Sports Illustrated's Publishers 2020 Preseason All-SEC Football Teams
Even though LSU is the reigning national champion, the writers who cover the Southeastern Conference for Sports Illustrated feel pretty good about Alabama's talent in 2020.
In preseason All-SEC balloting among the various league sites, the Crimson Tide topped the conference with 10 first-team selections and 12 overall. Five first-team picks were on offense. Jaylen Waddle was a first-team pick in three spots, tying at wide receiver, and the top pick at both kick returner and punt returner.
LSU had the second-most first-team selections with five, while Georgia was second in overall picks with nine.
A couple of notable items about the selections.
• Instead of two running backs, three wide receivers were selected.
• Defensively, a 3-3-5 formation was used since most teams will probably be the nickel package the most this season.
• Ties were not broken. However, if a tie occurred on the first team an additional player was not added to the second team. For example, instead of three first-team picks and three second-team selections at wide receiver, the tie made it so there were four first-team selections and just two second-team.
• An all-purpose player was listed both on offense and defense.
Every school in the SEC had players receive votes.
Ten programs had first-team selections (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee). Two more had second-team players (Mississippi State and Texas A&M).
There were six unanimous selections, including three from Alabama (Alex Leatherwood, Dylan Moses and Patrick Surtain II), who are marked by *.
2020 SI Preseason All-SEC
First team
Position, Name, School
Offense
QB Kyle Trask, Florida
RB Najee Harris, Alabama
WR Ja’Marr Chase, LSU*
WR DeVonta Smith, Alabama
WR Jaylen Waddle, Alabama/George Pickens, Georgia
TE Kyle Pitts, Florida*
OL Alex Leatherwood, Alabama*
OL Trey Smith, Tennessee
OL Darian Kinnard, Kentucky
OL Landon Dickerson, Alabama
C Trey Hill, Georgia
DEFENSE
DL Tyler Shelvin, LSU
DL Big Kat Bryant, Auburn
DL LaBryan Ray, Alabama
LB Dylan Moses, Alabama*
LB K.J. Britt, Auburn
LB Nick Bolton, Missouri
DB Patrick Surtain II, Alabama*
DB Richard LeCounte, Georgia*
DB Derek Stingley Jr., LSU
DB JaCoby Stevens, LSU
DB Kaiir Elam, Florida/Eric Stokes, Georgia/Jaycee Horn, South Carolina
All-purpose offense Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss
All-purpose defense Tyree Gillespie, Missouri/Derek Stingley, LSU
K Brent Cimaglia, Tennessee
P Max Duffy, Kentucky
KR Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
PR Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
Second team
Position, Name, School
OFFENSE
QB Jamie Newman, Georgia
RB Kylin Hill, Mississippi State
WR Seth Williams, Auburn
WR Elijah Moore, Ole Miss
TE Jalen Wydermyer, Texas A&M/Arik Gilbert, LSU
OL Landon Young, Kentucky
OL Deonte Brown, Alabama
OL Ben Cleveland, Georgia
OL Cade Mays, Tennessee
C Drake Jackson Kentucky
DEFENSE
DL Malik Herring, Georgia
DL Bobby Brown, Texas A&M
DL Christian Barmore, Alabama
LB Monty Rice, Georgia
LB Henry To’o-To’o, Tennessee
LB Jabrill Cox, LSU
DB Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina
DB Demani Richardson, Texas A&M
DB Tyree Gillespie, Missouri
All-purpose offense Kadarius Toney, Florida
K Cade York, LSU
P Jake Camarda, Georgia
KR Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss
PR Christian Tutt, Auburn
Note: Special thanks to Christopher Walsh of Bama Central for tabulating the ballots from our editors across the conference.
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