Alabama three by ESPN and Auburn 10. Both expect to add some more big time players. ‘Bama fighting it out with Florida State for ESPN four star quarterback Jameis Winston of Hueytown, Al. Five star by Rivals. Should know something soon on Jameis. Maybe next week. Baseball an option as well. Will be drafted in 2012. So whoever gets him will be holding their breath next June’s draft. Here are the links to the 2012 classes. Alabama’s biggest get so far is five star safety Eddie Williams. Considered one of the top players in the country by ESPN and a five star by Rivals as well. Auburn has secured commits from two four star running backs: T.J. Yeldon and Jovon Robinson. Both very good classes–one five star for ‘Bama and a bunch of four stars and a bunch of four stars for AU–and should get better in the next month or two.
Alabama’s class:

Auburn’s class:

Just finished Gene Chizik’s book, All In. Good read, solid book. Chizik seems like a solid guy. He does refer to God a lot and how much he’s been helped by his faith. I’m not sure if he’s so faithful because he just won a national championship or because he truly is that way. Not sure about that. He talks about his struggles going 5-19 at Iowa State and then taking the job at Auburn and how difficult it was to leave Iowa State, but that Auburn was his “dream job.”
Seems like a good guy. Very complimentary of Cam Newton. The NCAA is not through with the investigation of the Cam/Cecil Newton and possible Auburn involvement financially in his recruitment, so we’ll see if Chizik’s book is sincere by the result of this investigation. This investigation could take another six months to a year to wrap up. It’s hard to know what’ll happen. Chizik was very aggressive in asking the NCAA compliance rep when they were going to finish the investigation at an SEC football and basketball coach’s meeting. She didn’t like his aggressiveness from her response, so there IS an investigation still ongoing. If there was money exchanged during the Auburn recruitment of Newton, it’s probably hard to trace as the guys who did it are probably professionals at it and figured out how to do it through church offerings or something like that.

Anyway, Chizik is certainly basking in the glory of winning the national championship. When he prays for another “God thing,” it better be to keep Gus Malzahn at Auburn for 2012. Now that would really be a “God thing.”

This year promises to be a huge season for the running backs in the SEC. Wow, what a collection of stars. Potential All-Americans and a couple of guys who can win the Heisman. Here is a look at the backs who could take their team a long way if they can stay healthy and live up to the high expectations of them. There is no doubt they should. Should be an awesome year in the conference and the running backs of the SEC should be part of this year’s compelling season.
Ranking the backs:

1. Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina, 6’0″, 218, sophomore: Number one player in the country coming out of high school and he lived up  to those expectations last season. Lattimore rushed for 1,197 yards on 249 carries (4.1), 17 touchdowns and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first SEC Championship game appearance. Could reach even greater heights this season. The expectations for Lattimore are through the roof. Potential Heisman Trophy winner with a 1,200 yard like season combined with team success. With Alshon Jeffrey and Stephen Garcia (if he is for sure the starter), South Carolina should be pretty prolific on offense. Lattimore is phenomenal. Hard, strong runner, tough to bring down, has a nose for the goal line, good speed and can catch it out of the backfield. The whole package. It may be between him and Trent Richardson in the SEC Championship game to see who will win the game and the Heisman. That would be exciting.

1A. Trent Richardson, Alabama, 5’11”, 220, junior: He’s as good as Lattimore, but was injured some last season and shared duties with Mark Ingram so didn’t get as much individual attention. Power, speed, good hands out of backfield. Can get the tough yards and then go 80 on you. Ran for 751 his frosh year with 8 tds and 700 last year with 6 TDs. Benches over 500 (couple of Moma Casses) Could be on the best team in the country. Loaded team especially on defense. With Trent and the defense, the other players might just need to show up, play adequately and the Tide will win. Heisman Trophy potential, top five pick in the draft potential. Has all the tools, and according to Nick Saban, he’s a high character guy.

2. Michael Dyer, Auburn, 5’9″, 207, sophomore, : He’s close to the first two. Just like the first two a little bit better, but this guy could be an All-American, too, if there is room left. Dyer had a huge freshman year running for 1,093 yards on 182 carries and scored five tds. His average was 6.0 per carry. His biggest moment came in the national championship game when his knee was not down and he ran it about 55 more yards setting Auburn up for the game winning field goal in their national championship victory over Oregon. This guy has got power, speed and a huge heart. Great kid. Will be a leader on the team this year. Onterion McCalebb can’t be left out either. Capable of going the distance any time out. Not the impact player Dyer is, but a great player to have in the backfield. Auburn has a tough schedule ahead of them and a lot of people are predicting them to have a down year, but not so sure it’ll be that down. Dyer needs to stay healthy, though. Not much depth back there.

