The 2013 College Football Hall of Fame class was announced today and two more ex-SEC’ers are headed for enshrinement.

Steve Meilinger, a defensive end at Kentucky from 1951 through 1953, and Danny Wuerffel, Florida’s quarterback from 1993 to 1996, will both be inducted into the Hall of Fame in New York City in December.  While the ceremonies are in the Big Apple, a brand new College Football Hall of Fame will open in Atlanta — probably on one of the city’s 462 Peachtree Streets — in 2014.

Meilinger was a member of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s final three squads in Lexington.  Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy and led Steve Spurrier’s Gators to the national championship in 1996.

Also voted in this year:

Ted Brown, RB, North Carolina State

Tedy Bruschi, DE, Arizona

Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin

Tommie Frazier, QB, Nebraska

Jerry Gray, DB, Texas

Orlando Pace, OT, Ohio State

Rod Shoate, LB, Oklahoma

Percy Snow, LB, Michigan State

Vinny Testaverde, QB, Miami (FL)

Don Trull, QB, Baylor

Wayne Hardin, Coach, Navy and Temple

Bill McCartney, Coach, Colorado

Congratulations to all of those being honored.

The NFL early entry deadline had come and gone and SEC teams took quite a hit.  Not surprising considering the SEC leads the nation in recruiting rankings every February and in NFL draft picks every April.  With that much talent in SEC programs, there will always be a number of stars leaving prior to their senior seasons.

In all, 33 players from the league submitted their paperwork to the NFL for early entry into the draft.  More could have changed their mind at the last minute, but for now we know of 33.  That number includes former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu who did not play with the Tigers in 2012 due to a suspension.

ALABAMA — 3

DJ Fluker, OT

Eddie Lacy, RB

Dee Milliner, CB

ARKANSAS — 2

Alvin Bailey, OG

Knile Davis, RB

AUBURN — 1

Corey Lemonier, DE

FLORIDA –4

Matt Elam, S

Sharrif Floyd, DT

Jelani Jenkins, LB

Jordan Reed, TE

GEORGIA — 3

Kwame Geathers, DT

Jarvis Jones, LB

Alec Ogletree, LB

KENTUCKY — 0

LSU — 11

Chris Faulk, OT

Michael Ford, RB

Bennie Logan, DT

Tyrann Mathieu, CB (already off team)

Barkevious Mingo, DE

Kevin Minter, LB

Sam Montgomery, DE

Eric Reid, S

Tharold Simon, CB

Spencer Ware, RB

Brad Wing, P

MISS. STATE — 0

MISSOURI — 1

Sheldon Richardson, DT

OLE MISS — 0

S. CAROLINA — 2

Marcus Lattimore, RB

Ace Sanders, WR

TENNESSEE — 4

Tyler Bray, QB

Justin Hunter, WR

Cordarrelle Patterson, WR

Darrington Sentimore, DT

TEXAS A&M — 2

Luke Joeckel, OT

Damontre Moore, DE

VANDERBILT — 0

Regular readers of MrSEC.com — as opposed to you irregular readers — know that we like to look inside the numbers on Thursdays.  Usually, we look at team-based stats, but today we want to examine the work of individual performers.

This stat’s pretty simple, really: Which offensive players are responsible for the most yards per touch?  We call it our Playmakers measure.

We take rushing yards, passing yards and receiving yards and then divide that number by the total number of touches for a given player.  We include only those players who’ve touched the ball — run, pass or catch — at least 30 times against SEC defenses only.

Read the rest of this entry »

Injured LSU left tackle Chris Faulk won’t play against Washington Saturday – could force shuffling along the Tigers’ offensive line
QB Connor Shaw to be gametime decision for South Carolina vs East Carolina
WR Cobi Hamilton expected to start for Arkansas vs Louisiana-Monroe
Georgia’s Mark Richt won’t name RB starter vs Missouri… or say who’s suspended
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive will conduct the coin toss at both the Texas A&M/Florida and Mizzou/Georgia games Saturday
Tennessee walk-on WR Jacob Carter given scholarship after 1-catch performance vs NC State
Which SEC Teams will finish September undefeated?  Log on to MrSEC.com to see our exclusive breakdown

QB Connor Shaw to be gametime decision for South Carolina vs East Carolina
WR Cobi Hamilton expected to start for Arkansas vs Louisiana-Monroe
Georgia’s Mark Richt won’t name RB starter vs Missouri… or say who’s suspended
Tennessee walk-on WR Jacob Carter given scholarship after 1-catch performance vs NC State
Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu officially enrolled as student at LSU, hopes to play in 2013
Keep up with SEC news everyday at MrSEC.com

Somehow missed this one earlier in the week, but Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com has compiled what he calls his “Freak List,” the 10 craziest athletes in college football.  And by crazy, he means “the top workout warriors or players who amaze their teammates and coaches whith what they can do in the weight room, on the track or in some other ‘wow” aspect of athleticism.

