2022 SEC Media Days preview: Everything you need to know about the four-day circus in Atlanta

I see the light. 

We’ve officially hit the point in college football’s offseason calendar where talkin’ season slowly morphs into the preseason.

Games are still six weeks away, but the 2022 SEC Media Days starts Monday at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, with the annual four-day circus running through Thursday afternoon. 

The SEC boasts the reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs, as well as runner-up Alabama and last season’s Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Bryce Young. 

 Young is among seven SEC quarterbacks slated to attend the event, with other headliners including Alabama All-American pass rusher Will Anderson, Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool and Texas A&M wideout Ainias Smith. Brian Kelly of LSU and Florida’s Billy Napier will also make their SEC Media Days debuts. 

Each team has three representatives plus its head coach. 

Here’s a 2022 SEC Media Days primer to get everyone truly ready for talkin’ season in Atlanta:

What’s the schedule?

Monday, July 18:

LSU, Brian Kelly

Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin

Missouri, Eli Drinkwitz

Tuesday, July 19

Alabama, Nick Saban

Mississippi State, Mike Leach

South Carolina, Shane Beamer 

Vanderbilt, Clark Lea

Wednesday, July 20

Arkansas, Sam Pittman

Florida, Billy Napier

Georgia, Kirby Smart

Kentucky, Mark Stoops

Thursday, July 21

Auburn, Bryan Harsin

Tennessee, Josh Heupel 

Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher

Which players are scheduled to attend?

Alabama
Will Anderson Jr., LB, Junior
Jordan Battle, DB, Senior
Bryce Young, QB, Junior

Arkansas
Jalen Catalon, S, Junior
KJ Jefferson, QB, Junior
Bumper Pool, LB, Senior

Auburn
Tank Bigsby, RB
Derick Hall, Edge
John Samuel Shenker, TE

Florida
Anthony Richardson, QB, Sophomore
Richard Gouraige, OL, Junior
Ventrell Miller, LB, Senior

Georgia
Stetson Bennett, QB, Senior
Nolan Smith, LB, Senior
Sedrick Van Pran, OL, Sophomore

Kentucky
Will Levis, QB, Senior
Kenneth Horsey, OG, Senior
DeAndre Square, ILB, Senior

LSU
Jack Bech, WR, Sophomore
Mike Jones, Jr., LB, Junior
BJ Ojulari, DE, Junior

Ole Miss
Nick Broeker, OL, Senior
Cedric Johnson, DE, Junior
Jonathan Mingo, WR, Senior

Mississippi State
Jaden Crumedy, DT, Graduate Senior
Nathaniel Watson, LB, Graduate Senior
Austin Williams, WR, Graduate Senior

Missouri
Barrett Banister, WR, Graduate Senior
Martez Manuel, DB, Senior
Isaiah McGuire, DL, Senior

South Carolina
Jovaughn Gwyn, OL, Senior
Dakereon Joyner, WR, Senior
Zacch Pickens, DL, Senior

Tennessee
Trevon Flowers, S, Senior
Hendon Hooker, QB, Graduate Senior
Cedric Tillman, WR, Graduate Senior

Texas A&M
Demani Richardson, DB, Senior
Layden Robinson, OL, Junior
Ainias Smith, WR/AP, Senior

Vanderbilt
Ben Bresnahan, TE, Graduate Senior
Anfernee Orji, LB, Senior
Mike Wright, QB, Junior

In the Year of the Transfer, I’ll note here that not a single SEC newcomer is coming to Atlanta this week. But while it’s disappointing that Spencer Rattler or Max Johnson aren’t among the attendees, it’s still the strongest group of quarterback representatives in around a decade. 

