The Best Player Each SEC Football Team Has Ever Produced

There isn’t a single conference in college football that’s known for boasting more talent than the SEC, and the teams that comprise the organization where “It Just Means More” have produced some legendary players. However, some of those guys really stand out amongst a very crowded pack.

A ton of wildly talented football players have made their way through the SEC over the decades while helping cement the conference as the country’s biggest hotbed of talent.

There’s subsequently some stiff competition when it comes to naming the best player each SEC school has ever produced, but I set out to do exactly that by taking a look at the impact they had during their time in college and the legacy they left behind.

Alabama: Derrick Thomas

There’s no shortage of options to pick from when it comes to naming the most talented player to do their thing at Alabama, but after some fierce deliberating, I had to give the crown to Derrick Thomas.

The linebacker was an absolute force to be reckoned with as a pass rusher who set the Crimson Tide record for sacks in a season with 27 in 1988 en route to finishing with 52 for his career (he also finished with 62 tackles for a loss).

It’s worth noting the NCAA didn’t start officially recording sacks as a statistic until 2000, but he’d also be the all-time leader on both fronts if they recognized his achievements.

Honorable Mentions: Derrick Henry, DeVonta Smith, Mark Ingram, Tua Tagovailoa

Arkansas: Darren McFadden

This one thankfully didn’t require as much thought, as I’m not sure how anyone can argue against Darren McFadden being the most talented player to ever don a Razorbacks jersey.

McFadden is just one of three running backs who’ve won the Doak Walker Award more than once (Ricky Williams and  Jonathan Taylor are the other two). He was also a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006 during an unreal career where he racked up 4,590 yards and 41 touchdowns on the ground.

Honorable Mentions: Steve Atwater, Lance Alworth, Brandon Burlsworth

Auburn: Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson is one of the most freakishly talented athletes of all time, and the running back ran for 4,303 yards and had 43 rushing touchdowns during a four-year career where he averaged 6.6 yards per carry (an SEC record).

The Heisman Trophy was just one of a slew of awards he secured during his senior season in 1985. The quarterback who is the first honorable mention below did play an instrumental role in helping Auburn win two national championships compared to the zero Jackson finished with, but I still think the RB has the edge here.

Honorable Mentions: Cam Newton, Cadillac Williams

Florida: Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow’s NFL career may not have panned out as he and many other people envisioned, but it was also a bit hard for him to live up to the expectations stemming from his stellar career at Florida.

The QB was relegated to a backup role during his freshman season in 2006, but “Tebowmania” arrived in full force when he became the first underclassman to win the Heisman after earning the starting job as a sophomore.

He led the Gators to a national championship as a junior and ended his college career with 9,286 passing yards and 88 touchdowns in the air along with 2,947 and 57 on the ground.

Honorable Mentions: Steve Spurrier, Emmitt Smith 

Georgia: Herschel Walker

Herschel Walker is not only the best player to do his thing at Georgia but the greatest running back in SEC history, as his record 5,259 rushing yards is close to 500 more than Nick Chubb (the man with the silver medal) had during his time with the Bulldogs.

His 49 rushing touchdowns are also only second to Tebow, and the first true freshman to be named a first-team All-American also won the Heisman during his junior season in 1982.

Honorable Mentions: Champ Bailey, David Pollack, Stetson Bennett

Kentucky: Tim Couch

This is really the first team on this list where there isn’t a plethora of players to pick from, and Tim Couch emerges as the fairly obvious choice once you take a closer look.

The QB may be best remembered for crashing and burning with the Browns after they selected him with the top overall pick in 1999, but he went there in the first place thanks to his impressive play with the Wildcats as the center of the air raid offense that helped make him a top prospect.

Honorable Mentions: Randall Cobb, Josh Allen

LSU: Joe Burrow

There were more than a few contenders when it came to naming the best LSU football player of all time before Joe Burrow arrived in Baton Rouge, but the debate was pretty firmly settled by the time he departed.

Burrow only needed a couple of seasons to cement his reputation after transferring from Ohio State, and he capped off his time there by shattering the LSU and SEC single-season record for passing yards and touchdowns with an absurd 5,671 and 60, respectively.

It was more than good enough to win the Heisman, and he also added a national championship for good measure.

Honorable Mentions: Billy Cannon, Tommy Cassanova, Jayden Daniels

Mississippi State: Dak Prescott

This is another no-brainer, as Dak Prescott is far and away the standout when it comes to the players who’ve made their way through Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs had never been ranked #1 in the country at any point before they got there during his first season as a starter in 2014, and the dual-threat QB ended his career with 9,376 yards and 70 TDs in the air in addition to 2,521 and 41 on the rushing front.

