SEC Football: Predicting Conference's Top 2016 Stat Leaders
The 2016 college football season is just around the corner and will be loaded with superstars once the calendar hits September.
LSU running back Leonard Fournette is back and will look to make a full-season run at the Heisman Trophy, Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly could put up another record-setting season in Oxford and Texas A&M junior defensive end Myles Garrett looks to lead the SEC in sacks for the second season in a row before deciding to stay or go.
Who will be the SEC's statistical leaders once bowl season wraps up? Our picks based on talent, scheme and opportunity are in this slideshow.
Passing: Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly
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Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly was the only signal-caller in the SEC to top the 300-yard mark through the air last year, when he averaged 310.9 yards per game for the Rebels and led the program to its second straight New Year's Six bowl berth.
He's back for more.
While Kelly won't have superstar wide receiver Laquon Treadwell to work with in 2016, the Rebels are loaded with a bunch of "No. 2" receivers including Quincy Adeboyejo, Damore'ea Stringfellow, Van Jefferson, Damarkus Lodge, tight end Evan Engram and a loaded recruiting class.
Ole Miss has struggled to run between the tackles, but it has a proven offensive scheme that can overcome the ground game struggles, has dealt with offensive line issues for going on two years and the best quarterback in the league.
Another season in which Kelly averages more than 300 yards per game is in store for the Buffalo, New York-native.
Rushing: LSU RB Leonard Fournette
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Leonard Fournette led the nation with 162.75 yards per game last year. However, a rainout in Week 1, the absence of an SEC Championship Game appearance and Alabama's run to the national title left him a far cry from former Crimson Tide running back Derrick Henry in terms of total rushing yards.
He'll lead both in 2016—provided that Mother Nature doesn't intervene again.
Even if Fournette's Tigers don't make a run to the SEC Championship Game, he will again be the workhorse of head coach Les Miles' crew and go north of 150 yards per game yet again.
That will win him the yards per game title with relative ease, but the overall rushing yardage title might be closer if LSU doesn't win the SEC West and another run-based team in the division (like Alabama) makes a playoff run.
Receiving: Alabama WR Calvin Ridley
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No receiver in the conference averaged over 100 yards per game in 2015, but that will change in 2016 when two receivers—Texas A&M's Christian Kirk and Alabama's Calvin Ridley—enter that lofty territory.
Of those two, Ridley will be the most prolific.
The two sophomores will battle tooth-and-nail for the receiving-yards-per-game title, but Ridley will help stabilize the Alabama offense, lead the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.
Those extra games will give him the boost he needs to distance himself from Kirk for the overall receiving yards title in the SEC.
Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's offensive philosophy is simple—get the ball into the hands of his best player as often as possible. In 2014, that was receiver Amari Cooper. Last year, it was running back Derrick Henry. With so much uncertainty on the 2016 offense, Ridley will be the focal point from the moment toe meets leather in the opener against USC.
All-Purpose Yards: Texas A&M WR/Returner Christian Kirk
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LSU running back Leonard Fournette won the all-purpose yardage title last year, but Texas A&M wide receiver/returner Christian Kirk will take home the crown in 2016.
Kirk had 1,009 receiving yards in an offense that went through massive quarterback problems last year, had 54 rushing yards, 341 returning yards on punts and 385 on kickoff returns. He's the most versatile player in the SEC, and new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone will find a way to get him the ball through the air and on the ground more consistently in the new-look Aggie offense.
That will be in addition to his responsibilities on special teams, where he has already established himself as one of the most dangerous weapons in the country.
Kirk will finish in the top five in the nation in all-purpose yards in 2016, and dance around the periphery of the Heisman Trophy conversation as long as his production coincides with Texas A&M victories.
Total Offense: Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly
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Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly posted the third-best offensive season in SEC history last year when he gained 4,542 total yards, behind former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel's 5,116 in 2012 and 4,873 in 2013.
Yep, Kelly's 2015 campaign was better than former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton's Heisman Trophy year of 2010 and former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's 2007 campaign.
Not a bad SEC debut.
Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs will top Kelly in rushing yards, but Kelly will far exceed Dobbs in the air and take home his second straight SEC total offense crown by going north of 4,500 yards for the second straight season.
Tackles: Tennessee LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin
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Tennessee linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin has finished in the top 10 in the conference in tackles in each of the last two seasons, and he will land at the top when all is said and done in 2016.
The 6'1", 225-pound native of Clarksville, Tennessee, has a nose for the football, is a hard-hitter and the centerpiece of a defense that should be even better than it was last year when it gave up 362 yards per game thanks to the arrival of new defensive coordinator Bob Shoop.
"It's been fun to see it all grow," he said, according to UTSports.com. "I came in as soon as coach [Butch] Jones got here. I was an early-enrollee. Just to see us take that climb from the bottom of the SEC to where we are now and have the expectations placed on us now, it's been a fun process. I want to take us as high as we can go."
The Vols could go as high as the SEC East title and, potentially, a playoff spot. If they do, it'll be because of Reeves-Maybin's production and leadership.
Sacks: Auburn DE Carl Lawson
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While a ton of attention will be paid to Texas A&M's Myles Garrett due to his draft stock and the fact that he led the SEC in sacks last year with 12.5, and more attention will be paid to Alabama pass-rushing extraordinaire Tim Williams, we're going to go in a different direction for our predicted leader in sacks.
Auburn defensive end Carl Lawson.
Lawson was a rotational player during Auburn's SEC title run in 2013, sat out 2014 with a torn ACL and was limited last year by a hip injury suffered in the first half of the season opener that kept him out for two months.
For a player who's been talked about for what seems like a half-decade, he really hasn't played that much football. That'll change this year.
Lawson will stay healthy for a full season, be the monster off of the edge that Auburn has desperately needed for the last two seasons and transform Auburn's defense from a laughing stock to one that keeps the Tigers in the thick of the SEC West title race.
Tackles for Loss: Missouri DL Charles Harris
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Missouri has become known as "D-Line Zou" over the last decade, and defensive lineman Charles Harris made sure that trend continued last year after Shane Ray and Markus Golden moved on after the 2014 season.
Harris finished second in the SEC in tackles for loss last year with 18.5, one fewer than Texas A&M's Myles Garrett. This year, Harris will take home the title.
As Pro Football Focus noted earlier this month, NFL folks will be keeping a sharp eye on Harris this year.
"Missouri's Charles Harris has a big season in store. https://t.co/fS21dGZqX0
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 16, 2016"
A force against the run and the pass, Harris is quick off the ball, can get pressure in a variety of ways and should continue to thrive under first-year head coach Barry Odom.
Interceptions: Florida DB Jalen Tabor
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For two seasons, Jalen Tabor has patiently waited outside of the spotlight in the Florida defensive backfield while Vernon Hargreaves III became a household name.
This year, Tabor will pay a mortgage in your man-cave discussions.
He had four picks a year ago—two short of the SEC lead—and returned two of them for touchdowns. The outspoken native of Washington, D.C., will be the centerpiece of a Gator secondary that also includes fellow corner Quincy Wilson, safety Marcus Maye and talented nickel Duke Dawson.
"QBs throwing at Florida's Jalen Tabor had a passer rating of just 33.0, lowest among all returning corners
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 17, 2016"
Opposing offenses simply can't shy away from any of the Gator defensive backs, which means that Tabor will have plenty of chances to make his presence felt.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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