3.Knile Davis, Arkansas: 6’0″, 220, junior: Came out of nowhere last year and was a huge impact player. Excellent back with great elusiveness and speed. Can run with power, too. Gets in the end zone a lot. Ran for 1,322 yards on 204 carries and scored 13 tds. Great player on what could be a possible elite team in the conference. Play at Alabama game four. Pivotal game right there. If Davis, Tyler Wilson (if he’s the starter, Petrino is hedging a little bit on that, but think he will be) and the wide receivers can play well, could be very interesting game.

4. Vick Ballard, Mississippi State, 5’11”, 220, senior: Another stellar back on a team with high aspirations this year. Ran for 968 yards on 186 carries and 19 touchdowns last year. Led State to a solid season last year and an impressive blowout of Michigan in the Gator Bowl. Great power, pretty good speed. If he can have a big year along with Relf, State could be a contender in the West. Have to go to Auburn game two on Sept. 1o at 11:21 on SEC Network. If State can win that one, they can really get some momentum.

5. Tauren Poole, Tennessee, 5’10”, 215, senior: Came out of nowhere as well last year and had a big year. Ran for 1,034 yards and 11 TDs. Derek Dooley challenged him on the way down to Media Days in B’ham telling him that everybody considers Marcus Lattimore the best back in the SEC. Poole will be fired up to prove he’s one of the best if not the best in the conference. Tennessee young again this year. Poole and quarterback Tyler Bray will be counted on heavily this year to produce.

6. Brandon Bolden, Ole Miss, 5’11’, 221, senior: Didn’t play in the spring game, but should be ready for the fall. Ran for 976 yards and caught passes for 344 yards scoring 14 TDs. Very good speed and power. Weapon catching passes out of the backfield as Nutt likes to use his backs a lot in the passing game. Ole Miss trying to bounce back from 4-8 season. Miss. State put a sign of Mullen on the Louisiana-Mississippi border welcoming people to Mississippi. Nutt is out for blood with Mullen. Mullen may have made a mistake there.

7. Spencer Ware, LSU, 5’11”, 225, sophomore: Bruising back. Ran for only 175 yards last year and one td, but watched him in the spring game and was very impressed. Looks like a 1,000 yard plus running back. LSU will rely on him to set up the play action game for Jordan Jefferson. He’s got the power and speed. Outstanding athlete. Good baseball player, too. Ran over Vanderbilt catcher Curt Casali this spring on a serious collision. Surprised Casali didn’t come out of the game. He was pretty banged up.  Tough guy, potentially great player. LSU loaded, but Ware is going to have to grind out the yards to help Jefferson who has been erratic over the last three years. Talented team. Play Alabama in Tuscaloosa November 5th. Could be a pivotal game for West title right there.

8.Isaiah Crowell, Georgia, 5’11”, 210, freshman: I know this guy will be in his first year, but he was a top five player in the country and ran for 1,900 yards and 25 TDs as a junior and 1,700 yards and 18 TDs as a senior for his Columbus, Georgia Carver team. He is considered part of Mark Richt’s “Dream Team” recruiting class and with the departures of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King, he’ll probably be the man from day one. Georgia and Richt HAVE to have a good year this year so Crowell needs to excel like Lattimore and Dyer did last year. South Carolina, Sept. 10 at Athens (4:30 ET/3:30 CT ESPN) looms as a major game and the Dogs open with another blockbuster against Boise State in the Georgia Dome, Sept. 3 (8ET/7CT, ESPN). If they can somehow get through those first two, 2-0, that would really help. Not sure they can though. Predictions coming up Friday, Sept. 2.Crowell probably will be critical in those first two to help Aaron Murray.

9. Jeff Demps, Florida, 5’8″, 181, senior: Demps has been overseas running track and Will Muschamp wants him back. World class speed. Gets injured though. Small back like all of Florida’s backs. Chris Rainey is another. Rainey, 5’9, 175. Demps ran for 551 yards and 3 TDs and Rainey ran for 366 yards and two TDs. Both injury prone. May rely on Trey Burton some more. Burton ran for 11 TDs last year and is 6’2″, 222. Another player who could see some carries is Jordan Reed, 6’3″, 237. Ran for 328 yards last year. Just not sure about Florida this year. Will John Brantley be a better quarterback? That’s the question. Demps and company will have to help.

