Senior talent in SEC football

[Biggus Piggus]

A friend who works for a scouting service sent me this.  Unfortunately, he has no data on three SEC teams--LSU, Ole Miss and MSU.  But here's his firm's count of teams' draftable and near-draftable (could move up with a good season) players, including possible early entries this year.  This is only seniors + possible early entries.

OFFENSE
10 Florida
8 Auburn
8 Tennessee
7 Georgia
5 Kentucky
4 Arkansas
4 Vanderbilt
3 Alabama
3 South Carolina

DEFENSE

8 Auburn
8 Tennessee
7 Alabama
7 South Carolina
7 Vanderbilt
5 Arkansas
5 Georgia
5 Kentucky
4 Florida

Auburn, Florida and Tennessee had the most likely draftees on offense, while Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia had the most on defense.

Florida has good talent on D but is young, he said.

Of the teams not listed, he said LSU probably rates high on both sides of the ball while Ole Miss has some good defensive players and Olinemen, and MSU is pretty low on veteran talent.

We all know Arkansas' 2002-03 recruiting classes were not very good and the best of 2001 are gone.  Young players will have to get it done.

[TulsaHawg]

A friend who works for a scouting service sent me this. Unfortunately, he has no data on three SEC teams--LSU, Ole Miss and MSU. But here's his firm's count of teams' draftable and near-draftable (could move up with a good season) players, including possible early entries this year. This is only seniors + possible early entries.

OFFENSE
10 Florida
8 Auburn
8 Tennessee
7 Georgia
5 Kentucky
4 Arkansas
4 Vanderbilt
3 Alabama
3 South Carolina

DEFENSE

8 Auburn
8 Tennessee
7 Alabama
7 South Carolina
7 Vanderbilt
5 Arkansas
5 Georgia
5 Kentucky
4 Florida

Auburn, Florida and Tennessee had the most likely draftees on offense, while Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia had the most on defense.

Florida has good talent on D but is young, he said.

Of the teams not listed, he said LSU probably rates high on both sides of the ball while Ole Miss has some good defensive players and Olinemen, and MSU is pretty low on veteran talent.

We all know Arkansas' 2002-03 recruiting classes were not very good and the best of 2001 are gone. Young players will have to get it done.

UGA only has 5 on D and Vandy has 7?

[Biggus Piggus]

Remember, it's seniors + possible early entries, and Georgia lost a lot of seniors.  And most of Vandy's were near-draftables, while most of Georgia's were likely draftees.  But yes, sure makes our Vandy game look more interesting, doesn't it?

[Bomis Hawg]

Just browsing through the teams he didn't have stuff on:  LSU has 8 on offense and 8 on defense.  Ole Miss has about 6 on offense and 3 (4 max) on defense.  MSU has 3 (4 max) on offense and  4-5 on defense.

I have no ability to judge NFL talent, just making some guesses.  LSU has talent, we all know this.  MSU and Ole Miss are guesses.  They have talented players, but some might be on the verge of being close to a draftee (needing good season).

[Biggus Piggus]

To me, our formula for success includes

1) pounding people with our big Oline
2) getting the football to a lot of good-looking backs and some talented receivers
3) making big plays on defense
4) not giving up big plays on defense
5) having a better than miserable kicking game.

We don't have to play two of the league's top offensive teams, Florida and Tennessee, which ought to be an advantage.  We do have to play most of the great defenses.  I think four or five of our opponents could have very unexciting offenses, and Georgia, do they get better or worse?

[Oklahawg]

If the drop in talent on the schedule would have coordinated with the home/away business we could pick up another win than most are anticipating. What a great year to have UGa at Fayetteville, for example.

[Biggus Piggus]

If the drop in talent on the schedule would have coordinated with the home/away business we could pick up another win than most are anticipating. What a great year to have UGa at Fayetteville, for example.

Yes, the Georgia crowd will be a big advantage for them.  At least we'll have some road experience by then.  If you note the above, it's not as though UGa is out of talent.  They'll be tough, and Auburn will be tougher.  Bama and South Carolina look one-dimensional.