Coaches Pre-Season All-SEC Team Announced

It was posted here on the official conference site and raises some interesting questions.

John Jerry and Greg Hardy both landed 1st team nods, Dexter McCluster and Jevan Snead earned 2nd team nods, and Shay Hodge, Marcus Tillman, and Joshua Shene wound up on the 3rd team. Not a bad showing for the Rebels.

One thing of note though... three player were unanimous first teamers: Eric Berry, Ciron Black, and Julio Jones. Not Tim Tebow though. While he's the obvious choice as first team QB, there was at least one dissenter along the way and my guess would be Mr. Kiffin. And, by the way, I know Julio is great and all, but how is he unanimous and AJ Green isn't? Green's numbers were better than Jones' last year.

Speaking of quarterbacks, it's a sad state of affairs when the 3rd team nod gets split between Stephen Garcia and Mike Hartline. Those two combined for 2498 yards with a 15/16 TD/INT ratio. I'd say that Mallett or Cox will end up 3rd team. I'd even take McElroy before either Garcia or Hartline.

I also think it's interesting that no Rebel RB made the list. I know that the depth Nutt has at his disposal hurts individual numbers, but gimme Brandon Bolden over any back in the league except for Charles Scott. Michael Smith will put up gaudy numbers as the featured back at Arkansas, but if I need 2 yards, I'll take Scott or Bolden over anyone else.

Thursday Links

* As I predicted – not that I really went out on a limb – Chris Low ranks Jevan Snead the 3rd best player in the SEC. It’s hard to really disagree with him. Snead’s talents are best summed up in this sentence:

He's the kind of talent at quarterback that doesn't come along very often, and more importantly, the kind of talent you build championship teams around.

That leaves only UT DB Eric Berry and that one dude who plays QB at Florida… whatever his name is. If you were going to have a draft to start a college team, each would likely be the #1 overall pick for their side of the ball. Tebow and Berry are once a decade talents that have dominated their positions for the last 2 years. As good as Snead is, the gap between 2nd best and 3rd best players in the SEC is very, very big.

* Low also has a good read up entitled Simply Loaded in the SEC and looks at the stoutest units in the conference. Predictably, the stable of studs that Nutt and Nix have available at DL is mentioned:

Former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron obviously knew a thing or two about recruiting and developing defensive linemen. The Rebels will go about eight deep across the defensive front in 2009, and that's after losing first-round draft pick Peria Jerry. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt says pass-rushing extraordinaire Greg Hardy is dialed in mentally like he hasn't seen him, and tackle Jerrell Powe lost weight and is coming off a stellar spring. Ends Marcus Tillman and Kentrell Lockett combined for 17.5 tackles for loss last season, and both are dynamic leaders. Ted Laurent, Lawon Scott and Justin Smith make for an imposing trio on the inside.

Other units mentioned are the Alabama DL, the LSU secondary, the UGA OL, the Arkansas WRs, and the UF secondary (which is doing just fine thanks since parting ways with the cancerous Jamar Hornsby.)

* Ole Miss guard Terrico White and 16 players you’ve probably never heard of were invited to the Team USA U19 Trials in Colorado Springs, CO.

Glancing over the roster, it appears that Terrico has a legitimate shot at making the roster. This is a great chance for him to get in some additional live game action and hopefully develop a little more reliable outside jumper. If he can consistently knock down an open 15-20 foot jump shot next season, it will open up world of possibilities for him and the Rebel offense in general.

Tuesday Things

* Chris Low rates Greg Hardy the 9th best player in the SEC. He sums up the essence of Greg Hardy in his first two sentences: “ Let's be honest here. Hardy has at times been a bit of an enigma.” When Hardy is healthy and properly focused and motivated, there are few offensive linemen who can match up with him one on one. He’s too quick and too good a slasher. With Peria Jerry gone, Hardy will be key to drawing double teams to let Patrick Trahan and others make plays in space.

My guess is that Jevan Snead ranks #3 in the conference behind Eric Berry and Tim Tebow. Or at least that’s how I’d rank them. Off the top of my head, in random order, Brandon Spikes, Rolando McClain, AJ Green, and Julio Jones will also be in the top 10. Who am I missing?

* The one thing Dan Mullen really had going for him so far this spring was he seemed to be the only rookie coach in the conference not making a spectacle of himself. Gene Chizik and his limos were all over the media and blogosphere. Lane Kiffin… well, that one speaks for itself. But Mullen seemed to just be going about his business. Until now.

