SEC Football: Top 100 SEC players to watch in 2016

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Oct 31, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly (10) passes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mississippi won 27-19. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports /

With 2015 in the books, the SEC must replace many talented playmakers. As we look ahead to the 2016 season, we rank the top 100 SEC football players.

It’s never too early to look ahead to next season.

While Alabama may not have had time yet to clear space for its most recent national championship trophy, the 2016 season is just around the corner. With underclassmen making final decisions about whether or not to jump to the NFL, and with National Signing Day approaching quickly, rosters are already taking shape.

As we turn our attention to 2016, and because talent is the main factor for on-field success, we ranked the Top 100 players in the SEC, regardless of position, as a relative starting point for our preseason predictions.

The results show that the SEC West is still loaded, though while Alabama dominated the Top 50, LSU actually came out ahead with 13 of our top 100. Surprisingly because of the star power heading to the NFL, Arkansas landed 11 players on our list, followed by Auburn and Tennessee. The Vols were the only SEC East squad in double digits though Georgia is close behind.

Top 100 SEC Football Players in 2016 by School:

Alabama: 11
Arkansas: 11
Auburn: 10
Florida: 6
Georgia: 9
Kentucky: 2
LSU: 14
Mississippi State: 3
Missouri: 4
Ole Miss: 8
South Carolina: 2
Tennessee: 10
Texas A&M: 8
Vanderbilt: 2

Top 100 SEC Football Players in 2016 by Position:

Quarterback: 6
Running Back: 11
Wide Receiver: 15
Tight End: 3
Offensive Line: 9
Defensive Line: 22
Linebacker: 13
Defensive Back: 19
Specialist: 2

It’s early, so this list of the Top 100 SEC football players for 2016 may look quite different when the season kicks off in September. We’ve got seven complete months to further analyze 2015 production, take into account talented true freshmen not yet on campus, evaluate reports from spring practice and process the eventual and disappointing likelihood of injuries and off-field issues that will jeopardize playing time for the upcoming season.

Still, we’ve got to start somewhere, and we take an early stab at counting down the top 100 players in the SEC.

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