10. Warren Norman, Zac Stacy, Vanderbilt: Norman is 5’10”, 200 and Stacy is 5’9″,210. Both are juniors. Both have been hurt some in the past. A little smaller than some of the other guys, but good players. Wesley Tate (6’2″, 225) ought to help with some inside yards. Norman with very good speed. Can break it. More of a slasher. Stacy pretty good power and good speed. These guys really need to stay healthy. It’s hard in the conference not to be out one or two games with injury, but you need to keep it to a minimum.

11. Kentucky: Don’t have a lot of big playmakers in the backfield after the graduation of Derrick Locke and the awesome Randall Cobb. Will be running back by committee. Raymond Sanders (5’8″, 198) ran for 254 yards and three TDs last year. CoShik Williams (5’9″, 182) is another. He ran for 136 yards and four TDs last year. Jonathan George (5’10”, 205) should provide help.

All in all, should be a tremendous year for the running backs in the SEC and the fans of the SEC. These guys are awesome. I hope they can all stay healthy, because if they do, it should be a riveting year for the running game. Look for Lattimore and Richardson to be in the Heisman mix.

Trent Richardson (left) and Marcus Lattimore will battle for team honors and individual honors in 2011

As we are in the first day of media days, I wanted to give you my thoughts on the upcoming season, who will be good, who will win each division and if one of our teams can be playing for the BCS title on January 9, 2012 at the Sugar Bowl. Opponents could be Oklahoma, Nebraska, Boise State, Oregon or Texas. As tough and as brutal as this conference is, we’ve won every BCS title since 2006. Our teams are loaded especially in the West. The winner of the West should emerge as our representative in the title game if that team doesn’t get beaten up too much by its opponents.
Here’s a look at the West and the East and who will emerge. By the way, Darren Clarke played extremely well to win the British Open. Not much of an athlete (fat and drinks a lot), but was doing some impressive ball striking over the weekend. I’m not sure Rory McIlroy can be an elite, all time player. Doesn’t seem to have the passion of Woods in his heyday or Nicklaus in his hey day. Heck, he may not even catch Phil on majors won.

West: Like Alabama, but you talk about competition. You’ve got Arkansas, LSU, Auburn, State and Ole Miss to contend with. Bama’s sked is pretty favorable. Have Arkansas and LSU at home, but have Auburn, State and Florida on the road. UT comes to Tuscaloosa and Vandy comes to Ttown. At Ole Miss. The defense is loaded. Linebacker is incredible. Dont’a Hightower, at this point, may be the fourth best linebacker on the team behind Courtney Upshaw, C.J. Mosely and Nico Johnson. Tana Patrick, Jerrell Harris, Chris Jordan and newcomer Trey DePriest are awesome, too. Secondary, led by Mark Barron (incredible leader) and Robert Lester should be incredible. Dline should be fine. Don’t have a Cody yet, but Josh Chapman and Nick Gentry among others should be fine. Oline in good shape. Wr doesn’t have that explosive, Julio-like player, but they think this Duron Carter may be the guy if he’s OK with his school work. DeAndrew White, a redshirt freshman, is another guy they’re high on. Maze and Hanks will be back. I love tight end Michael Williams. He can catch exceptionally well and he’s a load at about 270. He’ll block. Running back got thinner with the loss of Dee Hart for the year with a knee injury, but if Trent can stay healthy and Eddie Lacy and Jalston Fowler can be good, should be fine there.

The 100,000 dollar question is quarterback. Will it be A.J. McCarron or Phillip Sims. If I had to choose today, I’d pick McCarron. But I think Saban is going to let this August play out a little bit. I think he’s seriously considering playing them both to start the season. Kent State, at Penn State and then North Texas at home, they could be alright there. But then Arkansas comes to Tuscaloosa. It may work. I’m not a proponent at all of the two quarterback system, but occasionally it can work. But right now, the starting job is up for grabs. Depending on how that shakes out will determine if ‘Bama can win it all. Really though, all they may need is a game manager with the players they’ll have around the quarterback. Can’t have injuries at running back. Trent needs to stay healthy and so do his backups. If that is a problem then it could be a little different. But with that defense, the quarterback may need to be only adequate for this team to win the West, win the SEC title game and then win it all. McCarron and Sims are both outstanding players, just not seasoned. They may excel. If that happens and Tide stays healthy, I don’t see them getting stopped. Oklahoma is not going to beat a healthy Alabama team. Stoops will get outcoached by Saban and company and the talent is better in Tuscaloosa.