Mullen used his recent stop at the Vestavia Country Club on his Bulldog Club tours to take jabs at Chizik and Kiffin. That’s most likely harmless as neither will be able to extract a painful revenge this season. Auburn and mitippi tate set modern football back 50 years with their heinous 3-2 game last year and Auburn won’t be blowing anyone out this season. And the bulldogs don’t face Tennessee in 2009, so no vengeance there.

Then Mullen decided to take a page out of the official “moou handbook for pandering to fans” and refer to Ole Miss by another name.

Go ahead, ask the New Hampshire native if he's already been introduced to his new school's rivalry with Ole Miss.

"The team up north?" he said. "We call them the team up north. I don't like to cuss by using the word that you just used."

That’s all fine and well. He needs to save up his profanities for when the season starts. This year’s Egg Bowl score may not be much different than the glorious 45-0 trouncing last year. I have a feeling that Mr. Mullen will be making up for lost profanities by the time the 4th quarter runs down to 0:00 this year.

* The All-SEC Baseball teams were announced and a big Dead Guy congratulations go out to first-teamer Jordan Henry and second-teamers Drew Pomeranz and Scott Bittle. Honestly, the Rebels weren’t as well represented as they should’ve been. Leaving Jake Morgan off is ridiculous. His numbers were fantastic – 7 Saves and a 1.29 ERA – but his emergence let us move Bittle to the starting rotation which turned our conference season around. David Brandt views it this way:

But really, as hokey as it may sound, this team hasn't been about individual honors. Almost every Ole Miss play(er) has good stats, but very few of them (except guys like Henry and Bittle) made you look at the numbers and immediately crown them All-SEC.

But hey, at least Alabama landed 5 guys on the first team alone.

* This is from last week, but somehow I missed it: Tommy Tuberville will talk SEC Football on BusterSports.com in 2009. In addition to radio appearances and podcast, he’ll interact directly with SEC fans through chat rooms, message boards, and call in questions.

After being tarred and feathered and run out of Auburn, it will probably be nice to take a year off and merely talk about the conference he coached in for nearly a decade and a half.

* After one of the worst years in recent memory, SEC basketball continues to improve itself for the 2009-10 season. With an influx of new coaches, including John Calipari, the league is set to return to relevance next season and prominence the year after that.

Calipari’s signing of John Wall to Kentucky will land the ‘Cats in the top 10 preseason. As the “basketball face” of the league, UK’s recent struggles under Billy Gilispie marred not only the school’s reputation, but also the conference’s as a whole. While I’m certainly not a Calipari fan, there’s no denying his impact.

Rebels in the 2010 NFL Draft

With the 2009 NFL draft now just a blip in history, it’s obviously time to get mock drafts together for 2010. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports offers his here, and projects Jevan Snead as the No.1 pick next year and lists Greg Hardy as No. 8. He says this about Snead:

An early look to next year's draft shows a class that could be quarterback heavy. My top guy, as always, is a quarterback. It's not who you think. It's not Oklahoma's Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy of Texas or even Florida's Tim Tebow.

It's Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead. Entering his junior year, this transfer from Texas has everything
I love in a quarterback. He has good size at 6-3, a rocket for an arm and sees the field.

He transferred from Texas because of McCoy. But I think come next April he will be the first pick in the draft. Snead, if he gives up his senior year, is next year's Matt Stafford.

Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated offers his here. He ventures to project the order of the draft and has Hardy going 18th to the Seahawks and Snead going 25th to the 49ers. Then there's this from Sports Illustrated that ranks Hardy #1 and Snead #32.

With a chance the NFL rookie salary cap comes to fruition in the 2011 season, I wouldn’t be surprised to Snead come out early, particularly if he plays like he did in the final 6 games of last season. The 3 consecutive throws he made to McCluster, Summers, and Wallace against LSU were as good as any throws any Rebel QB has made in a long, long time, including Eli.

With 2009 being the first draft the Rebels have ever had 2 players drafted in the first round, accomplishing it two years in a row would be a big statement for the program, particularly with the sad W/L record compiled in the EOr era. Nutt and his staff have done a good job replacing the outgoing talent, and while it remains to be seen whether it blossoms on the field, prospects are certainly high.

And if Snead is indeed gone after next season, here's hoping he goes out with an SEC title game appearance on his resume.