Alabama Players Sweep SI SEC Publishers Preseason Awards, but LSU Pair Head Top 10 List

Najee Harris, Dylan Moses and Jaylen Waddle named SEC preseason players of the year by Sports Illustrated's league publishers

Christopher Walsh | Jul 21, 2020

Alabama Players Sweep SI SEC Publishers Preseason Awards, but LSU Pair Head Top 10 List /

With the equivalent of a split decision, Sports Illustrated's Southeastern Conference publishers voted Alabama a clean sweep of their preseason player awards for the 2020 college football season, but two from LSU topped their rankings of the league's top-10 players overall.

Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris was selected the preseason SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

Linebacker Dylan Moses, who missed last season with a knee injury, topped the voting for the Defensive Player of the Year.

Wide receiver and return specialist Jaylen Waddle was tabbed the Special-Teams Player of the Year.

Perhaps thinking the SEC East might be ripe for a change at the top, Florida's Dan Mullen was the choice for Coach of the Year.

In 11 years as a head coach in the league (nine at Mississippi State), he's never won a division title. However, his teams finished second three times including the last two with the Gators.

Despite the honors, when asked to rank the top-10 players in the league, two from LSU stood out, with six Crimson Tide players helping round out the top finishers:

Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU
Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU
Dylan Moses, LB, Alabama
Najeh Harris, RB, Alabama
Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama
DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State
Alex Leatherwood, T, Alabama
Kyle Trask, QB, Florida; (tie) Jaylen Waddle, WR/RS Alabama

Also received votes (in alphabetical order): Nick Bolton, LB Missouri; KJ Costello, QB, Mississippi State; Jerrion Ealy, RB, Ole Miss; Richard LeCounte, S, Georgia; Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina; Jamie Newman, QB, Georgia; George Pickens, WR, Georgia; Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida; Tyler Shelvin, DL, LSU; Trey Smith, T, Tennessee; Jacoby Stevens, S, LSU; Seth Williams, WR, Auburn

The group had previously announced its preseason All-SEC teams, and predicted order of finish, both of which were led by the Crimson Tide.

Published Jul 21, 2020

CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.