Sports Illustrated Publishers 2020 Preseason All-SEC Team

LSU may be the reigning National Champion, but it seems like the reporters covering the Southeastern Conference for Sports Illustrated seem to think the Nick Saban dynasty in Tuscaloosa isn't ending anytime soon.

LSU may be the reigning national champion, but it seems like the reporters covering the Southeastern Conference for Sports Illustrated don't think the Nick Saban dynasty in Tuscaloosa is ending anytime soon. 

In preseason All-SEC balloting among the Sports Illustrated's SEC sites, Alabama topped the conference with 10 first-team selections and 12 overall – five of their first-team picks were on offense. LSU had the second-most first-team selections with five, while Georgia was second in overall picks with nine. 

Every team in the conference had at least one player receive votes, with 10 of the 14 programs having a first-team selection. Only six players were unanimous first-team selections, as deemed below with an asterisk. 

Before we get into the teams, it's important to cover a few housekeeping notes regarding how we built our teams:

• Instead of two running backs, three wide receivers were selected. This is because most teams will run base 11 personnel this upcoming season.
• Likewise, a 3-3-5 formation was used since most teams will be the nickel package the for the majority of the 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, and does not preclude that player from being listed positionally on a different team. 

Sports Illustrated's Preseason All-SEC First Team:

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

Special Teams, Miscellaneous:

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

Sports Illustrated's Preseason All-SEC Second Team:

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

Special Teams, Miscellaneous:

All-purpose offense: Kadarius Toney, Florida

K: Cade York, LSU

P: Jake Camarda, Georgia

KR: Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss

PR: Christian Tutt, Auburn

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