SEC Football 2011: Grading the Preseason All-SEC Offense and Special Teams

Sometimes preseason college football picks live up to their billing, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes established stars fail to shine for a second year in a row.

Let's take a look at the players on the SEC preseason team and project a grade we think they'll have earned by the end of the season.

Starting with the offensive players and special team members, each will be assigned a grade where we think they are now and what that final grade should be at the end of the season.

Tight End: Orson Charles, Georgia

At 6'3'' and only 241 pounds, Orson Charles is the smallest of the group on the first, second or third team. Personally, I think second-team Phillip Lutzenkirchen from Auburn is more athletic in just about all phases of the game over Charles, and Alabama's Micheal Williams is a much better run-blocker.

Grade: Charles ranks a solid B and should end the season right about there as well. Lutzenkirchen is also a solid B right now, but should pass Charles by season's end and become an A player at tight end.

Offensive Lineman: Barrett Jones, Alabama

Now here's the dilemma I have with Alabama's Barrett Jones. He's a most solid A+ guard now and at the end of the season, but if Alabama does indeed throw him to left tackle as they've hinted they may do, then the rating falls.

Jones just doesn't have the long arms, size or speed to be an A player in the SEC at left tackle. Rather than take a chance on a younger player with the right size and skill sets to do this, Alabama could be hurting itself by taking away such a proven guard and experimenting with him this late in his career.

I'm sure Jones will do a good job, but to be a first-team guy, you have to do a great job.

Grade (at guard): A now, A+ at the end of the year.

Grade (at left tackle): C+ now, maybe a B by the end of the year.

Offensive Lineman: Bradley Sowell, Ole Miss

At 6'7'' and 315 pounds of muscle, Sowell is everything you want in an offensive lineman. He is a people-pusher and a man-masher.

It's hard to argue with this first-team posting since he helped lead a line with the fewest number of sacks last season. He also plays with attitude, and wants to hit people and dominate.

This is what a left tackle is supposed to look like, and this is why I'm down on Alabama's Barrett Jones trying to do this job.

Grade: Sowell will start the season a solid A and finish the season with an A+.

Offensive Lineman: Cordy Glenn, Georgia

Okay, let's pick the nit over offensive lineman Cordy Glenn of Georgia. Last year he started 13 games as a left guard and is now being moved to tackle.

Like Barrett Jones at Alabama, there's no quibble over him being an A guard, but tackle?

Like Jones, he's a few inches short of where he needs to be (6'5''), but at 351 pounds, he's just not fast enough for the tackle slot.

Grade (if tackle): I don't know where to grade him now if they intend to put him at tackle, but he'll finish the season a B- to C+. Ole Miss' Bobby Massey ,at 6'6'' and only 325, is a proven tackle who would better fit the bill.

Grade (if guard): If they leave him at guard, he's a solid A.

Offensive Lineman: Larry Warford and Brandon Mosley (Tie)

As it happens every so often, there was a tie for the last offensive lineman slot between Larry Warford, Kentucky's 6'3'', 340-pound junior, and Auburn's 6'6'',306-pound senior Brandon Mosley.

Okay, I'll break that tie and give the nod to Mosley. Though a little lighter, that three inches of reach and the experience that comes from being a senior who won an SEC Championship and national title should easily give him the nod.

Grade: As play goes on through the year, I expect Warford to begin an A- and end up an A, with Mosley coming in as a solid A and finishing with that same grade.

Center: William Vlachos, Alabama

If this were a team, this would be the man in the leadership role of the entire line. William Vlachos is about as proven a commodity as there is on this All-SEC team, but more than that, he's a proven leader on and off the field.

What the 6'1'', 295-pound Vlachos lacks in height he more than makes up for in muscle and technique. He has routinely had to practice against some of the best nose tackles in the world of college football, and he has always held his own.

Grade: Vlachos starts the year as an A+ and will end the year that way too. Second-team center Ben Jones of Georgia didn't even get half the votes Vlachos did, and for good reason. Vlachos is the best center in the SEC.

Wide Receiver: Greg Childs, Arkansas

This 6'3'', 217-pound senior wide receiver from Arkansas beat second-team Marquis Maze by a 4-1 margin. This just shows what an impact players Greg Childs is.

Breaking in a new quarterback won't make it easy for Childs to come up with the same numbers, but his senior leadership will surely help the new quarterback and the team as a whole.