But ‘Bama has to get through some really good teams to get there. Arkansas looked pretty good to me in their spring game. Tyler Wilson, their new starting quarterback, is the real deal, really better looking player to me than Mallett. I think he’ll make better decisions and not throw key interceptions. They have a stable full of wide receivers led by potential All American Greg Childs. Knile Davis came on at the end of last year to run for over 1,000 yards and he’s stellar. To me with Arkansas, it’s about defense. If they can play better defense this year, they have a shot to make it to Atlanta. They’ve gotten better and better on defense, but that’s the key to them. They have a lot of quality athletes, but not the dominant defense that Alabama has. I think the Alabama-Arkansas game will tell us a lot about the West along with some other key matchups.

LSU, to me, is a typical LSU team under Miles. Loaded all over the field. But it’s about the quarterback. Can Jordan Jefferson overcome his inconsistency of the past to be a legitimate winning SEC quarterback? I’m inclined to think he’ll still throw some costly interceptions. He has a new offensive coordinator in Steve Kragthorpe, who could make a difference, but I just don’t trust Jefferson. This Zach Mettenberger, the transfer from Georgia, looks like the real deal. I don’t see Miles starting him, but you never know. He is better than Jefferson; he is a really good player. Miles would be smart to give him a hard look this summer. If LSU wants to win the West, they need the right quarterback in there. I don’t think Jefferson is the man. Now Mettenberger could be, but I think Miles is pretty sold on Jefferson right now. That to me is a mistake.

Mississippi State is a team I’m highly impressed with. I think they can do great things this year and are the darkhorse to win the West. They do play Alabama at home, but have to go to Auburn. They play LSU at home, but they have to go to Arkansas and go to Georgia. Their second and third games are critical: at Auburn and LSU at home. If they could win those, that would help. Of course, they’d still have to host Alabama, go to Georgia and go to Arkansas. But those first three games (@Memphis, game number one) are critical. Ms. State, besides Georgia, looks like they have the best quarterback situation in the conference. Chris Relf looked awesome to me in the spring. He’s going to be great with his strong arm and great mobility. I think he’s a dominating offensive player in the SEC. Tyler Russell and Dylan Favre are very good backups. The rest of the team looks very solid. It’s just the schedule in the SEC. if State was playing in any other conference, I’d pick’em to win it. I think they’re that good. They may pull it off. Dan Mullen is outstanding. It’ll be tough at Auburn, home against LSU, at Georgia, home against ‘Bama and at Ark. If  they could go 3-2 in those games, that would be pretty good. But I think this is a possible BCS bowl team. I really believe that.

Auburn is rebuilding, but there is good young talent on the roster. Quarterback is open. I like Barrett Trotter; I think he’s a good player. Moseley is pretty good, too and they’re high on this Frazier kid, the incoming freshman. Like Alabama, it’s still wide open. Running back is very good with the starters in Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb, but it’s pretty thin after that. Mike Blakely, a freshman transfer out of Florida, is trying to become eligible this year. No ruling from NCAA as of yet. Should know something in the next week or two. Oline will be youthful. There is some young talent there, and it could be like Pugh and Ziemba’s first year when they played very well in 2007, but these guys are young. Defense should be better. it’s just experienced numbers for AU. It’s not there this year. And the schedule is tough. At Clemson, @ South Carolina, @ Arkansas, @ LSU, @ Georgia. Of course, Alabama comes down to the Plains. Miss State and Ole Miss at home. That State game could be a huge early season battle. If Auburn could win over State and their third game at Clemson could be a lot better year than people are predicting. I said a possible nine win season, but I think that’s probably a stretch. More like seven and with some luck, eight.

Ole Miss will be OK, nothing special. They’ll be fairly competitive, but I don’t see them winning more than six games this year. The competition is just too good and their quarterback play and defense are suspect. Nutty was pretty excited in the spring game, but I don’t think they’ll be that good. 6-6, 7-5 with some luck.

East looks like it’s between South Carolina and Georgia. Whoever wins the Sept. 10 clash at Athens should be the favorite to win the East. South Carolina has Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery and the guy with nine lives Stephen Garcia back. I don’t trust Garcia totally, he can mess things up for his team, so I give Georgia a shot to beat SC because of that. I’ll go with SC slightly over Georgia to win it because I don’t trust Richt either.

Tennessee has a budding superstar in Tyler Bray, though he needs to grow up a little bit. He has the cannon arm no doubt. But Tennessee is still trying to get it together, so I don’t see them winning East. Florida may be better than anticipated but they have to go to South Carolina Nov. 12 and play host to Alabama Oct. 1. They’re also at LSU and at Auburn and Georgia at the Cocktail Party. I don’t see them as a great team this year. Decent, but nothing special. Vandy and UK will battle it out to get out of the cellar of the conference though I do like Vandy’s new coach, James Franklin, a lot. If anybody can do it at Vanderbilt, Franklin can. Not sure what Joker Phillips has at UK. I think Morgan Newton is a talent at quarterback, but may struggle with SEC defenses this year. Another bowl game would be a victory for a school that lives for basketball. Phillips has a tough job, but appears to be a pretty good coach.

Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier could see each other Saturday, Dec. 3, in the SEC Championship game in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Kentucky lost some playmakers on offense with the graduations of Mike Hartline and running back Derrick Locke and the early departure of the awesome Randall Cobb who had 84 catches for 1,017 yards and seven tds. Locke and Cobb look to be potential good players in the NFL, particularly Cobb.
Now the athletic Morgan Newton takes over at quarterback. Newton, a junior, is 6’4″, 235, has a very good arm and is mobile. He was 23-44 for 256 yards and three tds in the spring game with one interception. He has playing experience. He has played in a couple of bowl games and has some regular season experience. In the nine games he’s played in, he’s 100-of-178  (56%) for 971 yards and six TDs. He’s a good player and Joker Phillips wants him to take Kentucky to their sixth straight bowl game. They came to Birmingham last season for the BBVA Compass Bowl but lost to Pittsburgh, 27-10.

There seems to be some potential playmakers on offense. La’Rod King is a 6’4″ receiver who caught 36 passes for 478 and five TDs last year. Others are Gene McCaskill who has caught 32 passes in the last two seasons and senior Matt Roark who caught 12 passes for 170 yards last year. Brian Adams is a guy the staff is high on. Roark is 6’5″ and Adams is 6’4″. Six four juniors Aaron Boyd and E.J. Fields give Newton some more options. Tight end looks pretty solid with Nick Meilillo, Jordan Aumiller (18-193, one TD) and Tyler Robinson (11 catches, one TD). Anthony Kendrick, Ronnie Shields and Alex Smith are also in the mix. Tight end looks pretty loaded and Phillips will use the tight end to give Newton some high percentage passes.

Raymond Sanders is a contender at tailback. Sanders ran for 254 yards and three TDs last year. Junior CoShik Williams is another. He ran for 136 yards and four TDs. Sophomore Jonathan George and redshirt freshman Brandon Gainer are some others who could help.

The oline returns four of five starters led by junior right guard Larry Warford who was second team All-SEC last year. Senior left guard Stuart Hines was third team all conference last year. Good size and decent depth on the line.

Defense has always been a question mark for UK and has probably kept them from having elite teams in the past five years. They just can’t seem to stop people. Rick Minter has taken over as co defensive coordinator and the former Notre Dame coach brings a 3-4 system in. He’s a good coach and could make this defense more aggressive. Leading the defense is linebacker Danny Trevathan who led the SEC in tackles last year with 144. He was named All America by CollegeFootballNews.com and selected All-SEC by many media services. Senior middle linebacker Ronnie Sneed totaled 61 tackles last season and strongside backer Ridge Wilson amassed 30 tackles last year. Ky needs to develop depth in their linebacking corps as they move to a four lb set. Sophomores Jewell Ratliff, Avery Williamson and Qua Huzzie along with redshirt freshmen Malcolm McDuffen and  Tyler Brause and January enrollee Tim Patterson will try to be factors this year. Line looks decent with senior Luke McDermott at tackle., He had 17 tackles last year, five for loss and three sacks. Senior Mark Crawford made 24 stops including 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Donte Rumph, Mister Cobble and Brice Laughlin are some others who will play. At end juniors Collins Ukwa and Taylor Wyndham lead the way. Ukwa had 26 tackles last year and one sack. Wyndham had 27 stops, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Nermin Delic had 1.5 sacks last year and showed potential. There are four redshirt freshman ready to make their mark.

The entire secondary returns led by senior safety Winston Gay who had 106 tackles last year and led the team with three interceptions. Mychal Bailey is another senior safety who had 58 tackles and two ints. Cornerback Randall Burden broke up six passes and had an int in the bowl game. Anthony Mosley broke up five passes at cornerback and had the game winning interception vs South Carolina last year. Junior corner Martavius Neloms had 5.5 tackles for loss last year. Senior safeties Taiedo Smith and Josh Gibbs and junior corner Cartier Rice will play roles this year. It’s a veteran group.

All of UKs kickers return. Senior punter Ryan Tydlacka averaged 43.8 yards last year and kicker Craig McIntosh hit 11 of 15 FGs. There will be new kickoff and punt returners and the contenders are Raymond Sanders, Jerrell Priester, Winston Guy and Gene McCaskill. There may be more candidates.

