After a ho-hum Week 2, Week 3 gave SEC fans a number of exciting in-conference matchups. Alabama-Ole Miss was the headliner, but Georgia-Missouri, LSU-Mississippi State, and Texas A&M-Auburn were all intriguing matchups as well. Even South Carolina-East Carolina was interesting.
The season is still young, but Week 3 was our first opportunity to see how the SEC stacks up against one another on a large scale.
Let’s dive into which players stood out in our third lap around the track. As always, if you’re not familiar with the premise of this column, check out Week 1’s edition for the rules.
Quarterback
| Name | Team | Comp. | Att. | Yds. | Comp% | TD | INT | Yds./Att. | Rush | Rush Yds. | Yds./ Rush | Rush TD | Total Yds. | Total TD | |
| 1st Team | Stephen Johnson | Kentucky | 17 | 22 | 310 | 77.3% | 3 | 0 | 14.1 | 10 | 51 | 5.1 | 0 | 361 | 3 |
| 2nd Team | Jalen Hurts | Alabama | 19 | 31 | 158 | 61.3% | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 17 | 155 | 9.1 | 0 | 313 | 0 |
Give major credit to Johnson, who came in off the bench in relief of an injured Drew Barker, and was damn near perfect. Barker has looked both really good and really bad at times this season, and if Johnson continues to play like this in his absence, the Wildcats might have a quarterback controversy brewing.
Running Back
| Name | Team | Att. | Yds. | Yds. / Att. | TD | Tgt. | Catch | Rec. Yds. | Rec. TD | Yds./ Catch | Yds./ Tgt. | Total Yds. | Total TD | Yds./ Touch | |
| 1st Team | Damien Harris | Alabama | 16 | 144 | 9.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 146 | 2 | 8.1 |
| 2nd Team | Benjamin Snell, Jr. | Kentucky | 17 | 136 | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 136 | 4 | 8.0 |
Harris' play this season has announced him as perhaps the league's premier homerun-hitting back, while the little-known Snell enjoyed a breakout game, scoring the most touchdowns of any SEC player in a single game so far this season.
Wide Receiver
| Name | Team | Tgt. | Catch | Catch% | Yds. | TD | Yds./ Catch | Yds./ Tgt. | Rush Att. | Rush Yds. | Yds./ Att. | Rush TD | Yds./ Scrim. | TD/ Scrim. | Yds./ Touch | |
| 1st Team | Isaiah McKenzie | Georgia | 16 | 10 | 62.5% | 122 | 2 | 12.2 | 7.63 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 1 | 141 | 3 | 11.8 |
| J'Mon Moore | Missouri | 13 | 8 | 61.5% | 196 | 2 | 24.5 | 15.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 196 |
2 |
24.5 | |
| 2nd Team | Josh Reynolds | Texas A&M | 9 | 7 | 77.8% | 98 | 1 | 14.0 | 10.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 1 | 14.0 |
| Josh Malone | Tennessee | 8 | 5 | 62.5% | 69 | 2 | 13.8 | 8.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 2 | 13.8 |
For 58 minutes of Georgia-Missouri, it would've been fair to consider J'Mon Moore the player of the game. Isaiah McKenzie was no slouch himself up to that point, but it was his go-ahead touchdown from Jacob Eason on 4th down, and Moore's game-sealing fumble on the next play from scrimmage, that solidified McKenzie's place as my player of the week.
Tight End
| Name | Team | Tgt. | Catch | Catch% | Yds. | TD | Yds. / Catch | Yds. / Tgt. | |
| First Team | Evan Engram | Ole Miss | 12 | 9 | 75.0% | 138 | 1 | 15.3 | 11.5 |
| Second Team | C.J. Conrad | Kentucky | 5 | 5 | 100% | 133 | 3 | 26.6 | 26.6 |
What an awesome week for these two tight ends. Conrad would've been first team in nearly any other week, but Engram's play against Alabama is just a little more impactful, even if it came in a loss.
Defensive Line
| Name | Team | Tackles | TFL | Sack | PD | INT | FF | TD | Havoc | |
| First Team | Charles Harris | Missouri | 5.5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Marquis Haynes | Ole Miss | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| Arden Key | LSU | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.5 | |
| Jeremiah Ledbetter | Arkansas | 3.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | |
| Second Team | Lewis Neal | LSU | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jabari Zuniga | Florida | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| Jonathan Allen | Alabama | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Terry Beckner, Jr. | Missouri | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Welcome back, Charles Harris. The Mizzou defensive end had been largely absent in the Tigers' first two games, but he was the best player on the field Saturday night. He's the Defensive Player of the Week.
Elsewhere, guys like Marquis Haynes and Jonathan Allen made some huge plays in the most hyped matchup of the season so far, while Florida's Zuniga continues to play like the best freshman defensive lineman in the conference.
Linebacker
| Name | Team | Tackles | TFL | Sack | PD | INT | FF | TD | Havoc | |
| First Team | Claude George | Texas A&M | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Shaun Dion Hamilton | Alabama | 5.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Dezmond Harris | Mississippi State | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Second Team | Zach Cunnngham | Vanderbilt | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Donavin Newsom | Missouri | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Kendell Beckwith | LSU | 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
This wasn't the greatest week for SEC linebackers as a group, but guys like George and Hamilton showed out in games their teams needed to win if they wanted to keep paced in the West.
Cornerback
| Name | Team | Tackles | TFL | Sack | PD | INT | FF | TD | Havoc | |
| First Team | Chris Lammons | South Carolina | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Juwuan Briscoe | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| Second Team | Ryan Pulley | Arkansas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Marlon Humphrey | Alabama | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
East Carolina throws a ton, but they run too many plays at Chris Lammons, who stuffed the stat sheet in a number of different areas. Briscoe had a rough first half covering J'Mon Moore, but his second half interception and -- especially -- forced fumble were game-changing plays.
Safety
| Name | Team | Tackles | TFL | Sack | PD | INT | FF | TD | Havoc | |
| First Team | Quincy Mauger | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Justin Evans | Texas A&M | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Second Team | Mike Edwards | Kentucky | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Marcus Maye | Florida | 4.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
Like Briscoe, Quincy Mauger had a gigantic second half as the Georgia secondary consistently forced Drew Lock into mistakes. His 4th quarter interception in the endzone prevented Mizzou from having a chance to go up to scores, preserving UGA's shot to win.
Kicker
| Name | Team | Made FG | Att. FG | Long | Made XP | Att. XP | Total Pts. | |
| First Team | Daniel LaCamera | Texas A&M | 5 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| Second Team | Gary Wunderlich | Ole Miss | 3 | 3 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
LaCamera had arguably the best game of any special teams player so far this season.
Punter
| Name | Team | Punt Att. | Yds. | Yds. / Att. | Long | |
| First Team | Corey Fatony | Missouri | 5 | 252 | 50.4 | 60 |
| Second Team | Gary Wunderlich | Ole Miss | 3 | 164 | 54.7 | 68 |
Wunderlich deserves major kudos for pulling double duty against Alabama.