5. Ole Miss Rebels (10-2, 6-2, 4th overall)
QB: Av
RB: Av
WR: Vg
OL: Av
—
DL: Av
LB: Vg
DB: Av
ST: Vg
Offense: What could go right
Never underestimate a Lane Kiffin-coached quarterback. If Austin Simmons continues to develop as he has in his short amount of time in the program, there might not be much of a step off from the departed Jaxson Dart. Simmons brings more of a running threat to the spot but it’s his calm, mature demeanor that made people sit up and take notice in limited work in 2024. To help him, Ole Miss did what it usually does – it raided the transfer portal for seemingly two-thirds of its roster, including a whole host of new names at receiver and tight end. Caleb Odom from Alabama and Luke Hasz from Arkansas figure to become an effective addition at tight end, adding to holdover Dae’Quan Wright, who had a breakout 2024. There isn’t the kind of height outside as Ole Miss has had in the past, but De’Zhaun Stribling (Oklahoma State) and Harrison Wallace III (Penn State) are thick receivers with good instincts. Adding Logan Diggs (LSU) and Kewan Lacy (Missouri) at running back should be a general plus.
Offense: What could go wrong
The offensive line isn’t going to be what it was last year, although it has a chance to be good enough. Like most of the Rebels’ units, it’s a transfer-heavy bunch. The running back committee needs to find a go-to guy early on, then develop a more effective plan for how to utilize the talent there. Ole Miss ranked 44th in rushing last season, which is certainly not the worst scenario, but the Rebels weren’t always effective running the ball when they absolutely had to.
Defense: What could go right
The linebacker group could wind up being among the best in the conference if Suntarine Perkins can repeat his 2024 season. T.J. Dottery also returns as a starter and the backups are veterans Tyler Banks, Andrew Jones and a Marshall transfer, Jaden Yates. The defensive line turned over completely following last season, but again Ole Miss went to the portal to get a pair of new defensive ends, Princewill Umanmielen (Nebraska) and Da’Shawn Womack (LSU). Depth at tackle is particularly impressive.
Defense: What could go wrong
We feel like a broken record here, but Ole Miss is rebuilding the secondary through the transfer portal. The difference is that a couple of players (Sage Ryan of LSU, Antonio Kite of Auburn) aren’t exactly coming to Oxford riding a high. The Rebels got cooked far too often in the passing game last year – 86th in raw pass defense, but a more respectable 30th in efficiency defense – and this secondary probably isn’t up to the level of the one it’s replacing. The pressure will especially be on new cornerbacks Rickey Fletcher (South Alabama) and Jaylor Braxton (Arkansas), because Trey Amos and Isaiah Hamilton set a high bar.
One-sentence summary: The SEC’s resident gang of condottieres may be a few pieces short of a playoff berth.
Lane Kiffin is apparently going to live or die by the mercenary nature of the transfer portal. The problem is that it puts an extreme amount of pressure on the Rebel staff to bring a new team together every year in fall camp. While the individual pieces look nice – you could argue the Rebels outrank LSU comparing units to units – we’re still not sure whether Ole Miss has the “team” concept down just yet. As expected, Kiffin’s work with Jaxson Dart last year was exemplary; Dart is now competing for a starting job with the New York Giants of the NFL. But losses to Kentucky and Florida showed that Kiffin’s gameday stripes haven’t completely changed.
6. Texas A&M Aggies (9-3, 6-2, 6th overall)
QB: Av
RB: Av
WR: Vg
OL: Ex
—
DL: Fr
LB: Av
DB: Av
ST: Av
Offense: What could go right
With the kind of offensive line Texas A&M expects to field, a lot could go right. All five starters return from a year ago with a sixth player, C Mark Nabou Jr., expected to return from an injury that cost him the 2024 season and replace one of the incumbent starters. The offensive line’s strengths should cover up a lot of uncertainty at quarterback, running back and tight end. As for the rest, the receiver corps benefited hugely from an infusion of transfer talent, notably K.C. Concepcion (North Carolina State) and Mario Craver (Mississippi State). If Amari Niblack can realize his immense potential at tight end, after stops at Alabama and Texas, developing QB Marcel Reed will have plenty of able targets to throw to.