The Schedule:

Western Kentucky in Nashville opens things up followed by Central Michigan and Louisville at home. Then Florida at home; a possible win with the Gators in transition. At LSU and @ South Carolina. After a bye week, it’s Jacksonville State at home, Miss State at home, @ Vandy, @ Georgia and home against Tennessee.

This is a pretty favorable schedule. If Newton comes through and the backs and wrs are surprisingly good and the defense can be better than in the past, this could be a seven and possibly eight win season for the ‘Cats. Eight wins may be stretching it, but maybe not. LSU and South Carolina on the road look like possible losses and @ Georgia is tough though not out of the question. Miss State at home is tough. Ole Miss and UT are at home and Vandy is on the road. Four non conference games should all be winnable, so it could be another solid season for Phillips and his guys. This looks like another bowl team. Can they ever become an elite team? That’s pretty questionable; the tradition is not there. But they could be a very solid program as Ky fans segue into basketball season for the most part. Still could be a very solid program for years to come.

Morgan Newton(above)  takes over at quarterback full time this season for Ky with high expectations from Joker Phillips and staff

Ole Miss is coming off a disappointing 2010 in which they finished 4-8. The previous two years under Houston Nutt, the Rebels went 9-4 and won the Cotton Bowl both years. Nutt has a reputation for up and down results. He seems to be an innovative, very good offensive coach, but sometimes gets a little too excited on the sidelines and I think the players see that and get a little nervous. His defense was pretty suspect last year and has struggled some over the years, but overall, he’s a pretty decent coach. But 4-8 is not what he or his team wants.
They could be a better team this year, but the schedule is tough. BYU comes to Oxford on Sept. 3 to open things up. The Rebels need to win that game. Should be a tough test. If they win that, they have Southern Illinois at home and then Vandy in Nashville. Vandy has beaten the Rebels two out of the last three years including 28-14 at Oxford last year, so that’s a tough one. Then Georgia comes to Oxford. Winnable, but difficult. Then the Rebels go to Fresno State. Fresno State always aims to be an upset specialist and this is another opportunity for them. Very competitive team, so that’ll be tough. Ole Miss beat them at home last year in a high scoring affair. Then Alabama and Arkansas at home, very difficult. Then @Auburn, @ Kentucky, La Tech at home, LSU at home and @ Ms. State. Six wins would be pretty good with this schedule. More than that would be very good.

Quarterback, to me, looks like it’s Barry Brunetti’s to lose this August. He split time with Randall Mackey in the spring, but the West Virginia transfer looks like the better player. Zack Stoudt is the third string guy, but his academic status is questionable.

Running back is very good. Brandon Bolden (5’11, 221, Senior) returns after running for 976 yards and 14 TDs last year. He’s outstanding. Enrique Davis is a highly capable backup who ran for 337 years and three tds last year in only eight games. He battled injuries. Jeff Scott (5’7″, 175) is a small back, but quick.

They have a pretty experienced offensive line returning with a bunch of 300+ players manning the line tackle to tackle. Should be a good group with depth. Bradley Sowell (6’7″, 315, senior) leads the group at left tackle.

Wide receiver is decent. Melvin Harris is a 6’6″ split end. A big target and he’s backed up by Vincent Sanders. Ja-Mes Logan (6’2″, 190) is battling for the starting job with Terrell Grant (6’2″, 213). Nutt likes to throw the ball, too, though he looks to have a pretty stellar running game if those guys stay healthy. Nutt likes to run the solid, safe routes: slants, wide receiver screens and passes out of the backfield. So these guys will need to perform.

Defense will be led by sixth year senior Kentrell Lockett (6’5″, 248 dend), who got hurt last year but was granted a sixth year of eligibility. Good pass rusher. Wayne Dorsey (6’6″, 262) is the other end. Tackle a little thin. Carlton Martin (6’1,288 Redshirt frosh) will start. At nose tackle, Bryon Bennett (6’2″, 280, rfrosh) will be the guy. Linebacker looks athletic like most SEC linebacking corps led by sophomore Mike Marry (6’2″, 248). Dbackfield is thin. They will need some help from some talented incoming freshmen.

Kicking game in good shape. Bryson Rose is a consistent place kicker and Tyler Campbell will punt. Jeff Scott is a good kickoff return man and punt returner. Pretty dangerous. Ran a kickoff back against Auburn last year.

Can Nutt turn it around this year? I think six wins would be a successful season for the Rebels. I don’t see them winning the SEC West with Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ms. State and Auburn in there. That’s an elite group. So there are going to be some teams getting beaten up and some very good teams out of the West not making the SEC championship game. Ole Miss will not be in the mix for that. I don’t think they’ll be good enough on defense. Have good athletes there, but not enough this year to compete for the SEC title. But a respectable season should be possible and Nutt has a good freshmen class coming in, so he can keep building. 6-6 looks pretty realistic for the Rebels. Anything better than that would be very successful.

