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SEC Sports
Alabama Has 16 Selected Pre-Season All-SEC
Alabama’s Bryce Young selected pre-season second team All-SEC quarterback by Athlon Sports
247sports.com
Follow along now. Athlon Sports has issued its 2021 Post-Spring Preseason All-Southeastern Conference Football Team.
We have no reason to believe there will be a great deal of controversy in the selections, four teams deep. At least we don’t expect the firestorm when last year some of the pre-season All-SEC teams (we can’t remember if Athlon Sports was one of them) had Alabama’s Mac Jones as the third team quarterback. As it turned out, Jones was the unanimous first team All-SEC quarterback, top five in Heisman Trophy voting, first-round NFL draft choice, and statistically the best in college history.
But that 2020 criticism of All-SEC teams that had Jones third team didn’t come from Alabama. It came from Auburn, because Jones made the pre-season third-team ahead of the Tigers’ returning starter and SEC Freshman of the Year Bo Nix.
Now Athlon Sports may come in for an attack from Auburn. Nix didn’t make third team again this year. Nor did he make first or second team. Fourth team? No.
And to rub salt in the wound, Athlon Sports named Alabama’s Bryce Young, a second-year player who had no meaningful snaps (for Bama’s 13-0 national championship team), as its second-team quarterback. Matt Corral of Ole Miss was named No. 1 at quarterback.
It has been our observation that Athlon Sports is no better or no worse than any others when it comes to preseason predictions. We have also noticed that given the choice between an Alabama player and one from another team in a close decision, it will rarely be wrong to Go Bama.
The Athlon selectors put Henry To’o To’o on its second-team defense at linebacker with a note that it is pending whether he will be eligible this season after having transferred from Tennessee.
Coach Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide team had five players on the Athlon Sports 2021 pre-season All-SEC first team, six on the second team, four on the third team, and one on the fourth team, a total of 16 selections.
Bama players selected were:
First-team offense: wide receiver John Metchie III and offensive lineman Evan Neal
First-team defense: linebacker Will Anderson, linebacker Christian Harris, safety Jordan Battle
Second-team offense: quarterback Bryce Young, tight end Jahleel Billingsley, offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor
Second-team defense: linebacker Henry To'o To'o (Pending transfer, committed to Alabama), cornerback Josh Jobe, safety Malachi Moore
Third team offense: running back Brian Robinson
Third team defense: defensive lineman LaBryan Ray, linebacker Chris Allen
Third team specialists: placekicker Will Reichard
Fourth team defense: lineman Tim Smith
Some teams had selections at more than one position, i.e. LSU’s Derek Stingley first-team cornerback and second-team punt return specialist.
Arkansas had 7 selections, Auburn 8, Florida 6, Georgia 15, Kentucky 7, LSU 9, Ole Miss 8, Mississippi State 7, Missouri 5, South Carolina 5, Tennessee 5, Texas A&M 9, and Vanderbilt 3.