Offense: What could go wrong
Reed was a bargain-bin Jalen Milroe at times last year for A&M. A dual-threat talent, he took over when Conner Weigman was injured but his trajectory wasn’t on a straight-upward tangent. Reed has impressive rushing skills, but he is generously listed at 185 pounds in the program; he may have played the 2024 season at around 160. Reed makes a lot of good decisions and then in the span of two or three snaps, makes maddening ones that call into question what the Aggies are doing at the position. In addition, there is no real depth behind him; Miles O’Neill is a freshman and Jacob Zeno, a transfer from UAB, was unable to beat him out. The running back group could be good … emphasis on “could” … but it will depend on Le’Veon Moss staying healthy over a full season for once. And if Niblack bombs out again at tight end, it’s going to all land on Theo Melin Ohrstrom, a good receiver but inconsistent blocker.
Defense: What could go right
It almost has to get better by default. The Aggies gave up 35 or more points three times in their final five games, as the defensive line wasn’t able to generate pressure and the secondary couldn’t stop anything over the top. Headed in 2025, the Aggies like the linebacker duo of Taurean York and Scooby Williams, while five starters return in the secondary. It’s probably going to be easier to bolster those two levels of the defense rather than resurrect the heyday of the Jimbo Fisher DLs in College Station. To that end, Georgia transfer CB Julio Humphrey has the kind of length and speed the Aggies have lacked at the position. Florida transfer DE T.J. Searcy is also being asked to help fix the pass rush.
Defense: What could go wrong
The defensive line has to get better, period. While the Aggies managed to rank 69th in sacks in 2024, and were 18th in tackles for loss, it didn’t show up anywhere else on the stat sheet, or the scoreboard. The defense also tended to collapse in the red zone (96th) and a total defense ranking of 63rd is sort of a death sentence in the SEC. The Aggies must also punt the ball better and get better on special teams as a whole.
One-sentence summary: It feels like Texas A&M is knocking on the door, but they don’t have the right password yet.
Mike Elko was a better coach for the Aggies last year than the 8-5 record indicated, and getting past the Fisher debacle took a lot on its own. There was a culture change that had to happen here, and the Aggies seem to have turned that corner at least. The question going forward is whether the offense can be dynamic enough to build leads, and failing that, can the defense be strong enough to get more stops compared to what it was able to generate in 2024. This is a good team, but not yet a great one.
7. Tennessee Volunteers (9-3, 5-3, 7th overall)
QB: Av
RB: Av
WR: Fr
OL: Av
—
DL: Av
LB: Av
DB: Vg
ST: Ex
Offense: What could go right
This is going to be almost a full rebuild, and any success will depend heavily on what Tennessee gets out of its transfers. All eyes are on Appalachian State and UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, who isn’t a bad fit for this offense but lacks the potential of Nico Iamaleava, who swapped to UCLA when Aguilar came to Knoxville. It remains to be seen what Tennessee’s other players think of Aguilar as their new leader, but Tennessee had its hands tied with the Iamaleava drama and had to move on from him. If the culture ends up improving, then it will come down to whether Peyton Lewis, Star Thomas and DeSean Bishop can replace Dylan Sampson at running back, and what becomes of the situation at receiver. The offensive line has to replace four starters, but got transfers for two of those slots and new RT David Sanders comes with big potential. Again, it all goes back to Aguilar – if he’s capable, Tennessee might not see much of a dropoff.
Offense: What could go wrong
Watch what happens at receiver closely. It’s strange that a school so geared toward the passing offense finds itself having to play defensive backs both ways in order to fill out a depth chart, but here we are. Only Chris Brazzell looks like the typical big, physical UT receiver; Mike Matthews and freshman Braylon Staley have to step up into key roles. Safety Boo Carter is going to get some reps with this group, while the rest are either true freshmen, and then there’s Alabama transfer Amari Jefferson, who couldn’t scratch the depth chart in Tuscaloosa. The best option Tennessee has at the moment is another Alabama transfer, TE Miles Kitselman, who turned into a plus-talent at Y tight end last year after beginning his college career as a defensive end. The running backs are good but not great, and didn’t show the kind of productivity around the goal line that Sampson did.
Defense: What could go right
The back end of the defense is as good as you’ll find in the SEC, particularly at corner, where neither Jermod McCoy nor Rickey Gibson III have many weaknesses. Boo Carter will play nickel when he’s on defense, which will be most of the time, and he’s got future star written all over him. The linebacker duo of Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander are sneaky good. If Joshua Josephs steps up at the Edge spot, Tennessee should be able to get enough from a senior foursome of Dominic Bailey, Tyre West, Bryson Eason and Jaxson Moi along the defensive line to have a decent stop squad. Special teams might be the best in the conference overall.
