SEC Football: 8 Overlooked Prospects Who Will Succeed in the SEC

I must admit, I have a love-hate relationship with the nation's most popular recruiting sites. On one hand, it is a benefit to be able to view thousands of prospects in one place. However, it is also disappointing to see how they favor certain players and schools.

I have served as a scout for agencies who are contracted out by athletic departments. This has allowed me to travel across the United States and watch some of the premier young prospects in the nation. At the same time, while doing this, I have found that we can all be fooled by a prospect's potential.

It is the things you can't always measure in a few game film sessions, things like their heart, work ethic and commitment to excellence. While I cannot guarantee the success of any player, a player with that combination almost always find a place to contribute.

This list of players will not include the big names. You will not find any five star athletes in this article. However, what you will see is a list of players who were under-ranked and will play far above their original ranking.

Alabama Crimson Tide: Isaac Luatua

Isaac Luatua was rated as a three star recruit by both Rivals and Scout this past season. This was mostly in part because they project him as an offensive center. The 6'3" and 300 lb. Luatua comes to the Tide from La Mirada, California with a mean streak that cannot be duplicated . This leads scouts to naturally assume he will be a great run blocking linemen. While this is true, he is too far behind on his technique to contribute in the passing game any time soon.

With that said, and I know this is not the popular opinion, I believe that Luatua will end up playing at defensive tackle. With current Tide defensive tackles Josh Chapman and Jessie William already slated to receive the bulk of the minutes this season, he will either play sparingly or redshirt. However, there is no reason to believe he will not be in the 315lb-330 lb. range at the start of 2012. This will make him the perfect backup for then starter Jessie Williams and the next great DT in 2013.

In my opinion, one of the hardest parts of grading a recruit is trying to measure their fight, drive and work ethic. These young recruits are treated like small gods during the high school days and during the recruiting process. Many of them show up to college with no idea how to overcome adversity. They don't know how to compete because they have not had to.

Luatua is not that guy. His work ethic is off the charts, and he is not afraid to compete and fight for every minute. After he signed with the University of Alabama, he told scout.com reporter Richard Stover

"I don't care about depth charts. I will fight, sell out everyday to make them proud and show them how fortunate and grateful I am for this opportunity."

This kid has the size, the strength, the work ethic and a mean streak that will make him a Tide favorite. Nick Saban has plenty of recruits in the southeast to choose from. There is a reason he went all the way to California to recruit this kid. Not only did he fight off the West Coach schools, but coaches from schools like Tennessee, Boston College and Arkansas were coming from the south and east as well. The extra miles will payoff with a great reward for Coach Saban and his staff.

Regardless if he is a center or defensive tackle, he will be much more valuable than a three star.

Arkansas Razorbacks: Keante Minor

scout.com

Three-star recruit Keante Minor is one of the most underrated athletes in the 2011 class. On the surface, the freshman receiver does not look to be anything special. However, once you put cleats on him, he can separate himself from the rest of the pack.

The 6'1" and 195 lbs. Minor comes to the Razorback all the way from the state of Illinois. He runs a legit 4.4 40-yard dash, but that is just one part of his game. He has tremendous body control and looks the ball in on every catch.

The biggest weakness Minor has is route running. Because of his speed on the high school level, he is able to blow past defenders without much attention to detail. However, if he polishes this aspect of his game in Coach Petrino's offense, he has All-SEC potential. Fortunately for him, he will be able to learn behind a great group of receivers who have already learned the Petrino way.

Auburn Tigers: Angelo Blackson

When you think about the top five recruiting class that Auburn signed this year, you think of names like Kiehl Frazier, Kris Frost and Christian Westerman. However, buried in this elite recruiting class is a little known three-star recruit from Delaware named Angelo Blackson.

Delaware is not known as a hotbed for recruits, but Blackson has talent that would shine in any state. When you go to a Delaware high school game, you are not going to see Division I recruits like you do in the south. However, this recruit is hard to miss at 6'5" and 290 lbs.

Despite being the No. 2 ranked player in the state of Delaware, Blackson went unnoticed by many colleges. Recruiting did pick up in the end for Blackson, as he also had scholarship offers from Missouri, Tennessee and North Carolina State.

The things that stick out to me about Blackson are his size and athleticism.  He currently weighs 290 lbs., but he has a frame that could easily carry 325 lbs. His athleticism is not only on display on the football field but on the basketball court as well, where he averaged over 20 points per game. He will need to be coached up, but that should be no problem for the Tigers.