I do think it’s interesting, especially with some of the comments to come out of Starkville this offseason, that Mike Leach is not bringing his veteran gunslinger to Atlanta. Will Rogers set an SEC record by completing 74% of his passes in 2021 (4,739 yards with 36 touchdowns and nine picks), yet he will not get his moment in the sun. Conversely, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea is bringing quarterback Mike Wright, a strong sign that the junior is likely the Day 1 starter for the Commodores over Ken Seals and freshman AJ Swann. 

Who gets picked to finish No. 2?

In the annual media poll, Alabama and Georgia are locks to be picked to meet in Atlanta for the SEC Championship, but who gets slotted at No. 2 in the SEC West and SEC East should merit some good debates. 

Kentucky, Tennessee, and depending on your view of Florida and South Carolina, could all receive second-place votes. The same is true in the West Division, where Ole Miss, which won 10 games in 2021 to finish No. 2,  Texas A&M and Arkansas are the likeliest contenders to finish behind Alabama. If everything comes up aces, LSU could be the second-best team in the West. 

That’s why the 2022 SEC season should be fascinating. As many as seven or eight programs can make their case to be the third-best team in the league this fall. 

Which quarterbacks earn preseason All-SEC honors?

Similarly to the race for second in the divisions will be arguments about the league’s No. 2 and No. 3 quarterback spots in the preseason All-SEC teams. 

Young will be a near unanimous first-team selection, but Hooker, Levis, Bennett, Jefferson and Richardson will all be in Atlanta to make their case for where they fit into the All-SEC discussion. Although Rogers and Rattler aren’t attending the event, both are likely to be on some ballots as second or third-team selections. 

An early tease to my ballot: I’ll have Young, Hooker and Bennett, in that order. 

Any updates on the various quarterback battles across the league?

Speaking of QBs, while seven starters are coming to Atlanta, several marquee programs have ongoing quarterback battles entering fall camp. LSU has a three-way competition with Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels battling former starter Myles Brennan and second-year upstart Garrett Nussmeier. Meanwhile, Texas A&M has one of the most intriguing battles in the country considering the makeup of the rest of its roster. Former LSU starter Max Johnson now resides in College Station, where he is competing with 5-star freshman Conner Weigman and 2021 Aggies starter Haynes King. Elsewhere, there’s a three-way battle at Auburn between former Aggies starter Zach Calzada, Oregon transfer Robby Ashford and TJ Finely, who started the Tigers’ final three games in 2021. Missouri also has multiple quarterbacks vying for the starting job, while Lane Kiffin continues to evaluate Luke Altymer vs. Jaxson Dart for Ole Miss’ QB1. 

Jimbo Fisher vs. Nick Saban: Part V?

The offseason feud between two of the SEC’s preeminent coaches has mostly fizzled since the SEC Spring Meetings, but it’s guaranteed to resurface with more questions and prodding from reporters this week. I doubt much of anything comes from it. At least point, the bits have been played. We’ve officially entered Rocky V territory here. 

How much of the week is dominated by NIL, transfer portal and collective chatter?

All 14 SEC coaches will be asked about their latest opinions on the topics dominating college football’s offseason. Just recently, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops sounded off about NIL and schools paying players. Others in the conference (see: Josh Heupel) have been very open about how they believe it’s good for the game. But what do the players think? A year ago, most of the attendees did not have NIL deals lined up yet. They do now, so it will be very interesting to hear the thoughts and opinions from the guys actually collecting checks now. 

What’s the latest with realignment?

In a recent report by Saturday Down South, the SEC is staying at 16 teams and plans to end the expansion race with the Big Ten. Sure. For now. Similar sentiments were echoed before 1992 and 2010, too. I do believe the league is currently fine with 16 teams though, so the next question for commissioner Greg Sankey is when will Texas and Oklahoma join the conference? The official start day is in the summer of 2025, but just last week at Big 12 Media Days, new commish Brett Yorkmark said his conference was “open for business” and left the door cracked for an early exit for both OU and Texas. It’s going to cost in the neighborhood of $45+ million buyout for each school, but this needs to happen as soon as next year.