You can get the full explainers right here.  We’ll just tell you that four SEC players made this year’s list with three other just missing the cut.  And those super-skilled athletes are…

2.  Devin Taylor, DE, South Carolina

3.  Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee

6.  Knile Davis, RB, Arkansas

8.  Jay Prosch, FB, Auburn (transfer from Northwestern)

Just missing the list were:

Eric Reid, DB, LSU

Jesse Williams, DT, Alabama

Lerentee McCray, LB, Florida

(You can tell its May when people start posting all their different lists.  It’s not football or basketball season… it’s list season.)

Will next year’s NFL draft be less SEC-centric than its recent predecessors?  At least at the top of the draft it might.

Andrew Perloff of SI.com has posted his first 2012 mock draft and only one SEC player is listed among the first 11 picks.  Considering last week’s draft produced five SEC picks in the first six selections, going one for eleven would be quite a dry spell.

Overall, Perloff sees nine league players being taken in next year’s first round.  That’s certainly more in tune with the league’s usual production.  Year-in and year-out you can expect nearly 30% of the NFL’s first-round picks to come from the SEC.

Here are the conference players he expects to get first-day calls next April:


8.  Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama — Raiders

12.  Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina — Lions

15.  Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama — Jaguars

16.  Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU — Texans

17.  Knile Davis, RB, Arkansas — 49ers

18.  Courtney Upshaw, LB, Alabama — Buccaneers

21.  Alshon Jeffery, WR, South Carolina — Ravens

22.  Dont’a Hightower, LB, Alabama — Patriots

27.  Devin Taylor, DE, South Carolina — Chargers

Todd McShay of ESPN.com has spat forth his latest mock NFL draft and 10 first round picks — he believes — will come from the SEC.

Here’s his latest projection:


1.  Carolina Panthers — Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
4.  Cincinnati Bengals — AJ Green, WR, Georgia
5.  Arizona Cardinals — Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
7.  San Francisco 49ers — Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
8.  Tennessee Titans — Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn
10.  Washington Redskins — Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
15.  Miami Dolphins — Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
19.  New York Giants — Mike Pouncey, C/G, Florida
27.  Atlanta Falcons — Justin Houston, LB, Georgia
29.  Chicago Bears — Derek Sherrod, OT, Mississippi State


No offense to Dareus, but Fairley dominated the SEC and the BCS Championship Game.  He may be a head case — and that’s apparently the issue as teams have been unimpressed with his interviews — but the guy can play when he’s motivated.

When push comes to shove, we believe some team will roll the dice on his talent well before pick #8.

Tennessee

Signees/Enrollees: 27

5-stars: 0
4-stars: 12
3-stars: 14

DeAnthony Arnett, WR, MI ****
Allan Carson, DT, AL **
Cameron Clear, OL, TN ****
Justin Coleman, DB, GA ****
Maurice Couch, DT, KS****
Mack Crowder, OL, TN ***
Vincent Dallas, ATH, GA ***
Brendan Downs, TE, TN ***
Christian Harris, LB, GA ***
Marcus Jackson, OL, FL ****
AJ Johnson, LB, GA ****
Kyler Kerbyson, OL, TN ***
Marlin Lane, RB, FL ****
Izauea Lanier, ATH, MS ****
Curt Maggitt, LB, FL ****
Pat Martin, DB, SC ****
Byron Moore, DB, CA ****
Geraldo Orta, DB, GA ***
Alan Posey, OL, GA ***
Brian Randolph, DB, GA ***
Antonio Richardson, OL, TN ****
Trevarris Saulsberry, DT, FL ***
Tom Smith, RB, FL ***
Tino Thomas, ATH, TN ***
Jordan Williams, DE, FL ***
Justin Worley, QB, SC ***
Devrin Young, RB, TN ***

Notes:

* The Volunteers closed fast and filled holes on the defensive line (four signees) and in the secondary (five signees).  Tennessee also added six more offensive linemen.

* Derek Dooley signed seven players from both Tennessee and Georgia.

Mississippi State

Signees/Enrollees: 22

5-stars: 0
4-stars: 1
3-stars: 21

Dee Arrington, DB, MS ***
Taveze Calhoun, WR, MS ***
Justin Cox, ATH, MS ***
Devin Fosselman, WR, MS ***
Johnathan Harris, DE, FL ***
Zachary Jackson, ATH, MS ***
PJ Jones, DT, MS ****
Daniel Knox, OL, MS ***
James Maiden, DT, MS ***
Justin Malone, OL, MS ***
Kendrick Market, DB, MS ***
Benardrick McKinney, ATH, MS ***
Derrick Milton, RB, VA ***
Joseph Morrow, WR, MS ***
Shaquille Perry, LB, MS ***
Dak Prescott, QB, LA ***
Nick Redmond, OL, MS ***
Josh Robinson, RB, LA ***
Darius Slay, DB, MS ***
Preston Smith, DE, GA ***
Joey Trapp, OL, CA ***
Rufus Warren, TE, MS ***

Notes:

* Landing one 4-star and 21 3-star prospects isn’t bad at all… but State’s class was passed by Ole Miss.  That has to be frustrating for a coaching staff that has bested the Rebels in back-to-back Egg Bowls.

* Of MSU’s 22 signees, 16 came from within the Magnolia State.