Draft season may still be many months away, but it’s not too soon to start thinking about what the first few selections might look like. Longtime ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. thinks there are a handful of SEC athletes with first-round potential, led by Georgia star tight end Brock Bowers.
Bowers suffered an ankle sprain and underwent surgery this past week to repair it. However, the injury hasn’t bothered most scouts, and considering Bowers was fifth in the conference in receiving yards through six weeks, why should it?
Few players have improved their draft capital like LSU receiver Malik Nabers thus far this season, who leads the nation with 860 receiving yards. He went on a tear to start conference play with a torrid stretch of 617 yards in four games kick-started by a 239-yard performance against Mississippi State.
A familiar face dominates Kiper’s Big Board, however. Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide is the only team with three players inside the top 25.
| Rank | Position | Player | School |
| 4 | TE | Brock Bowers | Georgia |
| 8 | OLB | Dallas Turner | Alabama |
| 12 | WR | Malik Nabers | LSU |
| 18 | OT | JC Latham | Alabama |
| 19 | CB | Kool-Aid McKinstry | Alabama |
While they weren’t high enough to appear in his top 25, Texas A&M off-ball linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and Georgia center Sedrick Van Pran led their respective positional rankings.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, despite playing close to a Heisman level this season, slots in as Kiper’s No. 9 quarterback. Kentucky’s Ray Davis and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette also appeared in the positional rankings as the No. 9 running back and the No. 10 wide receiver, respectively.