SEC Football Q&A: Which Junior College Transfer Will Shine Brightest in 2016?

Spring practice is winding down around the South, with several spring games already in the books and even more coming this weekend, including at Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Tennessee.

What impact players have emerged? Just how good can Auburn, which held its spring game on Saturday, be up front? Which defensive ends could become stars in 2016?

Those questions and more are answered in this week's edition of SEC Q&A.

The obvious answer would be Auburn quarterback John Franklin III since he's the only pure dual-threat option for head coach Gus Malzahn and plays the most critical position on the offensive side of the ball. 

He might make an impact, and I do think that he will win the job during fall camp, but that's not a certainty at this point.

It's more of a certainty that Florida running back Mark Thompson becomes the man in the Gator backfield.

Thompson, a 6'2", 242-pounder from Dodge City (Kansas) Community College, had five carries for 46 yards and a nice touchdown run in the Orange & Blue Debut on Friday in which he made a nice cut in the hole, cut right and took it to the house.

"It felt great," Thompson said of the crowd reaction to this touchdown in the postgame press conference. "The crowd roared. That's something that I'm definitely not used to, but I want to get used to that. I plan to when the season comes around. There's still a lot of hard work that has to be done."

He's going to hear it a lot.

Because of his size, Thompson will be compared to former Alabama running back and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry. But that's not the kind of runner he is.

Henry is more of a pure bruiser, while Thompson carries and runs more like an all-purpose back who can lower his shoulder when needed but also do different things like catch passes out of the backfield and make defenders look silly in space.

He will be the feature tailback in Gainesville, a 1,000-yard rusher and a big reason that Florida contends for its second straight SEC East title.

"

@BarrettSallee we've seen Garrett, Allen, and Barnett break out at DE. Who breaks out this year? Arden Key or D'Shawn Hand possibly?

— Dr.Paine (@paine_hunter) April 11, 2016"

Both of those players that you mentioned, for sure.

Arden Key got progressively better for LSU as the year went on and should be a monster as a pure pass-rusher for Dave Aranda's defense in 2016. He's incredibly quick, plays bigger than his 231-pound frame and could rival Texas A&M's Myles Garrett as the most disruptive defensive end in the SEC.

Da'Shawn Hand is a bit different since he's in head coach Nick Saban's 3-4 scheme, but he can blow up double-teams, move side to side and be a difference-maker in a slightly different role.

I'm going to go a bit off the radar and pick Tennessee defensive end Corey Vereen.

Yes, he's a senior, so "breaking out" is probably something he should have considered prior to 2016. He has six career sacks—including 3.5 a year ago—but hasn't become the pass-rushing force that many thought he could become.

He has been banged up at times this spring but recorded two sacks in an early April scrimmage, according to Dustin Dopirak of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

He should get plenty of one-on-one matchups to exploit thanks to Derek Barnett's presence on the other side of the line and plays on a defensive line that should roll about 10 players into the mix, which will allow new coordinator Bob Shoop to put Vereen in specific situations for success.

Is he going overshadow Barnett? Probably not. But expect "the other defensive end" in Knoxville to put eclipse his career sack total during his final season on Rocky Top.

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

"

@BarrettSallee How good do you think Auburn's pass rush will be this year.Even without Derrick Brown & Antwuan Jackson to me it looked great

— Josh Knox (@Joshknox31) April 11, 2016"

Yeah, for sure.

Fans love to rip on Auburn's defense because it's easy and historically deserves it. After all, the last time the Tigers—who were once known for stellar defense—finished in the top half of the SEC in total defense was 2007.

That defensive line in 2016, though, is going to be something fierce.

We all know about Carl Lawson outside and Montravius Adams inside. That duo, when healthy, creates way too much disruption. Over the last five games of last season—when Lawson was close to full speed—Auburn's defense gave up 339 yards per game and looked vastly different than the punchline that people want to remember.

Marlon Davidson enrolled early, already has risen to the first team and looked like a monster on Saturday in Auburn's A-Day game when he recorded four tackles.

New coordinator Kevin Steele also has tackles Dontavius Russell, early enrollee Antwuan Jackson and Devaroe Lawrence inside, Byron Cowart, Jeff Holland and junior college transfer Paul James outside, and more help coming in the form of 5-star tackle signee Derrick Brown.

People are sleeping on Auburn's defense, and that's fine.

That will change in the fall because it boasts one of the best defensive fronts in the SEC.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Not seriously at all.

At times, it feels like quarterbacks in closed scrimmages complete more passes than they attempt, which we all know is impossible.

This time around, Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough has become the spring star, posting ridiculous stats seemingly every Saturday in closed practices.

Take those stats with a grain of salt because if a practice is closed, you don't know what specific situations teams are working on. Some scrimmages are geared more toward third downs, others to goal-line and short-yardage situations, and others have limitations on what coverages and blitzes defenses can employ.

Spring games are a bit different, since fans and media actually get a chance to see what's happening. But coaches know that too and don't want to put a lot on tape for opposing coaches to look at leading up to the season.

Don't pay attention to closed spring scrimmage stats at all. Judge spring games more by depth chart than statistics and place way more emphasis on fall camp than both.

Quotes were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and recruiting information is 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.