A pressing question for every SEC East team exiting spring practice

All seven SEC East schools have completed their allotment of 15 spring practices/scrimmages, entering a pivotal few months of offseason work before the teams reconvene in late July or early August for fall camp. 

The 2022 edition of the SEC East features a trio of second-year coaches hoping to make a leap — Josh Heupel at Tennessee, Shane Beamer at South Carolina and Clark Lea at Vanderbilt — while Billy Napier is looking to engineer a serious culture shift in Year 1 at Florida. 

Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats remain one of the steadiest programs in the country, while Missouri is hoping its best recruiting class ever can help it climb out of the bottom of the division. Then there’s the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs, who should be a College Football Playoff contender once again. 

So here’s one pressing question for each SEC East program as we enter the offseason…

Florida: Do the Gators have enough juice at wide receiver?

Anthony Richardson cemented himself as UF’s starting quarterback this spring, but who will be his top targets come the fall? The Gators’ defense is not going to be a Top 25 unit, so Richardson & Co., will need to light up the scoreboard for Florida to win games.

That could be a problem though, as UF’s current receiver room lacks speed and explosiveness. Justin Shorter is a big-bodied wideout, and Xzavier Henderson is a long, lanky Z, but neither are dynamic playmakers.

Just before the Orange & White Game, Billy Napier put out a “Help Wanted” sign for UF’s roster, and a transfer portal addition or two are receiver seems more than warranted in Gainesville. 

Georgia: What are the Bulldogs’ plans in the secondary?

With Lewis Cine and Derion Kendrick off to the NFL, Georgia has a couple starters to replace at corner and safety. There’s also uncertainty about the Bulldogs’ plans at star/nickel. Cornerback Kelee Ringo and safety Christopher Smith are certain starters, but elsewhere, playing time is up for grabs.

Sixth-year vet William Poole is back, and he could start at corner or star. The Bulldogs signed a crazy-talented group of defensive backs in its 2022 class, with Top-50 early enrollees Malaki Starks and Daylen Everette looking the part this spring.

Second-year guys like Nyland Green, Kamari Lassiter and Javon Bullard, who could be an intriguing potion at nickel, are all fighting for playing time, too.

The X-factor in the group is Tykee Smith, a former all-American at West Virginia who transferred to Georgia last season but missed the year with a torn ACL. Will he find his way back into the mix with a strong offseason?

Kentucky: Who emerges along the defensive line?

I wrote about the Wildcats’ Big Blue Wall earlier this spring, and I still believe UK’s offensive line will determine the team’s overall ceiling in 2022. And while the ‘Cats would like to add another offensive tackle option if they could, that group is mostly settled.

But what about Kentucky’s defensive line?

UK has to replace three starters, including Josh Paschal, a potential Round 2-3 NFL Draft pick after a senior season with 15.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Also gone is massive nose guard Marquan McCall.

J.J. Weaver (team-high 6.0 sacks in 2021) is a solid edge presence at OLB/BUCK, but he’s really the only known commodity up front. Still, there’s plenty of raw but potentially Grade-A beef in Lexington, namely former blue-chip recruits Justin Rogers and Octavious Oxendine, who flashed before a season-ending injury. The ‘Cats need multiple young underclassmen to take a leap if they want to remain a Top 5 run defense in the SEC.

Does end Sam Anaele, who had a sack in the spring game, earn a starting spot? Where does Ohio State transfer Darrion Henry-Young fit in?

Missouri: Are the Tigers satisfied with their current options at quarterback?

With Connor Bazelak gone to Indiana, Eli Drinkwitz has a decision to make at quarterback heading into the 2022 season. The Tigers rotated Brady Cook, who started the Armed Forces Bowl loss to Army last season, and Tyler Macon throughout the spring, but neither grabbed the job.

Drinkwitz recruited former USC and Georgia quarterback J.T. Daniels to come to Columbia, but he opted to transfer to West Virginia instead.

This summer, blue-chip freshman Sam Horn will join the competition with Cook and Macon, but are the Tigers done searching for potential options? Drinkwitz has recruited some nice playmakers for the Tigers — namely five-star freshman wideout Luther Burden, receivers Dominic Lovett and Ohio State transfer Mookie Cooper, and Stanford transfer tailback Nathaniel Peat — but do they have a quarterback who can get those guys the football?

There are not a lot of great options in the transfer portal … yet … perhaps that changes before the May 1 deadline.

South Carolina: Will a veteran offensive line improve?

The Gamecocks’ offense is guaranteed to be better this fall — it ranked next-to-last in the SEC in over half a dozen categories last season — thanks to a slew of transfer portal additions (quarterback Spencer Rattler, tailback Christian Beal-Smith, tight end Austin Stogner, wideouts Antwane Wells and Corey Rucker) and the continued growth from guys like Jaheim Bell and MarShawn Lloyd.

But for the unit to truly take a significant leap it needs its veteran offensive line to play much, much better.

The Gamecocks return five starters and seven players who started at least six games last season — which is both good and bad. Continuity is nice, but not if the production isn’t there. Pro Football Focus graded South Carolina’s offensive line as the worst in the SEC after it allowed 20 sacks and struggled to open up holes in the run game.

Rattler was sacked 4-5 times in the spring scrimmage, which isn’t a great sign as we enter the offseason.

Tennessee: Can the Vols build even a passable pass defense?

UT’s secondary was bleeding bodies by the end of spring practice, with Warren Burrell, Brandon Turnage, De’Shawn Rucker, Doneiko Slaughter and Kamal Hadden all sidelined during camp. That was less than ideal from a defensive back room that already had to replace three key starters in Alontae Taylor, Theo Jackson and Kenneth George.

It was a tough situation for position coach Willie Martinez, who really needed to use the spring to build some cohesiveness and confidence from a group that was mostly shredded a year ago.

In 2021, the Vols ranked last in the SEC in pass defense, allowing 273.2 yards per game. They did pick off 13 passes, but allowed 7.3 yards per attempt, 11th in the league. Martinez praised the play of veteran safeties Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough this spring, but both seniors have been spring studs before only to see their play decline come the fall. Can they avoid that in 2022?

Junior college transfer Desmond Williams and sophomore Christian Charles got a ton of reps and should figure into the rotation. Georgia Tech transfer Wesley Walker will enter the mix this fall, too. Regardless of who is out there for Tennessee, if they want to truly improve defensively, Martinez and coordinator Tim Banks must patch together at least a functional pass defense this fall. 

Vanderbilt: Can the Commodores field a healthy, full roster by the time their season-opener against Hawaii rolls around?

Clark Lea inherited a roster stripped to the studs, only to see the new transfer portal rules leave it even thinner during his first 18 months on the job. The Commodores have a bunch of pressing questions to answer heading into Year 2, but simply fielding a full 85-scholarship team would be a good start.

They were unable to hold a traditional spring game because so many injuries and transfers. Guys will get healthier this offseason, but can Lea mine the portal for some instant impact players, too?

They landed Nashville native Kane Patterson from Clemson but more former blue-chip recruits who want playing time would be welcome at Vandy.