5
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LB's
As spring football nears we will be going over the top 5 postions for the SEC starting off with the linebackers for the 2014 season. The linebackers in the SEC will be one of the strongest and deepest positions in the conference in 2014 with a ton of talented guys like LSU’s Kwon Alander and Vandy’s Darreon Herring.
Although those two guys didn’t make the cut for this list they were very close and deserved mentioning as do a slew of others.
That said here are the top 5 returners for the SEC in 2014:
5. Leonard Floyd, Georgia(SO)
4. Trey DePriest, Alabama(SR)
3. Benardick McKinney, Mississippi State(JR)
2. AJ Johnson, Tennessee(SR)
1. Ramik Wilson, Georgia(SR)
Georgia leads off this year with two in the top 5 and under Jeremy Pruitt’s defensive scheme there could likely be three. Leonard Floyd is a long, lean and extremely aggressive off the edges. Floyd tallied up 55 tackles, 9.5 sacks for loss, 6.5 sacks and 22 QB hurries as a freshman!! His fellow teammate Wilson posted the best record for tackles in 2013 with 133, including 11 for a loss and managed to rack up four sacks to go along with those tackles. Needless to say the Georgia linebacking unit will be a beast to watch this next season.
With last season’s Butkus award winner, CJ Mosley, gone DePriest will be looked at to step up and fill the void on defense for the Tide. DePriest has managed to rack up some nice numbers over the course of his three year tenure but if 2013 proved to be a glimpse of what Tide fans can expect in 2014 with 65 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles…watch out!
Probably one of the more “unknown” players on this list is McKinney from Mississippi State. He actually passed up the NFL draft this year to return for his junior season and looks to pick up where he left off with 71 tackles in his sophomore season. Did we mention he had 102 tackles his freshman year? Keep your eye on him. He’s solid NFL talent.
Last but definitely not least is AJ Johnson from Tennessee. Johnson decided to forgo his opportunity to come out for the draft this year as well after recieving word that he would be a mid to late round pick. It’s hard not to pick him as the guy who will get the 2014 Butkus Award based on his previous back-to-back 100 tackle seasons alone but he still have some areas to improve on.
Next month:
NFL Draft Preview/Review: SEC Players
Spring Game Reviews
Special Topic:
SEC Cash Cow