Defense: What could go wrong
There isn’t much depth at linebacker or especially the secondary, and the defensive front lost a lot of production following the 2024 season. There is a decided lack of proven sack production coming back to the team in 2025, which is what makes Josephs’ development key to the defense. He was productive in 2024, but more so against the run. If the Vols can’t find a way to pressure opposing quarterbacks, it will put even more pressure on the young offense to put extra scores on the board.
One-sentence summary: This needs to be a transition year, not the start of a trend.
Tennessee looked to be headed toward the top tier of the conference for years to come, and then the Iamaleava nonsense derailed the train. Now it’s a question of how fast Josh Heupel can get things back on track. There are also more than a few UT fans watching nervously as Heupel’s alma mater, Oklahoma, may be getting ready to make a coaching change – and with a good season in Knoxville, Heupel might position himself as Candidate A-1.
8. Florida Gators (7-5, 4-4, 8th overall)
QB: Vg
RB: Av
WR: Vg
OL: Vg
—
DL: Av
LB: Vg
DB: Fr
ST: Av
Offense: What could go right
If QB D.J. Lagway can continue to develop on schedule, Florida can be dynamic on offense once more. And by that, we’re talking about a return to the production of the Urban Meyer years. The critical piece here is keeping Lagway healthy, as he has battled shoulder injuries since his arrival in Gainesville. Lagway still has some basic development to attend to – he threw 9 interceptions in just 192 attempts last year, against 12 touchdowns – but he’s clearly one of the SEC’s most exciting young quarterbacks. Injuries have also been an issue at wide receiver, but Florida believes it can have a solid, deep group ready to go by season’s start. The running back duo of Jadan Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson might wind up being a lot better than predicted; both were solid in a multi-back rotation in 2024 and had above-average touchdown counts per carry. Everything, though, depends on an offensive line that is equal parts blue-collar maulers and guys with enough dynamic ability to suggest they could take over games.
Offense: What could go wrong
If Lagway can’t figure out how to stay upright, Florida could go from boom to bust in a blink. The backup quarterback situation is a true freshman and three transfers from other program, with former Tennessee backup Harrison Bailey the most likely winner of that battle. The wide receiver group, for all its depth, lacks a true leader in the bunch, which will be exposed if Lagway isn’t around to extend plays. In general, Florida didn’t really have an identity in 2024 – the Gators ranked in the 60s in total offense, passing offense and rushing offense, all three – and varied between mediocre and just plain bad in the minor offensive metrics as well. The Gators were one of the worst third-down and fourth-down offenses in the country. All of that has to get cleaned up.
Defense: What could go right
Florida lost a lot of players to the transfer portal, especially up front, but depth is in good shape and the front seven could be sneaky good. The strength of things may actually be at linebacker, where Grayson Howard and Myles Graham are expected to start. New starter at Jack linebacker, George Gumbs Jr., was highly productive as a key reserve last season. Florida was one of the best in the country at making plays behind the line of scrimmage (11th in sacks, 33rd in TFL) and they get back NT Jamari Lyons, who missed the 2024 season with an ugly ankle injury.
Defense: What could go wrong
The secondary needs to improve in a big way. Florida ranked 83rd in raw pass defense in 2024 and was just 49th in efficiency defense, and will be breaking in three new starters that didn’t come from the transfer portal. An injury to up-and-coming DE L.J. McCray doesn’t help things up front at all, either. Another thing that has to get cleaned up is the number of first downs this unit gave up in 2024; blame the secondary for most of it, but it took 11 guys not functioning properly to account for a ranking of 113th in first downs yielded. The special teams look capable from a distance but there are enough new faces there where they’ll have to prove it first.
One-sentence summary: Napier’s best roster might not be ready to make a big jump forward, even though he needs it.
Napier’s seat is somewhere between fairly warm, and Amazon-hot, depending on who you ask. It’s all going to come down to Lagway, and with his injury history so far we just feel it’s unlikely at best that he will play every meaningful down for the Gators in 2025. Napier is slowly putting the train back on the track, but it will be 2026, not 2025, that ultimately tells the tale. Will Napier still be around to tell it?