SEC Football: A post spring practice look at the Florida Gators and the SEC

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

Now that spring football practice is over and done with a few thoughts about the state of the SEC:

Photo credit Chris Spears

The Florida Gators will be the SEC’s most improved team in 2024:

There is good news and bad news for the Florida Gators in 2024. The good news is they will be the Southeastern Conference’s single most improved football team. The bad news is they have the nation’s most brutal schedule. Athlon’s all too early top 25 includes nine teams on the UF schedule. Florida could be the most improved team in the conference and still go 6-6.

The belief here is that the Gators will do better than 6-6. How much better? That’s hard to say because critical injuries could change everything, but this is the most experienced team Napier has been able to put on the field. All those kids who took their lumps the last two seasons are veterans now. A year older doesn’t make you necessarily a year better but it’s a good place to start.

Because quarterback is the single most important position in all of sports, the Gators will have an advantage in 2024 they didn’t have either of the past two seasons. Anthony Richardson came into 2022 with one career start. Graham Mertz was in his first year in a brand new offense a year ago, handicapped by a rather inefficient offensive line. He still threw only three picks, averaged more than eight yards an attempt and would have easily surpassed 3,000 yards if he hadn’t broken his collar bone against Missouri. The Gators might have won that game and the next week against FSU with a healthy Mertz. Perceptions would certainly be different if UF had gone 7-5 instead of 5-7, wouldn’t they?

Napier brought in two transfer tackles who have experience and good pass blocking skills. It’s being reported that he’s looking for another guard to bolster the interior line.

There is a budding super star in wide receiver Tre Wilson, the best running back in the SEC in Montrell Johnson Jr., speed enough to go vertical in the passing game every single play, and an improved defense that should be able to get off the field.

On paper, at least, the Gators are better. Games are played on the field so that’s a concern right there and there is the issue of injuries. Avoiding them will go a long way toward determining Florida’s success in 2024.

Breaking the SEC into four quads

The league expands to 16 teams in 2024 with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. Some say it will be four teams – Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Alabama – and everybody else for the SEC title but the next four will be tough outs and the four below them will be a player or two away from being really, really good. Of course, there will be four at the bottom. Everybody needs a good homecoming opponent.

The Fab Four, each in two sentences or less

1. Georgia: As long as Carson Beck (a) remains upright and (b) Trevor Etienne doesn’t get him blindsided when he whiffs on an edge rusher, Georgia will be one of the two or three best teams in the country when the season starts.

2. Texas: Only God has more money than the Longhorns so whatever Steve Sarkisian needs, he can go out and buy. Quinn Ewers is one of the top three or four quarterbacks in the country and now he has four new stud receivers to throw to.

3. Ole Miss: Better living through the portal should be Lane Kiffin’s theme song. The offense will be splendid but Lane went portaling to load up on defense, which should make everyone very, very afraid.

4. Alabama: Nick Saban is gone and I’m not sold on Jalen Milroe in Kalen DeBoer’s offense but all those top three or four recruiting classes mean the cupboard is far from bare. DeBoer’s college head coaching record is 104-12.

The next tier

5. Missouri: The offense can win shootout games which Mizzou might have to do since losing its defensive coordinator to LSU. Brady Cook to Luther Burden III is every defensive coordinator’s nightmare.

6. Oklahoma: Underestimate the Sooners at your own risk. The O-line and all 11 starters on defense are upperclassmen who can play.

7. LSU: Everybody will have them in their top 25 but the flaws in that defense will take more than one year and Blake Baker to fix.

8. FLORIDA: The schedule is brutal on the back half but it shouldn’t be a shock if the Gators get some momentum by winning at least five of their first six games prior to Georgia.

Good enough to make everybody sweat

9. Tennessee: I’m not sold on Nico Iamaleava at QB nor am I sold on the UT defense. If Josh Heupel’s history from UCF repeats itself, now’s about the time he starts losing a few games that he should win.

10. Texas A&M: Are you sold on Conner Weigman (a) as a stud QB and (b) making it an entire season without a serious injury? Neither am I.

11. Auburn: Unless Hugh Freeze can land a decent QB in the portal, Auburn is going to have issues on offense. A 6-6 record might be an achievement.

12. Kentucky: Mark Stoops will win six or seven games, go to a bowl game and all the UK people will talk about how great the Wildcats could be if only they had the talent like Alabama or Georgia. Stoops stays at UK because he can win six or seven games a year and they’ll never fire him.

Down at the Bottom

13. South Carolina: Shane Beamer loaded up on running backs with Raheim Sanders (Arkansas), Oscar Adaway III (North Texas) and Jawarn Howell (South Carolina State). He’s going to have to grind and shorten games on the ground to be anything more than break even.

14.  Arkansas: KJ Jefferson transferred to UCF, Raheim Sanders to South Carolina and AJ Green to Oklahoma State. Not even Bobby Petrino can save this offense from a very bad season.

15. Mississippi State: Nine of the spring starters on offense came in via the portal window. It’s going to be a very long year in Starkvegas.

16. Vanderbilt: Every conference needs a designated homecoming opponent. That is Vanderbilt’s sworn duty.

The Best Quarterbacks in the SEC will be …

1. Carson Beck, Georgia: If Georgia wins the national championship, he could win the Heisman Trophy.

2. Quinn Ewers, Texas: Since he shed the blonde mullet and became a real leader both he and Texas have flourished.

3. Brady Cook, Missouri: He’s gotten better every year and he’s got Mizzou on the verge of becoming one of the SEC’s four elite teams.

