STARKVILLE — The Southeastern Conference is not expected to hurt for quality offensive linemen. The players around them will be the topic of discussion beginning Monday.
Monday begins SEC Media Days, the conference’s yearly kickoff event at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, where all 14 teams will have their head coach and three players speak. Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, Coordinator of Football Officials Steve Shaw and the Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, Bill Hancock, will also be present for the four-day event.
SEC Network will have live coverage of the event. Mississippi State goes Tuesday, while Alabama goes Wednesday and Ole Miss goes Thursday.
Among the exceptions to the offensive line rule is Mississippi State. MSU returns Elgton Jenkins and Martinas Rankin, the former missing spring practice with an injury and the latter practicing in spring at a different position, center. That line will be tasked with protecting an established backfield of quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and running back Aeris Williams flanked by an experienced tight end corps.
Every other program in the SEC West returns at least three starters from the previous year’s line.
“I said from day one it would take us four to five years to get the offensive line where we wanted it, and now I believe we could have one of the better offensive lines in the country,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “I think the job (offensive line coach) Matt (Luke)’s done in recruiting and being able to redshirt finally has been able to pay off for us.”
The other notable exception among SEC offensive lines is Georgia, which loses its three best starters from a line tasked to protect returning quarterback Jacob Eason and running back duo of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.
Auburn’s line could be blocking for what could be the conference’s biggest offseason addition: quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Stidham played in 10 games for Baylor in 2015 and left school after the scandal that resulted in the firing of former head coach Art Briles. Stidham’s resurfacing at Auburn comes with impeccable timing: the Tigers have ranked outside of the top 50 nationally in quarterback rating in each of the last two seasons.
Stidham is far from the lone graduate transfer of note for Auburn: the Tigers also added a pair of offensive linemen in Casey Dunn and Wilson Bell from Jacksonville State and Florida State, respectively.
The other transfer quarterback of note entering the SEC is Malik Zaire at Florida. The former Notre Dame starter is expected to compete with last year’s quarterback, fellow transfer, Luke Del Rio and redshirt freshman Felipe Franks.
Alabama’s unit will work under its third offensive coordinator since the end of the 2016 regular season with the duo of Brian Daboll and Mike Locksley, but has returners around it in quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Bo Scarborough and wide receiver Calvin Ridley.
For all the returning talent, most of the buzz around Alabama spring practice surrounded early enrollee running back Najee Harris, widely considered the best running back in the incoming recruiting class.
“I think his knowledge and experience of the game in the spring is going to be very beneficial to him,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “Pass-receiving wise, playing without the ball are the most apparent things he needs to work on. When he has the ball in his hands, he’s a pretty effective player.”
The other side of the line will be the focus for LSU after losing Davon Godchaux, Lewis Neal and Travonte Valentine from its defensive line. It did regain Arden Key, who missed spring practice to resolve personal issues, but remains expected to lean on youth in spots in the defensive front.
Once again, Texas A&M quarterback Jake Hubenak will be challenged by new additions. Last year it was transfer Trevor Knight; this year it’s a group underclassmen including Kellen Mond and Nick Starkel that could unseat him for the starting job.
Arkansas will be searching for a second running back in its rotation after Rawleigh Williams III, last year’s leading rusher by no small margin, retired from football in the spring after a second neck injury. Ole Miss is also searching for answers at running back and does so after an offseason dominated by NCAA recruiting allegations.
Tennessee, however, is searching for offense as a whole after losing quarterback Josh Dobbs, three of its top four rushers and three of its top four receivers. The defense, however, returns all of its top five tacklers and all five of them are in the back seven behind a defensive line trying to replace first-round draft pick Derek Barnett.
South Carolina has been a popular pick for significant improvement with nearly its entire offense returning from its 2016 team, led by quarterback Jake Bentley, tight end Hayden Hurst and wide receiver Deebo Samuel. All three of them will represent the Gamecocks at Media Days.
Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt all return quarterbacks, but Kentucky remains undecided on a starter between Stephen Johnson and Drew Barker. Missouri and Vanderbilt return feature rushers Damarea Crockett (1,076 yards) and Ralph Webb (1,323), respectively. Kentucky loses its feature rusher in Boom Williams but makes up for it with a defense returning eight of its top ten tacklers from a year ago.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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