SEC Football: Biggest Questions That Must Be Answered This Spring
The biggest questions of the offseason are obvious in the SEC.
Texas A&M and Auburn need to fix their defenses, LSU's quarterback situation has to be rectified and Alabama's pass defense can't continue to give up plays in chunks and maintain its perch atop the SEC.
Those are the 40,000-foot issues surrounding the entire offseason, but what specifically needs to be solved during spring practice?
Our picks, based on gaping holes, personnel and pressure, are in this slideshow.
Alabama Must Find the Next Amari Cooper
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Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's offense is at its best when it has one centerpiece for the offense to revolve around. In his first season at Alabama, it was wide receiver Amari Cooper who took control of the offense, catching 124 passes for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns, en route to a trip to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Marqise Lee served the same purpose when Kiffin was the head coach of USC, as he caught 118 passes for 1,721 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2012 for the Trojans. The go-to guy doesn't always have to be a receiver, though. Reggie Bush rushed for 1,740 yards and caught 37 passes for 478 yards in his Heisman Trophy season of 2005, when Kiffin was USC's co-offensive coordinator.
Who will step up for Kiffin this year?
It could be a number of people, including wide receivers Chris Black, ArDarius Stewart, Robert Foster or a host of other talented wideouts.
Keep an eye on running back Kenyan Drake, though. The ultra-talented lightning bolt is back from a broken leg suffered in early October, ripping off 4.4-second 40-yard dashes, according to head coach Nick Saban, via AL.com's Matt Zenitz, and looking every bit like the versatile weapon he was before his injury.
Whoever steps up, Kiffin must find a go-to player this spring so the rest of the offense—which will feature nine new starters—can filter in around him.
Georgia's QB Battle Narrowed to Two
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Junior Faton Bauta, redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey and redshirt freshman Jacob Park are embroiled in a heated battle this spring in Athens for the top spot on the depth chart at quarterback in what, according to Atlanta Journal Constitution's Chip Towers, head coach Mark Richt described as a battle that's "as wide open" as it's ever been during his tenure in Athens.
Ramsey has the most experience, Bauta has some dual-threat capabilities that could be attractive to offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and the coaching staff and Park has the most potential of the trio.
I picked Ramsey to win the job exiting spring practice in February, but if that doesn't happen, Richt and Schottenheimer need to at least narrow the battle down to two.
A three-quarterback battle during optional offseason workouts won't help anybody. The wide receivers will be all over the place with three different quarterbacks and won't develop as much familiarity with the eventual winner. At least with two—especially if it's Bauta (who likely will have a role in some capacity) and somebody else—the rest of the Bulldogs will get a taste of how things will feel in the fall.
Texas A&M Needs Consistency in the Trenches
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Everybody knows Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett is a beast, but lost in the jokes surrounding the Aggie defense as a whole is a defensive line that's pretty darn talented.
Fellow defensive end Julien Obioha and tackles Hardreck Walker and Alonzo Williams all return to try to kick-start a defense that's being led by new defensive coordinator John Chavis. All three of those players better get ready, because Garrett's emergence last year makes their play critical to the development of the new-look Aggie defense.
Obioha will be left one-on-one more times than not, and if the attention paid to Garrett allows the interior linemen to collapse the pocket from the middle—a quarterback's worst nightmare—it will give the entire program a huge boost.
With incoming defensive tackle Daylon Mack coming in and Justin Manning's return from a leave of absence this summer, according to Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle, a strong showing from the big men in the trenches this spring will go a long way toward the development of Chavis' defense.
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Florida's Offensive Line Must Develop and Stay Healthy
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Florida's quarterback situation has been a hot mess ever since Tim Tebow exhausted his eligibility after the 2009 season, and that will undoubtedly be the headliner this offseason in Gainesville.
That won't be decided this spring, according to new head coach Jim McElwain.
"I think going into the summer you have an opportunity, maybe, to develop some things from there but we're not putting a time line on the starting quarterback," he said in quotes released by Florida. "We've done it a lot of different ways a lot of places we've been and been successful doing it. When it's time we'll name that."
The more pressing issue for Florida's new-look offensive line is to progress and stay healthy. Trip Thurman's injury leaves the Gators with just seven healthy scholarship offensive linemen, according to Mark Long of The Associated Press (h/t Florida Today), and many of those players, including tackle Rod Johnson, need to take the next step.
The only sure thing Florida has on the offensive side of the ball is a running game led by Kelvin Taylor and Adam Lane, but even that will suffer if Florida's offensive line doesn't take a tremendous step forward this spring.
Auburn Needs Help from Its Linebackers
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For Auburn's linebackers, it's a matter of quantity, not quality.
Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy are known commodities who passed at chances to jump to the NFL in order to return to the Plains. But in former defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson's 4-2-5 defense, they were the only two true linebackers.
Now, with Will Muschamp calling the shots, Auburn needs at least four linebackers it can count on thanks to the multiple 4-3 and 3-4 looks Muschamp likes to give.
Justin Garrett was the star of Auburn's spring game two years ago in Johnson's Star position, but a foot injury opened the door for Robenson Therezie—who closed the door, locked it and threw away the key for two years. He's a true linebacker now and, along with sophomore Tre' Williams, is impressing Muschamp early.
"I have been pleased with Justin Garrett and Tre’ Williams," Muschamp said Thursday, according to Tom Green of the Opelika-Auburn News and the Dothan Eagle. "Those guys have done a nice job."
There are other options for Muschamp, including converted safety Derrick Moncrief, Kenny Flowers and JaViere Mitchell, and they need to begin sorting themselves out this spring.
Missouri Needs a No. 1 Wide Receiver
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Hey, you! Yeah, you, the guy who has never played a down of college football. Did you know you're very close to being Missouri's most experienced wide receiver?
Nate Brown enters the spring as Missouri's most productive weapon outside, with a grand total of just five receptions. Only three Missouri wide receivers have ever played in a college game, according to David Morrison of the Columbia Daily Tribune.
So, basically, it's par for the course for head coach Gary Pinkel, who dealt with the departure of L'Damian Washington, Marcus Lucas and Dorial Green-Beckham (late in the spring) last offseason.
Can Nate Brown be the man for Missouri? The 6'3", 205-pound sophomore has all the skills to be a star and is in a system that's ready-made to plug and play wide receivers. Whoever steps up, though, it needs to happen this spring so that Pinkel and the offensive staff can fine-tune the offense this fall.
Brandon Harris Needs to Win the LSU QB Job
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The sound you heard from Baton Rouge over the weekend was a dull roar generated from practice reports of LSU's first spring scrimmage.
Head coach Les Miles told reporters Sunday that sophomore Brandon Harris had the edge over true junior Anthony Jennings during Saturday's events.
"I think Brandon had a touchdown pass more than Anthony," Miles said according to Jim Kleinpeter of NOLA.com. "Might give him the edge today."
That slight edge needs to turn into a cemented spot atop the depth chart by the end of spring practice.
At this point, Jennings is who he is. He completes a little less than half of his passes, loses accuracy when he takes off velocity and is far too indecisive in the pocket.
Harris is raw, but his upside is apparent. He has a big arm, can create behind the line of scrimmage and is much more of a threat on the ground than his position-mate at LSU. If the Tigers are going to contend in the SEC West, they have to be bold with their quarterback position.
Harris should be the guy.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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