Houston Nutt (pictured above) will try to get Ole Miss to another bowl game. That would be very respectable with their schedule.

Auburn has a lot to replace and a lot of people are picking the Tigers to struggle this year, but I think they’ll be better than expected. Cam’s with Carolina, Nick F. joins forces with Suh in Detroit. Wow, what players they were in a special season for the national champions. But it’s 2011 and there’s a new group in. Gene Chizik’s slogan last year was “good to great.” It’ll be interesting to see what he says this year. He was on ESPN’s First Take a couple of days ago talking about his new book, All In: What it Takes To Be the Best. I’m looking forward to reading it. Last year was a combination of great players and great coaches and that Auburn family spirit that carried the Tigers to the pinnacle of college football.
Now it’s time to look at 2011. The Russell Wilson sweepstakes are over and that’s a good thing. Now the coaching staff can concentrate on Barrett Trotter, Clint Moseley and incoming freshman Kiehl Frazier to see who can win the starting quarterback job. Right now, like Alabama, it’s still up for grabs. I thought Trotter and Moseley both did some good things in the Spring game and Frazier is a five star recruit by Scout and a high four star by Rivals. So they’ll battle it out in August. I like both Trotter and Moseley. Think either one could be a better Chris Todd because both are pretty mobile. Frazier is an athlete, now. I wish, like Alabama, I could give you a definitive answer, but I trust Gus Malzahn to make the right call and I think he’s still processing on this one. All three are capable. Trotter probably has a better arm than Moseley, but Moseley looks like a real leader to me and has a pretty solid arm as well. Looks like Moseley may throw the short/intermediate passes a little better and Trotter throws a better deep ball. Not sure about Frazier. Should make for some excellent competition next month.

Michael Dyer and his 1,093 yards return. Onterio McCalebb returns from an 810 yard season with nine tds. Both are outstanding. Auburn is waiting to hear if Mike Blakely, a transfer from Florida, can play this year. Should be a ruling from the NCAA soon. He would help. Anthony Morgan looked pretty good in the spring as a capable backup. Quan Bray and Tre Mason are two freshmen who can help. Not a lot of size in this group and injuries could be a factor, so they need to stay healthy.

Wide receivers lost the dependable, outstanding Darvin Adams and the stellar T Zac, but has the touchdown maker Phillip Lutzenkirchen (15 catches, 185 yards and five tds) returning. Also, the reliable and pretty stellar Emory Blake (33-554, 8 tds) returns. AU is expecting big things from Trovon Reed. He is an explosive player and gives the Tigers, along with McCalebb, a guy who can go the distance any time he touches the ball. Quindarius Carr returns for his senior season. He looked incredible in the spring game in 2010, so I think there is a lot of potential there.Needs something good to happen to get some confidence. Other guys like DeAngelo Benton and Travante Stallworth need to step up this year. Both are juniors and there has been a lot expected of them, so this is there time to prove themselves.

Oline will be pretty new. Ryan Pugh, Lee Ziemba, Mike Berry and Byron Isom are gone. This Reese Dismukes (6’3, 290) looks like he’s going to be a really fine center. According to a friend of mine he dominated in high school All-Star games and looked pretty good in the spring game. He could be better than Pugh and Pugh started his freshman year albeit as a tackle. But this guy has a lot of talent. Blake Burgess (6’2″, 273) will challenge Dismukes for the starting spot. Brandon Mosley (6’6″, 305) returns at one tackle and he’s solid. John Sullen (6’6″, 336) could man the other tackle spot. Guard is kind of up for grabs. Christian Westerman (6’5″, 285), Thomas O’Reilly (6″3″, 326) and Gregory Robinson (6’5″, 305) are young guys they are high on, particularly Westerman. He decommited from Texas to come to Auburn and he was a five star by Scout and the highest four star you can have in Rivals. ESPN had him as a five star, too. So the line is probably going to take a little while to come together, but there is some good young talent there. Need to figure out the starters and develop depth.

Defensive line has some good players. Nosa Eguae (6’2″, 258) is a beast at defensive end. He’s a potential dominant player much like a Fairley. I don’t know if he can be that good, but I think he’ll be harassing a lot of quarterbacks this fall. Guys like Corey Lemonier (6’4″, 229 dend) and Jeffrey Whitaker (6’3″, 310 dt) will play major roles this year. Both Lemonier and Whitaker were part of that stellar recruiting class in 2010 that brought in Michael Dyer among others. Craig Sanders (6’4″, 257) is a stellar guy at defensive end.

