Harbach Blog...SEC Post-Spring Rankings

The quiet period of the college football season has begun with recruiting and spring practices over. What better time to rank the SEC teams and see where they stack up heading into the summer.

SEC Spring practices are over and since there was a Pre-Spring SEC Ranking it makes sense to release to Post-Spring Ranking now. It is tough to make changes off of practice, that’s right I am talking about practice, but there were a number of teams that had big question marks before the spring and some of them managed to answer them. Of course there were also a number of teams that did not get the answers they were hoping for and some teams made decisions that brought on more questions. Even with so little to go on there were some shake ups compared to what my rankings looked like 6 weeks ago. Read the comments and send me yours because the next time this list is revisited will be August.

1. Florida
This was a pretty laid back spring for the Gators, outside of the information that Tim Tebow will be playing under center some of this season. That is probably a smart thing for Urban Meyer to do for Tebow, NFL teams getting some film on him in a more traditional setting could help his draft stock a lot. Considering the Gators will have a lot of games that are well in hand early there is more of an opportunity than you might think to see Tebow taking snaps like most NFL QB’s. The Gators hoped that Deonte Thompson was going to step up this spring and take over but that hasn’t happened yet.

2. LSU
Before the spring LSU at number two was something that took a long time to actually put down, but after the spring they have cemented themselves in the number two spot in these rankings. Jordan Jefferson and the rest of the Bengal Tiger offense had a great spring, the defensive line is looking good and Patrick Peterson seems poised for a breakout year in the defensive backfield.

3. Alabama (up from 4)
One of the most surprising developments from the spring was Greg McElroy ending the QB race in Tuscaloosa in the middle of spring practices. Even Alabama fans have to admit they did not expect him to win the starting job so easily, even if they did expect him to play well. It will be exciting to see what Nick Saban can do with a team that still has good QB play to go along with some new expectations in year 3.

4. Ole Miss (down from 3)
Jevan Snead looks like he will be able to continue his good play going into this season as he looked very sharp this spring. Like most Houston Nutt teams, the running game looks to be a strength for the Rebels and the defensive line will still be talented with returning starter Greg Hardy and an improving Jerrell Powe.

5. Georgia
It is good to see that Joe Cox wasn’t thinking about the talented underclassmen looking to take his starting spot because he really proved himself to be the man in Athens at least going into the fall. This was supposed to be a battle going into August, but Cox looks to be the guy this year unless he plays poorly in the games. The replacement for Knowshon Moreno is still unKNOWn with Caleb King still inconsistent and Carlton Thomas more of a change of pace back due to his size.

6. Arkansas
Year two of the Bobby Petrino era could be a big step forward for the Razorbacks and a big re-introduction for College Football to Ryan Mallett. Mallett is the perfect fit for the Bobby Petrino offense, big arm, tall enough to see down field and he has some experience already from his time at Michigan. Even with Michael Smith hurt this spring the running game looks good and Arkansas always has a good offensive line. The key will be the defense which was very young in 2008, if they can improve a little this season, Arkansas could be a tough win for a number of SEC teams.

7. South Carolina (up from 8)
This is a big year for two people in Columbia and both of them are Steve’s. Stephen Garcia and Steve Spurrier have a lot of prove this year and after spring practice Stephen Garcia looks to be in good shape as the Gamecock starting quarterback. This was Garcia’s third year spring on campus and his first time practicing during the spring which is a victory itself. Spurrier is out of choices at QB unless he wants to run a version of the wildcat offense every snap. Garcia is the man and should not be looking over his shoulder at all, which is why this is a big year for Spurrier. Garcia was brought in to be the quarterback of the future, the future is now and there are no other options.

8. Auburn (down from 7)
All that you need to know about the Auburn quarterback situation is that Chris Todd is still being mentioned as a possibility once he can throw this summer. That is not a knock against Todd, but a knock against Kodi Burns and Neil Caudle who just seem unable to go out and grab the job. The most exciting thing for Auburn fans this spring had to have been the physical play from the offensive line. They all have gained weight to keep up with SEC defensive linemen and the running game seems to be improving because of it.

9. Vanderbilt (up from 11)
Could Vanderbilt really have one of the best quarterback situations in the SEC? Both Mackenzie Adams and Larry Smith played well all spring and even with the loss of wide receiver Justin Wheeler, who tore ligaments in his knee, the Dores seemed to find other playmakers at the wide receiver position. Junior WR Alex Washington made a number of plays in practices and the spring game, but there is not a lot of depth at those skills positions for Vandy right now.

10. Tennessee
With the recent BJ Coleman transfer it really is a 2 man race for the staring QB position with Nick Stephens and Jonathon Crompton. Crompton has the lead right now and it is smart for Kiffin to go ahead and make one of them the man from day 1 so that the starter is not looking over his shoulder after every bad play. Tennessee’s quarterbacks played scared all last season and giving one of them the confidence of being the man could help in the long run. Hopefully a number of snaps will be coming from the SEC’s best athlete, Eric Berry, because he is too good an athlete not to be on the field as much as possible.

11. Kentucky (down from 9)
The decision to not give Randall Cobb any snaps at quarterback is a bad one and while his future in the NFL may be at receiver, his present in college football should not be. Mike Hartline is not an elite athlete or a dynamic quarterback and Cobb happens to be dynamic. If a team does not have a great Pro-Style passer than it makes sense to have the best athlete on the team touch the ball each snap. Cobb should at least be getting split reps at QB and WR, but just using him in one spot is going to hurt the Wildcat offense in the long wrong.

12. MSU
It was great to see Anthony Dixon still as the focal point of the Bulldog offense because a philosophy change like MSU made with hiring Dan Mullen could have phased Dixon out of the game plan completely. Mullen seems to be smart enough to realize he has to use the talent he has and slowly bring in players to compliment the schemes he plans to run. That doesn’t mean MSU will continue to be a 3 yards and a cloud of dust offense, but it shows that Mullen intends to use the talent he has. The Bulldogs still don’t have a QB on the roster that can win in the SEC so it will be interesting how much game planning will help MSU win games this season.

Spring seemed to cement my opinions of where the SEC stacks up heading into the summer, what are your thoughts? E-mail Me or you can follow me on Twitter. Brian Harbach