Let the Games Begin: SEC Football Media Days

Some thoughts on SEC Football Media Days from here in Birmingham, Alabama . . . .

-South Carolina LB Jasper Brinkley is a big man. Very big. So is Vanderbilt LB Jonathan Goff. Both of these guys will be huge pieces of the puzzle for their respective defenses. And they'll both be first round picks come next April's draft. Brinkley has all the skills you look for in a defensive field general: he can stuff the box on the run, blitz the dickens out of the quarterback without much of a cheat, and inspire a defense to go above and beyond (don't forget the game against Auburn last year when the Gamecocks' defense was on the field for literally the entire third quarter. They gave up just three points.) He'll be the anchor for a unit that Steve Spurrier believes is vastly improved. It better be if the Ol' Ball Coach truly hopes to up the win total this year. As far as Vandy's Goff, a tall task awaits. A mechanical engineering major, he's a very smart player, if a man of few words. But can he carry a spotty defense to a season of sturdy performances? It's highly unlikely.

-The circus is in town! Two of them actually. Take your pick: Darren McFadden and the traveling Heisman show or Nick Saban and the hired gun parade. These guys have been swarmed from the get-go on their respective days. D-Mac was the star appearance for most folks on Day One while Saban took front and center stage on Day Two. Will McFadden win the Heisman this year? Probably, barring injury. He's too strong, quick and athleticially gifted to put up anything less than another monster season. Somebody just tell Arkansas coach Houston Nutt not to live and die with the wildcat package again. It has a place, but got way too gimmicky towards the end of last year. As far as the other circus goes, I think Crimson Tide faithful are believing a little too much in the quick fix. Will Saban return Alabama to prominence? Maybe, but not right away. You must have talented players to win big games against the heavyweights in the SEC, and Alabama just doesn't have enough of them---yet. But Slick Nick will get them eventually.

-Kentucky is going to be good in football for the second straight year. After winning eight games a year ago (including a Music City Bowl victory over Clemson), the Wildcats return a stacked deck offensively, led by stud quarterback Andre Woodson. With 31 TDs against just 7 INTs a year ago, Woodson helped Wildcat fans remember that there are sports beside basketball. I interviewed him on the Morning Rush yesterday and came away even more impressed. He's smart, humble and easy to talk with. Whether Kentucky can actually contend with the powerhouses in this league remains to be seen (doubtful), but it won't be for lack of trying by Woodson. The real question around his team is whether they can stop anybody.

-Dire straights continue for the college football teams from Mississippi. Ole Miss doesn't have stud LB Patrick Willis anymore, and it doesn't look like anyone is going to come even close to filling his shoes. The quarterback position is unsettled, with talented playmaker Brent Schaeffer making too many mistakes last year to keep Ed Orgeron happy. Instead, it will be Seth Adams under center at the outset of the season. Another senior, he's less mistake prone. But once again, it doesn't look good for the Rebels as far as winning games. On the flip, Mississippi State is only slightly less bad. Sylvester Croom is starting to run out of time in Starkville and the cupboard remains startlingly bare. QB Michael Henig, RB Anthony Dixon and DE Titus Brown are his only real playmakers. He'll need extraordinary performances out of all of them to win anything more than four games.

-As a whole, the SEC is still loaded. A lot of people would have you believe the conference is do for a down season, what with all the departures to the NFL, but I don't see it. Stack it up against any conference in the country---Pac-10, Big 10, ACC, Big 12---and top to bottom, the SEC is still number one by a lot in my book. In the East, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina are all legitimately great to good football teams, essentially in that descending order, while the West is awfully strong up top with LSU, Auburn, Arkansas and Alabama all poised for good years as well. That's nine out of twelve teams in the conference who can play with and beat pretty much anyone else in the country on a given Saturday. That's the best sign of a strong conference for me.

-JAB