#10 Barry Brunetti, QB, Ole Miss- Brunetti doesn’t have a tough act to follow but he does have a lot of pressure in turning around a team that only won 4 games last year and are predicted to come in dead last for the second straight year in the SEC West. Brunetti kind of backed into the starters job with his primary competition getting suspended. If Ole Miss is going to be good this year they need a much improved defense and a leader at QB.
#9 Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas- Wilson steps into an Arkansas offense that is loaded with WRs but with the injury to Knile Davis he has more pressure on him. Dennis Johnson or Ronnie Wingo could step up and fill some of the production from Davis but more pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Wilson due to the Davis injury. The Hogs fans are hungry for an SEC Championship and they think this is their best shot, if Wilson underperforms he could feel a lot of pressure.
#8 Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina- The Gamecocks are the pre-season favorite to take the SEC East and Gilmore is the highest profile player in a secondary that underperformed last year. Many have pegged Gilmore as a first-team All-SEC performed but the Gamecocks defense was 10th in the SEC against the pass last year.
#7 Barrett Trotter, QB, Auburn- Do I really need to explain this one? Trotter will replace the Heisman Trophy National Championship winning QB. Some dude named Cam Newton. I think the Auburn fanbase is understanding that they aren’t going back-to-back but if it gets ugly then it will get ugly.
#6 Aaron Murray, QB, Georgia- Mark Richt is on the hot-seat and everybody and their grandma has annointed Murray the best QB in the SEC. Aaron has taken his leadership role with the Dawgs but he has to replace a lot of offensive weapons this year. The season starts off with the impossible task of facing Boise State and then South Carolina.
#5 Who ever the LSU QB is- LSU is a Top 5 team. Jordan Jefferson is suspended and the fan base didn’t really like him anyway. Jarrett Lee is the #2 guy but will be starting against Oregon. He’s been a Pick Six guy in the past, you think these guys are feeling some pressure?
#4 Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina- You can talk Alshon Jeffrey and Stephen Garcia all you want but as Lattimore goes, so go the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks went 1-2 in games that Lattimore didn’t have 100 yards. It’s his job to carry this team to the SEC Championship. I think he knows that but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with pressure to preform.
#3 Isaiah Crowell, RB, Georgia- Everybody’s favorite freshman RB in the Nation. The fanbase is enamored with this guy but they are also expecting big things from him. For Georgia to have a successful season they probably need someone to step up at RB and Crowell is the most likely suspect.
#2 John Brantley, QB, Florida- He was supposed to be what Aaron Murray was last year, a damn good QB. But he floundered in Urban Meyer’s offense. Now Charlie Weis is in town and Brantley has had one off-season to learn a new offense. Did I mention that he has a couple of young talented QBs nipping at his heels? He’s the definition of a certain Queen song right now.
#1 Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama- The best offensive player on a team that has to replace their senior QB, a Heisman Trophy winning RB and a stud WR in Julio Jones. Trent doesn’t even know who his starting QB is yet- and if he does he isn’t telling. Bama is a pre-season #1 or #2 in everybody’s poll. He has a lot of pressure to perform this year as the feature back especially with Bama finding themselves lacking in depth at that position all of a sudden.
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