Honorable Mentions: Kent Hull, Eric Moulds, Fred Smoot

Missouri: Chase Daniel

Missouri wasn’t a member of the SEC when Chase Daniels kicked off his career in Columbia in 2005, but he played an instrumental role in making them a target that led to the conference welcoming the Tigers and Texas A&M in 2012.

Missouri was a middling Big 12 program before Daniel emerged as a star QB who led them to a 12-2 record during his junior season in 2007 while making the first of two straight appearances in the conference championship game.

He threw for 12,515 yards and had 101 passing touchdowns during a four-year career where he was the starter for three seasons, and the program owes him a debt for the indelible mark he left.

Honorable Mentions: Justin Smith, Kellen Winslow Sr.

Oklahoma: Lee Roy Selmon

Oklahoma is the beneficiary of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to candidates for the best Sooner of all time, but I’m not going to let recency bias cloud my decision to go with Lee Roy Selmon.

Two of Selmon’s older brothers played at Oklahoma before he did. However, the defensive end established himself as the most formidable member of that trio as the anchor of a defense that played a major role in the Sooners winning back-to-back championships in 1974 and 1975 (he won the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy for his play during that second campaign).

Honorable Mentions: Baker Mayfield, Adrian Peterson, Brian Bosworth, Billy Sims

Ole Miss: Archie Manning

Eli Manning also did pretty well for himself at Ole Miss, although it’s a bit hard to imagine he would have ended up there if his dad Archie hadn’t previously made a name for himself with the Rebels in the 1960s.

The elder Manning played at Ole Miss between 1968 and 1970 and was the centerpiece of the team’s high-powered passing offense while recording 4,753 yards and 31 passing touchdowns during his career (although it’s worth noting he also had 41 interceptions).

Honorable Mentions: Eli Manning, Patrick Willis, Jaxson Dart

South Carolina: Jadeveon Clowney

Jadeveon Clowney simply sits on a higher tier than every other football player who’s come through South Carolina to the point where I didn’t even bother researching some potential alternatives before locking him in this slot.

The defensive end was A Bad, Bad Man who struck fear into basically every single player he lined up against whenever he stepped onto the field due to the blistering speed that helped him dish out some absolutely devastating hits while terrorizing every offense tasked with attempting to stop him.

Honorable Mentions: Sterling Sharpe, Alshon Jeffery, Connor Shaw

Tennessee: Peyton Manning

Ole Miss missed out on Peyton Manning for a few different reasons (including a looming probation stemming from a recruiting violation and a Volunteers offense that was a bit more attractive), and Tennessee certainly reaped the benefits.

Manning ascended to the starting role midway through his freshman season in 1994 and never looked back during a college career where he had 11,201 passing yards, threw for 89 touchdowns, and gradually improved each year before finishing as the runner-up to Charles Woodson in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1997.

Honorable Mentions: Reggie White, Johnny Majors, Doug Atkins

Texas: Earl Campbell

Picking the best football player in the history of the University of Texas is no small task, as there are a few incredibly worthy candidates.

However, I ultimately have to give the nod to Earl Campbell, the running back who debuted with the Longhorns in 1974 and ended his career with a Heisman-winning campaign where he rushed for 1,744 yards and 18 TDs while winning a national championship.

Honorable Mentions: Vince Young, Ricky Williams, Colt McCoy

Texas A&M: Dat Nguyen

I agonized a fair amount when it came to who to pick here, as there are plenty of people who’d understandably argue Johnny Manziel deserves the honor.

I can’t necessarily disagree, as Johnny Football is still the only freshman to win a Heisman, set the school’s single-season passing yards record, and is in third place when it comes to the QBs with the most career yards despite only playing for the Aggies for two seasons.

However, Dat Nguyen had four seasons to make a case for himself and did so while setting a school record with  517 tackles and leading the team on that front four years in a row.

Oh, and he did it as a linebacker who stood at 5’11” and seemingly had no business being a unanimous All-American who accumulated a slew of trophies for his standout play during his senior season in 1998.

Honorable Mentions: Johnny Manziel, Von Miller, Myles Garrett

Vanderbilt: Jay Cutler

It’s apt Vanderbilt is last on this list when you consider it’s historically been the ultimate afterthought as far as SEC football is concerned, and there aren’t really a ton of names that stand out.

I’m going to give the nod to Jay Cutler, who is statistically the second-best QB to play for the Commodores based on most of the major passing categories but is still pretty neck and neck with Kyle Shurmur in basically all of those departments (the former was also really the lone bright spot on a team that only had two wins in three of the four seasons he played there).

You could argue Bill Wade should be in the conversation when you consider he’s the only Vanderbilt player to be drafted with the first overall pick (the Rams got him at No.1 in 1952)

However, I’d argue that anyone trying to seriously win a debate about the best player in Vanderbilt history has already lost by getting that invested in the first place.

Honorable Mentions: Bill Wade, Earl Bennett