Grade: Of course he will start the year with a A and may finish with an A+; that is what you would expect from senior with all the accomplishments Childs has.

Wide Receiver: Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina

Alshon Jeffery, a 6'4'', 233-pound junior for South Carolina, got more votes for first team than any other receiver. When you watch him in action, you'll know why.

Opposing coaches become uncomfortable about any ball thrown his way. Jeffery can use his 6'4" height to go up and get a ball, then use his 233 pounds of muscle to get those extra yards that often make a difference.

Grade: Of course all these voters couldn't be wrong in a landslide vote like this, and of course he'll start the season an A player. Depending if Stephen Garcia can keep it together and keep off suspension, Jeffery will finish an A+ player.

Quarterback: Aaron Murray, Georgia

With all respect for the voters who participated in this event, Aaron Murray? Really? Did he make a difference last year? Is everything they voted on based on some crystal ball they've looked into?

This is a season where the best quarterbacks on paper are totally erratic. Stephen Garcia has talent and leadership, but is so unreliable. But doesn't that also sound like the other best quarterback, Jordan Jefferson?

In other words, there's just no standout sure fire winner at this spot in the SEC right now. But anything can happen.

Grades: Murray has promise, but it hasn't been shown consistently yet. He will start the season as a B quarterback and, at least in the humble opinion of this writer, can only expect to finish the year with a B+.

The player who winds up being the A+ player could be Jefferson if he gets it all together and keeps it together. It could be either A.J. McCarron or Phillip Sims at Alabama because of the great supporting cast. But then Chris Relf has so much talent and could have his breakout year, and it wouldn't surprise me if Arkansas' QB—whoever gets the job—ends up being the star.

Running Back: Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina

Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia may be up and down, but Marcus Lattimore has always been the steady player Coach Steve Spurrier hoped he would be.

Should USC lose a starting quarterback, then Lattimore could be ridden like a rented mule. Unlike Alabama, there is not a stable full of running backs who can carry the load with him—not at that same standard.

Lattimore had better pray for good health and play from his quarterback.

Grade: Lattimore comes in to only his second year, but is already an established star and a solid A running back. He has the chance to finish there as well.

Running Back: Trent Richardson, Alabama

Unlike Lattimore, who has shown he can not only handle the starting job, but handle the load game in and game out, Richardson will have to prove that this year.

Grade: Though he's never been a starter for a whole season, Richardson's shown he's a solid A player. But he has that something extra that can catapult him into an A+ player. And with the offensive line he has plowing the road, it may be easier.

Place Kicker: Blair Walsh, Georgia

Walsh is the guy whom Georgia can count on to get points out of a failed drive. He was a landslide winner for first team and for a reason.

He's a guy you can count on. Walsh was 91 percent in 2009 and 87 percent last year. Few have had better stats.

Grade: This senior from Boca Raton is a solid A place kicker, and he should end up with that A solidly on his report card this season.

Punter: Drew Butler, Georgia

The son of famed Georgia punter Kevin Butler, Drew may just be better than the old man. He boomed two 87-yard punts in one exhibition and of course was a first-team All-American as well.

Few punters make it into the NFL, but Butler may just make that journey. He is by far the best man at his position in the SEC.

They say in the SEC you can't win without a sound kicking game, but Georgia's proven that sometimes you can't even win with one.

Grade: Simply put, Drew's an A+ player now and will end the season that way.

Kickoff Return Specialist: Brandon Boykin, Georgia

There were many people who were not so separated in the votes, and that's about right. Brandon Boykin won the title as first-teamer, but none on the list has the pizazz of, say, a Javier Arenas of past years.

This is just not a very exciting group this year.

Grade: Boykin enters the year as a B- and may finish the year a ho-hum B.

Punt Return Specialist: Trent Richardson, Alabama

Trent Richardson is the only man to make first team twice this year. In addition to being a first-team running back, Richardson made this list as first team also.

Richardson will make punt returns interesting, not so much for having break away speed, but in delivering break away limb hits to people who meet him at full speed.

While Richardson won't take many to the house, he'll sure get the yardage.

Grade: He starts the season a solid B returner, and he may increase that to a B+ by year's end. But without that lightning that some punt returners have, Richardson just won't make the A grade.

And That's It!

Larry Burton is a Syndicated Writer whose work appears on the Internet and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.

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