Linebacker looks promising. Daren Bates will be back, and although I like him better at safety, he’s a pretty competent lb. Jonathan Evans also returns. It’s time for Eltoro Freeman to step up. The talent is there. He needs to be a dominant player for the Tigers. Jake Holland should be a great player. Other guys like LaDarius Owens, Jawara White and the freshmen have to step up. Kris Frost is a five star athlete/linebacker so we’ll see what AU does with him. Other frosh lbs are Chris Landrum (6’3″, 235) and Justin Garrett (6’2″, 200) both three star players.

Secondary will be led by T’Sharvin Bell. This guy is a leader and a winner. Makes huge plays for the defense. Had game changing plays last year against Alabama and South Carolina (SEC champ game). Could be an All-American before he’s through. Other guys like Neiko Thorpe (a lot of experience) and Chris Davis should be excellent players in the secondary. Incoming four star frosh Jonathan Rose from Leeds will be an excellent player. Some other incoming freshmen like four star Enrique Florence, four star Jermaine Whitehead three star Anthony Swain and four star Robenson Therezie, will probably be expected to play this year. Little thin in the d backfield as far as experience goes so the freshmen will have to play a role. The arrest of Mike McNeil was a bad thing in a lot of ways. He’s looking at some pretty significant jail time.

Cody Parkey has a good shot to be the kicker and Steven Clark the punter. McCalebb will probably return kickoffs and I’m not sure about punt returner. I think Trovon Reed has a good shot at that spot.

Schedule is tough, no doubt. But that’s the way it is in this conference. Some years you’re going to have a difficult road schedule and this is a year for the Tiges. Open with Utah State at home (11 a.m. ESPN or ESPN2), then State at home (11:21 a.m. SEC Network) then go to Clemson (11 a.m., ABC). Florida Atlantic at home, @South Carolina, @ Arkansas, vs. Florida, @LSU, vs. Ole Miss, @Georgia, vs, Samford, then at home against Alabama (Nov. 26).

Chizik said on First Take that he’s more excited to coach this team than he ever has been to coach a team. This team looks young, hungry and many of them have tasted a lot of success from last year and want to continue it this year. Some may say it’s going to be a tough year. I think it can be better than expected. This team will be highly motivated. There are a lot of young guys who want to prove some people wrong. Depth will be an issue, but everybody struggles with depth. Michael Dyer can hopefully stay healthy. He’s very important. Will this team challenge for an SEC title? It’ll be hard, but this team should be very competitive. I see seven, eight and possibly even nine wins if things really go well and the team stays pretty healthy.

Michael Dyer (pictured above) will try to make more runs like this legendary one against Oregon in the BCS title game last year

Anthony Steen is an offensive lineman not a defensive lineman as i previously wrote. Apologize for the mistake.
Here are the sizes of the guys on the offensive line. I’ve tried to include a couple of the new guys who could make an impact. No particular order:

1. William Vlachos (center),  6’1″ 294

2. Chance Warmack (guard), 6’3″, 320

3. Anthony Steen (guard or tackle, hasn’t played a ton), 6’3″, 303

4. Alfred McCollough (tackle) 6’2″, 311

5. Barrett Jones (guard), 6′ 5″, 311

6. D.J. Fluker (tackle), 6’6″, 335

7. Arie Kouandijo (tackle), 6’6″, 335

8. Cyrus Kouandijo (tackle, projected) 6’7″ 332

There are some I’m sure I’m missing, but those should be the main guys. Pretty impressive group. Vlachos, Jones, Warmack and Fluker are returning starters. Big things expected from the Kouandijo brothers. Arie was a high four star in 2010 and Cyrus was a five star in 2011.  i think he was Rivals second best player in the country after dend Clowney, who went to South Carolina

Defensive line:

1.Josh Chapman (dt), 6’1″, 310

2.Damion Square (dend) 6’3″, 285

3.Ed Stinson (dend) 6’4′, 279

4.Nick Gentry (dt), 6’1″, 284

5.Undra Billingsley (dend I think), 6’2″, 288

6. Quinton Dial (dt), 6’6″, 294

7. Jesse Williams (dt), 6’4″, 319

Like the offensive linemen listing, there will be some others on the defensive line, but with the 85 player scholarship limit, it’s hard to stockpile’em. What strikes me about these linemen, especially the ends, is their size. They’re  high on Jesse Williams. He was a five star by Scout and a high four star by Rivals. They’re expecting big things from him and Dial.

AU in the a.m.

William Vlachos (pictured above) will once again lead the oline.