Florida Gators- Chris Johnson

Orlando Sentinel

When you look at the profile report of Chris Johnson, nothing sticks out. He is a 5'10 and 185 lbs. safety that runs a 4.5 40. While none of that is five-star material in itself, he has something you cannot see on a piece of paper, and that is the “it” factor.

I was able to watch Johnson live in the National Private School Athletic Association All-American game, and he was phenomenal. There was rarely a play that happened that Johnson did not find a way to get involved in. This is why he had back to back seasons with over 120 tackles from the Safety position. This past season he led his team, Trinity Catholic, to a 14-0 record and a state championship.

His coach, Will Muschamp, is a former safety and has vowed to be hands on with the secondary. Under Muschamp's tutelage, Johnson is going to become a name that Gator fans will remember for years to come.

Georgia Bulldogs: Kent Turene

The University of Georgia recruiting class is going to go down as one of the best in school history. The “Dream Team” will truly become a nightmare for opposing SEC coaches. Several of their players are underrated (give Chris LeMay and Malcolm Mitchell their fifth star please) and will play far above their rankings by the recruiting agencies.

However, there is one that stands out to me above all the rest, and that is three star recruit Kent Turene. The linebacker from Florida had over 40 division-one offers. His list was a who's who of colleges including USC, California, Florida, LSU, Ohio State and Nebraska. Turene originally committed to Lane Kiffin and USC. However, after a late visit to UGA, he switched and now is a Bulldog.

If you are looking for a lock, this is him. I encourage you to bookmark this article and remember what I am saying, Turene will make the All-SEC freshman this team and will have an impact this season. He will need to work on his hip movement but is as good of a run stopper as you will see in the 2011 class. He might not be the fastest linebacker in the 40-yard dash, but he plays fast and explodes to the ball.

LSU Tigers: Trevon Randle

Texas native Trevon Randle is a special player. However, I almost left him off of this list because I am not sure what position he will actually end up playing. He is currently projected at lineback, but don't be surprised if he ends up as a running back or wide receiver. Randle has 4.4 speed and great overall athleticism.

Randle is a bit raw, but with his combination of speed and athleticism, should be able to get on the field early for the Tigers. He will likely put on 25 lbs during his career, and if he is able to keep his lateral movement, should be another star at the linebacker position for the Bayou Bengals.

Randle was impressive enough that he received offers from such schools as Oregon, Nebraska and Oklahoma. I have never met Randle, but if his work ethic is high, look for great things.

Tennessee Volunteers : Vincent Dallas

Tennessee came away with one of the top wide receiver classes in the nation in 2010. In 2011, they added another terrific receiver in three-stars wide receiver Vincent Dallas. Dallas is listed as an athlete and does not have the body control of Justin Hunter and he doesn't have the yard after catch potential of Da'rick Rogers. He does those things pretty well, but he excels at run blocking.

He has good speed and was a member of the fourth-fastest 4x400 meter relay squad in the nation in 2009. He should be the perfect compliment to Rogers and Hunter. As a result, in 2012, this Tennessee receiving corps should be one of the best in the nation.

Though he may never have 1,500 yards receiving, his value will far exceed three-stars. Dallas also had offers from Auburn, Oklahoma, Florida and Nebraska, among others.

Kentucky Wildcats: Marcus Caffey

For the UGA staff, the great part of being in the state of Georgia is the amount of talent you have to choose from. The difficult part is that you cannot sign them all. You have a limited amount of scholarships and the state is too big. Occasionally, one of the less known prospects gets overlooked and comes back with a vengeance on another SEC roster.

It is hard to complain about the 2011 recruiting class, but Marcus Caffey might be one they wish they could get back. The Dawgs rightfully put all of their attention on Isaiah Crowell. However, Caffey should have a great career as well. The 6'0 190 lb rushed for over 1,600 yards and scored 18 touchdowns in his senior year at Grady High School.  Caffey has great vision and finds holes that many backs would miss. He is not the homer un-threat that Crowell is, but has good speed (4.4) and rarely does not have great balance.

Caffey has the potential to be the featured back at Kentucky and is sure to make a lot of schools regret overlooking him.

Final Take

As I said at the start of this article, no prospect is a gurantee. However, I fully expect for all eight of these student-athletes to play above their high school rankings.

All of these athletes were three stars on at least one of the major recruiting sites. Some of them will play at a four-star level and others will play at a five-star level.

Regardless, I expect great careers out of all of them.