starter returning. They will benefit from returning three of five along the offensive front to keep Dart upright and open up holes for Evans.
Last year, the Ole Miss defense made significant improvement from the year prior, allowing two touchdowns less per game than in 2020. Still, the Rebels ranked near the bottom half of the SEC in every major category. This year, they will need to continue to build upon the improvement of last year if they hope to be truly competitive in a very difficult SEC West.
Ole Miss returns two starters from last year along the defensive line, and they added former Auburn big man JJ Pegues. The d-line should be a solid group with decent depth which will help given their severe inexperience at linebacker (no returning starters).
Luckily, the Rebels return key pieces to a secondary that showed great improvement as the year progressed. The defense will need the linebackers to get up to speed quickly as the defense was anemic against the run last year.
While this may be a very familiar refrain, it is true nonetheless: the 2022 Ole Miss season is contingent upon the development and success of new quarterback Jaxson Dart. That being said, Kiffin is one of the most innovative offensive minds in football. Couple his scheming and play-calling ability with his reputation as a “quarterback whisperer,” and you have all of the trappings for Ole Miss to be a highly competitive team. This is a team with a ceiling of 10 wins and a basement as low as potentially six wins.
Texas A&M
Texas A&M made headlines this offseason for landing what many describe as the best recruiting class in history and for Head Coach Jimbo Fisher’s rebuttal to Nick Saban regarding NIL collectives and compensating players. In typical A&M fashion, the team has hung its hat on the fact that it was the lone school to beat Alabama prior to Georgia in the national title game.
Fisher is going to need his newcomers to come into their own sooner rather than later as attrition dealt a heavy blow to the Aggies following their 8-4 2021 campaign. The offense will be led by Haynes King who is returning after sustaining a broken leg last season. King is being viewed by many as Johnny Football 2.0. He will rely on one of the fastest players in football with Devon Achane holding down the running back spot, and he will benefit from the return of last year’s leading receiver Ainias Smith.
On the offensive line, the Aggies will be breaking in three new linemen, including a freshman at tackle. With all of the talent throughout the conference along the defensive front seven, A&M will have to mesh quickly if they hope to live up to the lofty preseason expectations (top 10 in every major poll).
Defensively, the Aggies have exceptional talent across the board, but they severely lack in experience. Only one starter among the front seven from a year ago returns. However, A&M rivals Alabama and Georgia in terms of blue chip talent at their disposal.
The bright spot for Fisher and his defense is in the secondary. Many believe A&M has the best safeties in the country with Demani Richardson and Antionio Jones (Alabama’s Jordan Battle, Demarco Hellams, Brian Branch, et al, might disagree). The Aggies need the secondary to shine while the front seven finds their footing early in the season.
Only time will tell if A&M can live up to its preseason billing as a top 10 team this year. There’s no doubt that they have the talent, but the question remains whether or not they can overcome the lack of experience. I am sure Fisher is hoping that his mouth did not write a check that his cash-flushed new blue chippers cannot cash when they roll into Tuscaloosa on Oct. 8.
Ben Richardson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News
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