Who are the best players in the SEC going into the 2022 college football season? They’re highlighted in the CFN 2022 Preseason All-SEC team and top 30 players.
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2022 Preseason CFN SEC Offensive Player of the Year
QB Bryce Young, Jr. Alabama
Yeah, of course the reigning Heisman winner who came really, really close to pulling out a national championship comes into the following season as the conference’s top offensive star. However, that’s not the given you might think it is considering just about ever SEC team has a quarterback talented enough to be a problem on any given Saturday.
The transfer portal brought LSU Jayden Daniels from Arizona State. Ole Miss got Jaxson Dart from USC and South Carolina got a gem in Spencer Rattler from Oklahoma. Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson have the pro scouts drooling, KJ Jefferson of Arkansas is special, and Mississippi State’s Will Rogers might lead the SEC in passing.
Meanwhile, a few of those big names are in battles for the starting job, and the one guy not mentioned – Stetson Bennett – quarterbacked his team to the national title.
The SEC is loaded with passers who could start just about anywhere else outside of the conference, and Young is the best of the bunch. He might not be huge, he might not have a cannon, and he doesn’t run much, but he reads everything, is deadly accurate, and he’s about to make a big push to repeat as the Heisman winner after hitting 67% of his passes for 4,872 yards and 37 touchdowns with seven picks.
2022 Preseason CFN SEC Defensive Player of the Year
LB Will Anderson, Jr. Alabama
It wasn’t just that Anderson was a pass rushing terror on a defense loaded with NFL prospect, it’s that he didn’t stop until Georgia held him in relative check in the national title – and the rest of the D took advantage of the attention paid to 31 – it was the consistency and alpha defender aspect to his game. Be shocked if the production doesn’t keep on rolling.
He came up with two or more tackles for loss in 11 games, made 101 stops on the season with 17.5 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss. No one else had more than 22 tackles for loss – he was the only player to average over two per game – and only Army’s Andre Carter averaged more sacks per game – 1.19 to 1.17.
College Football News 2022 Preseason All-SEC Team: Offense
QB Bryce Young, Jr. Alabama
RB Tank Bigsby, Jr. Auburn
RB Chris Rodriguez, Sr. Kentucky
WR Kayshon Boutte, Jr. LSU
WR Cedric Tillman, Sr. Tennessee
TE Brock Bowers, Soph. Georgia
OT Tyler Steen, Sr. Alabama
OG Nick Broeker, Sr. Ole Miss
C Ricky Stromberg, Sr. Arkansas
OG Emil Ekiyor, Sr. Alabama
OT Darnell Wright, Sr. Tennessee
College Football News 2022 Preseason All-SEC Team: Defense
DE Derick Hall, Sr. Auburn
DT Jalen Carter, Jr. Georgia
DT Zacch Pickens, Sr. South Carolina
DE BJ Ojulari, Sr. LSU
LB Will Anderson, Jr. Alabama
LB Bumper Pool, Sr. Arkansas
LB Nolan Smith, Sr. Georgia
CB Eli Ricks, Jr. Alabama
S Jordan Battle, Sr. Alabama
S Antonio Johnson, Jr. Texas A&M
CB Kelee Ringo, Soph. Georgia
College Football News 2022 Preseason All-SEC Team: Special Teams
PK Harrison Mevis, Jr. Missouri
P Nik Constantinou, Jr. Texas A&M
KR Lideatrick Griffin, Jr. Mississippi State
PR Ainias Smith, Sr. Texas A&M
CFN 2022 Team Previews
East Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Missouri
Tennessee | South Carolina | Vanderbilt
West Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | LSU
Mississippi State | Ole Miss | Texas A&M
SEC Predictions For Every Game | CFN Preview 2022
Bowl Projections | Preseason Rankings
College Football News 2022 Preseason Top 30 SEC Players
30. Jaxson Dart, QB Soph. Ole Miss
29. Jeremy Banks, LB Sr. Tennessee
28. Brenton Cox, LB Sr. Florida
27. Ali Gaye, DE Sr. LSU
26. Will Rogers, QB Jr. Mississippi State
25. Zacch Pickens, DT Sr. South Carolina
24. Derick Hall, DE Sr. Auburn
23. Emil Ekiyor, OG Sr. Alabama
22. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB Jr. Alabama
21. BJ Ojulari, DE Sr. LSU
20. Cam Smith, CB Jr. South Carolina
19. Tank Bigsby, RB Jr. Auburn
18. Anfernee Orji, LB Sr. Vanderbilt
17. Spencer Rattler, QB Jr. South Carolina
16. Eli Ricks, CB Jr. Alabama
15. Henry To’o To’o, LB Sr. Alabama
14. Will Levis, QB Sr. Kentucky
13. Bumper Pool, LB Sr. Arkansas
12. Chris Rodriguez, RB Sr. Kentucky
11. Nolan Smith, LB Sr. Georgia
10. Anthony Richardson, QB Soph. Florida
9. Kelee Ringo, CB Soph. Georgia
8. Kayshon Boutte, WR Jr. LSU
7. Jordan Battle, SS Sr. Alabama
6. KJ Jefferson, QB Jr. Arkansas
5. Brock Bowers, TE Soph. Georgia
4. Hendon Hooker, QB Sr. Tennessee
3. Jalen Carter, DT Jr. Georgia
2. Bryce Young, QB Jr. Alabama
1. Will Anderson, LB Jr. Alabama
CFN 2022 Team Previews
East Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Missouri
Tennessee | South Carolina | Vanderbilt
West Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | LSU
Mississippi State | Ole Miss | Texas A&M
SEC Predictions For Every Game | CFN Preview 2022
Bowl Projections | Preseason Rankings