4. Graham Mertz, Florida: He doesn’t have the cannon of an arm like Beck or Ewers and no one will mistake his feet for those of Jalen Milroe, but he can outthink the other guys and this year he’s got weapons and an O-line.

5. Jaxon Dart, Ole Miss: He’s very good but he also has studs at wide receiver and the best running backs room in the SEC and perhaps the entire country.

6. Jalen Milroe, Alabama: Can Kalen DeBoer harness all that talent and turn him into a consistent and decisive QB?

7. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU: LSU lost its receivers, doesn’t have a running game without Jayden Daniels and the defense sucks. That’s a lot to overcome.

8. Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee: He’s got skills, but there will be growing pains. Josh Heupel is going to kick himself in the butt for playing Joe Milton last year and redshirting Nico.

The Best Running Backs in the SEC Will Be

1. Montrell Johnson Jr., FLORIDA: He has run for 2,496 yards and 27 touchdowns while catching 48 passes for 347 yards and two more TDs.

2. Raheim Sanders, South Carolina: If he’s healthy like he was in 2022 (1,443 yards, 6.5 per carry) he can destroy a team’s will to resist when he’s moving the chains in the fourth quarter.

3. Trevor Etienne, Georgia: Always a breakaway threat (1,472 yards, 5.9 per carry) he adds a running game dimension Georgia hasn’t had since the days of D’Andre Swift. Can’t block a lick but that may not matter.

4. Jarquez Hunter, Auburn: Gained 909 yards a year ago and has 2,170 for his Auburn career. Plus he can catch passes and never fumbles.

5. Marcus Carroll, Missouri: Never heard of him? You will. He ran for 1,350 yards at Georgia State last year. He runs over, under and through defenders.

6. Henry Parrish, Ole Miss: Back at Ole Miss after two years at Miami. He’s gained 2,057 yards and caught 56 passes in his career.

7. Gavin Sawchuk, Oklahoma: Gained 740 yards (6.2 per carry) and scored nine TDs while sharing the backfield. He will be the main squeeze this year.

8. CJ Baxter, Texas: He will be the No. 1 guy running behind one of the best lines in the country. Gained 659 yards as a true freshman in a part-time role a season ago.

The best wide receivers in the SEC will be …

1. Luther Burden III, Missouri: Not just the best in the SEC, but he’s the best in the entire country. He had 86 catches for 1,212 yards and nine TDs a year ago. He’s a big play looking for a place to happen.

2. Tre Harris, Ole Miss: A season ago the numbers were 54-985 (18.24 per catch, 8 TDs). For his career he has 160 catches for 2,512 yards and 22 touchdowns.

3. Nic Anderson, Oklahoma: As a freshman a season ago he had 38 catches for 798 yards (21 per catch) and 10 touchdowns. He’s 6-4, fast and essentially uncoverable.

4. Juice Wells, Ole Miss: The healthy Juice Wells at South Carolina in 2022 caught 68 passes for 928 yards and six touchdowns. He will thrive in Lane Kiffin’s offense.

5. Tre Wilson, FLORIDA: Comparisons to Percy Harvin might be a stretch, but he seems to be a more reliable and uncoverable 2.0 of Kadarius Toney. As a true freshman last season he caught 61 passes for 538 yards and six touchdowns. He will be running more than drag patterns and tunnel screens this year.

6. Isaiah Bond, Texas: At Alabama a year ago he emerged as the most reliable receiver with 48 catches for 668 yards and four touchdowns.

7. Theo Wease Jr., Missouri: Because Luther Burden is on the other side he doesn’t get near enough passes thrown to him but he’s really, really good. Caught 49 passes for 682 yards and six touchdowns.

8. Dominic Lovett, Georgia: Counting two years at Mizzou and one at Georgia, he’s caught 136 passes for 1,632 yards and seven TDs. Caught 54 for 613 last year at UGa, 56 for 846 at Mizzou in 2022.

The Five best O-lines in the SEC will be …

1. Texas: Four starters return on the O-line including right tackle Cam Williams, who has 48 career starts.

2. Georgia: The starting five led by right guard Tate Ratledge is outstanding. The backups are talented but very young.

3. Tennessee: Three starters return including center Cooper Mays and right tackle John Campbell. The new left tackle is former LSU starter Lance Heard.

4. Missouri: Getting Cayden Green to transfer in from Oklahoma to play left tackle was critical.

5. Ole Miss: The Rebels poached a pair of guards with starting experience from Washington to solidify a line for one of the country’s most balanced offenses. Center Caleb Warren is a 3-year starter.

The two most improved defenses will be …

1. Ole Miss: The Rebels improved last year under Pete Golding. Now Pete has some toys to play with thanks to portal additions EDGE Princely Umanmielen (Florida), DT Walter Nolen (Texas A&M), LB Chris Paul (Arkansas), CB Amorion Walker (Michigan), CB Brandon Turnage (Tennessee) and S Key Lawrence (Oklahoma). Lane Kiffin is counting on the new and improved defense giving him a couple of extra possessions a game. If the Rebels have a good defense, they could be scary in 2024.

2. FLORIDA: Billy Napier replaced three defensive coaches and all three are upgrades. Ron Roberts, the guru of the creeper defense, is the guy who will be the difference maker. He made Auburn a touchdown and four first downs better in 2023. If he can do that at UF in 2024, the Gators will probably be the most improved team in the league. The Gators have more experience on the defensive side than either of the last two years and they addressed all three levels by bringing in experienced players from the portal. Three names to watch from the portal: EDGE George Gumbs (Northern Illinois), ILB Grayson (Pup) Howard (South Carolina) and S DJ Douglas (Tulane).