SEC Football: Predicting 2015 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year
You just flipped the calendar to June, which also means that you'll likely be picking up one (or 10) of those college football preview magazines for your pool or beach entertainment in the near future.
The season is right around the corner, and it's never too early to go on the record and predict some of the breakout players, shining stars and surprising teams of the 2015 season.
To kick off the official start of "preview season" (or, as South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier calls it, "talkin' season"), let's get things started by picking the winners of the SEC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
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Offensive Player of the Year
You'll hear all summer that the quarterback position is a "position of weakness" in the SEC this year. In fact, as USA Today's Dan Wolken noted to Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network earlier this spring, the position is largely viewed as a punchline to a depressing joke.
With Georgia's Nick Chubb, LSU's Leonard Fournette, Alabama's Derrick Henry and Arkansas' dynamic duo of Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, it appears that the SEC will be driven by running backs in 2015.
That's only temporary, though.
Mississippi State's Dak Prescott is an established contender for the Heisman Trophy, Auburn's Jeremy Johnson and Texas A&M's Kyle Allen are in systems with supporting casts that will help them shine, Tennessee's Joshua Dobbs has weapons galore and his first full offseason as the unquestioned No. 1 to improve upon last season's success and several other quarterbacks have talented running backs to take the pressure off.
The combination of talented running backs and quarterbacks who are in prime position to shine will create an intriguing battle for the Offensive Player of the Year award.
Predicted Winner: Derrick Henry
Henry is the predicted winner for a variety of reasons. Is he the most talented running back in the SEC? Chubb and Fournette could certainly formulate a solid argument, but Henry is right up there with the best.
He rushed for a team-high 990 yards and 11 touchdowns last year serving as T.J. Yeldon's primary backup and college football's most terrifying fourth-quarter "closer" at running back. The 6'3", 242-pound monster from Yulee, Florida, is now Alabama's unquestioned No. 1 running back, with very little depth behind him.
Kenyan Drake will be used more as a hybrid wide receiver/running back in the same way offensive coordinator used Reggie Bush during his USC days, and there's really no established, healthy depth behind them at running back. Because of that, it's going to be the "Derrick Henry Show" as Kiffin breaks in a new starting quarterback and a small village of new starters on offense.
Sure, Chubb can be an every-down bruiser too. But with Sony Michel, Keith Marshall and A.J. Turman in the same backfield, it'd be better for Georgia—and Chubb—if they can stay healthy and take some pressure off.
The same can be said for Fournette at an LSU program that's known for spreading the rushing wealth around. Fournette will undoubtedly be the No. 1, but Darrel Williams, Derrius Guice and Nick Brossette will also get some No. 1 carries at times. Plus, LSU needs a lot more out of its quarterback play to jump into the SEC West mix—which is always a boost to the resume of any Offensive Player of the Year candidate.
But what about the quarterbacks?
It will be a tough battle that includes Johnson, Allen and others, but I predicted Alabama to win the SEC West in our post-spring power rankings, and it will be on the heels of Henry's stellar 2015 season.
Defensive Player of the Year
Like the contenders in the offensive category, the options for Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC are quite impressive.
Between Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and safety Tony Conner, Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland and lineman A'Shawn Robinson, Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves and others, the preseason first-team All-SEC team is going to look more like a projection for the first round of the NFL draft than a college all-conference team.
And those are just the names you know.
When all is said and done at the end of the seasons, there will be even more top-tier defensive players who aren't as well-known vying for the award.
Predicted Winner: Derek Barnett
Sure, Garrett might have more sacks than Barnett, Hargreaves is one of the top cornerbacks in the country and Nkemdiche might demand more attention than Barnett with all of those double- and triple-teams; but when you combine the statistical impact with the impact on the game, nobody is going to be more attractive as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate than Barnett.
He established himself early on as a freshman in 2014 as one of the best three-down defensive ends in the nation. In the end, Barnett finished second in the conference with 20.5 tackles for loss, fourth in sacks with 10 and 72 tackles—fifth on the Vols.
As FoxSports.com's Bruce Feldman noted last month, that was in the face of some serious competition lining up on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
Not bad for a guy who became the centerpiece of a defensive line that helped lead the team to the conference's second-best third-down defense (34.21 percent) in a year that included plenty of questions up front in coming in.
With seven of eight members of the two-deep coming back, monster defensive tackle Shy Tuttle already on campus and fellow freshman Kahlil McKenzie moving into town this summer, teams simply won't be able to focus on Barnett like they can on other top-tier defensive ends.
Like Henry's Crimson Tide, I picked Tennessee as a representative in the SEC Championship Game in 2015. If that happens, it will likely be on the heels of Barnett making a living in the opposition's backfield.
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.
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.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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