SEC Power Poll: All-SEC Tight End Aaron Hernandez

To see all the All-SEC selections named today, go here.

Aaron Hernandez is easily the SEC Power Poll's All-SEC selection at tight end.

It wasn't quite unanimous -- one of our voters didn't cast a ballot for the position and Luke Stocker and Colin Peek each got a vote -- but Hernandez won handily with nine of 11 voters choosing the junior for the team.

Which shouldn't surprise. In a receiving corps that was disappointing for the Gators, Hernandez was easily Tim Tebow's favorite target, catching 59 passes. That was 15 more than the next nearest receiver, Riley Cooper, and 35 more than anyone outside of Cooper. Hernandez's 739 yards receiving were 41 fewer than Cooper and almost 500 more than anyone else on the team. He amounted for more than a quarter of the team's receiving yardage. He also scored four touchdowns, good for second on the team. All this from a position where short routes are the name of the game -- if the tight end isn't also tasked with blocking on a play.

How important could Hernandez be? Consider what might have happened at LSU had he not caught six passes for 70 yards, or against Arkansas if Hernandez weren't there to snag seven receptions for 92 yards.

Not that Stocker or Peek are bad. Stocker had 27 catches for 370 yards and 5 TDs; Peek had 26 receptions for 313 yards and 3 TDs. That those two players got the other votes puts Hernandez's numbers in perspective.