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SEC Media Days, the frenzied and wild event gathering of hundreds of reporters and bloggers to listen to a series of press conferences and hope for mayhem at a ballroom in Hoover, begins on Monday. In preparation, the SEC today released the list of players who will be accompanying each team's head coach to the event. There are no Tebows or Manziels or Clowneys among this year's bunch -- but there are still some pretty good players.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Landon Collins, Safety
Amari Cooper, Wide Receiver
Christion Jones, Wide Receiver
Arkansas Razorbacks
Brey Cook, Offensive Guard
Trey Flowers, Defensive End
Alan Turner, Safety
Auburn Tigers
Nick Marshall, Quarterback
Reese Dismukes, Center
Gabe Wright, Defensive Linemen
Florida Gators
Jeff Driskel , Quarterback
Dante Fowler, Defensive End
Vernon Hargreaves III, Cornerback
Georgia Bulldogs
Chris Conley, Flanker
Todd Gurley, Tailback
Ramik Wilson, Linebacker
Kentucky Wildcats
Bud Dupree, Defensive End
Jordan Swindle, Offensive Tackle
Za'Darius Smith, Defensive End
LSU Tigers
La'el Collins, Offensive Tackle
Terrence Magee, Running Back
D.J. Welter, Linebacker
Ole Miss Rebels
CJ Johnson, Defensive End
Cody Prewitt, Safety
Bo Wallace, Quarterback
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Jay Hughes, Safety
Benardrick McKinney, Linebacker
Dak Prescott, Quarterback
Missouri Tigers
Evan Boehm, Center
Markus Golden, Defensive End
Maty Mauk, Quarterback
South Carolina Gamecocks
A.J. Cann, Offensive Guard
J.T. Surratt, Defensive Tackle
Dylan Thompson, Quarterback
Tennessee Volunteers
Mack Crowder, Offensive Line
AJ Johnson, Linebacker
Curt Maggitt, Defensive End
Texas A&M Aggies
Deshazor Everett, Defensive Back
Drew Kaser, Punter
Cedric Ogbuehi, Offensive Tackle
Vanderbilt Commodores
Adam Butler, Defensive Line
Steven Scheu, Tight End
Andrew Williamson, Safety
A few thoughts:
- Alabama is sending two wide receivers to SEC Media Days. Think about that for just a minute. Combine that with the hiring of Boy Wonder over the offseason, and you have to wonder if Nick Saban isn't putting a little bit more emphasis on a higher-scoring offense than in past years. Of course, that's also probably way too much to read into who is going to a weeklong press conference extravaganza.
- The Year of the Quarterback, Part II. There's been more than a little attention -- none of it really misplaced -- about the loss of several senior quarterbacks this year. But there are still a half-dozen headed to Hoover, including two (Maty Mauk and Dylan Thomspon) who have never been full-time starters, though both have started when the first-team guys went down.
- At the same time, you've got a lot of linemen and defensive players going. Plenty of folks on Twitter had fun with the post-Manziel Aggies sending a punter as one of their players -- but you'll note that the other two guys are a defensive back and an offensive lineman. There are still plenty of good players at the offensive skill positions in College Station, but there's no question that the offseason losses took a bit of the bite out of the Texas A&M offense. Overall, 29 of the 42 players going to media days -- a bit more than two per team -- are offensive linemen or defensive players. That's actually a little bit below the percentage of players who are on the field at those positions at any given moment -- 69 percent vs. 72.7 percent -- but it's out of proportion to the media and fan attention that goes to the offensive skill positions. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.