The All-SEC football recruiting team: Good isn't good enough

Recruiting in the SEC is different from any other conference. Which SEC schools have the most elite recruits so far?

By Bud Elliott Jun 24, 2013, 10:40am EDT

No conference recruits football players like the SEC. It's commonplace for a fan of a school to celebrate a top-20 recruiting class on National Signing Day, and then soon after realize that his or her school was bested by more than half of the conference. Such is life in the SEC.

Here, every school pulls in good talent. But not all pull in elite talents. One way to demonstrate this is with an all-conference recruiting team.

The format is simple. Using the 247 Sports Composite of the four major recruiting rankings (Scout, Rivals, ESPN and 247), here are the top QB, two RBs, three WRs, TE, five OL, five DL, four LBs, and five DBs currently committed to SEC schools. We plan to update this team once a month or so through Signing Day in February.

More: The All-Big Ten team The All-ACC team

Note: Every effort was made to slot players at the positions they'll be playing in college. Analysis follows the table.

Player	From	Stars	Committed to
Quarterback
Quite a few teams have quarterbacks rated four-stars or higher, and this race was very tight.
Will Grier	Davidson (N.C.) Day School	4	Florida
Grier is an efficient, record-setting passer. For more on Florida football recruiting, visit Alligator Army.
Backs
The running backs haul for the conference is absolutely ridiculous. Two five-star talents were left off the list.
Sony Michel	Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage	5	Georgia
Michel is the consensus No. 2 back nationally. For more on Georgia football recruiting, visit Dawg Sports.
Dalvin Cook	Miami (Fla.) Central	5	Florida
Cook is the consensus No. 4 back nationally.
Wide Receiver
The SEC has started a bit slow when it comes to receiver recruiting, and I would expect to see movement at this position.
Derek Kief	Cincinnati (Ohio) La Salle	4	Alabama
Alabama landed Kief over Ohio State and Kentucky. The 6'5 receiver could be an immediate red-zone threat. For more on Alabama football recruiting, visit Roll Bama Roll.
Jamoral Graham	Decatur (Ms.) Newton County	4	Mississippi State
Graham is a tough, slippery player. For more on Mississippi State football recruiting, visit For Whom The Cowbell Tolls.
Thaddeus Snodgrass	Springfield (Ohio)	4	Kentucky
Snodgrass is a very good pass catcher who should contribute early. For more on Kentucky football recruiting, visit A Sea of Blue.
Tight End
Jacory Washington	Westlake (La.)	4	LSU
Washington is a good athlete with a very good tight end frame (6'5, 220). For more on LSU football recruiting, visit And The Valley Shook.
Offensive Line
The five highest-rated offensive linemen, regardless of position (tackle, guard or center).
Andy Bauer	St. Louis DeSmet	4	Ole Miss
Bauser is a very solid tackle prospect at 6'6 and 300 pounds. For more on Ole Miss recruiting, visit Red Cup Rebellion.
Garrett Brumfield	Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab	4	LSU
Brumfield is one of the best guards in the Southeast.
Viane Talamaivao	Corona (Calif.) Centennial	4	Alabama
Talamaivao is one of the West Coast's best guards.
Will Clapp	New Orleans Brother Martin	4	LSU
Clapp has good movement skills for the guard position, and should fill out.
Joshua Casher	Mobile (Al.) St. Paul's	4	Auburn
Casher is arguably the top center in the country. For more on Auburn football recruiting, visit College and Magnolia.
Defensive Line
These are the four highest-rated defensive linemen, be they ends or tackles.
Khairi Clark	Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madona	4	Florida
Clark has excellent athleticism for his size, though he needs to show up in Gainesville at around 300 pounds, not the 325 he was carrying at the Miami Nike Camp.
Justin Thornton	Mobile (Ala.) Vigor	4	Auburn
Thornton is a great pass rusher at 6'5 and 222 pounds. He committed early to Auburn to focus on academics to ensure he qualifies.
Denzel Ware	Crestview (Fla.)	4	Kentucky
Ware was committed to Florida State, committed to Kentucky, decommitted to try to flip to Florida (the Gators did not accept his commitment), and is now again committed to the Wildcats. If he qualifies, Kentucky wll have an explosive pass rusher in the fold.
Dontavius Russell	Carrollton (Ga.)	4	Georgia
Russell is a massive and nimble interior defensive lineman at 6'3 and 300 pounds.
Linebacker
The competition here is very tight, and will grow even tighter if some more five-stars commit to the SEC, as is likely.
Hoza Scott	La Porte (Tx.)	5	Texas A&M
Scott is widely considered the top outside linebacker nationally. For more on Texas A&M football recruiting, visit Good Bull Hunting.
Tre' Williams	Mobile (Al.) St. Paul's	4	Auburn
Williams is a thick backer who brings the big hits.
Zach Whitley	Houston (Tx.) North Shore	4	Alabama
Whitley is extremely active.
Bryson Allen-Williams	Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove	4	South Carolina
Allen-Williams is a versatile linebacker who will be asked to cover, rush and stop the run in the Gamecocks' scheme. For more on South Carolina football recruiting, visit Garnet and Black Attack.
Defensive Back
With teams playing more and more nickel and dime defense, it was appropriate to include five defensive backs.
Edward Paris	Arlington (Tx.) Mansfield Timberview	5	LSU
Paris is an excellent safety recruit with great range.
Nick Harvey	Richmond (Tx.) Travis	4	Texas A&M
The 5'9 Harvey makes up for his lack of height with excellent quicks.
Todd Kelly	Knoxville (Tenn.) Webb School	4	Tennessee
Kelly is a very versatile safety. For more on Tennessee football recruiting, visit Rocky Top Talk.
Dylan Sumner-Gardner	Mesquite (Texas) West	4	Texas A&M
Sumner-Gardner is excellent against the run.
Malkom Parrish	Quitman (Ga.) Brooks County	4	Georgia
Parrish makes up for his 5'9 stature with quickness and agility.

The 25-member team breaks down by school as follows:

Four: LSU
Three: Florida, Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn
Two: Kentucky
One: Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina
Zero: Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Missouri

It's interesting to see that Tennessee and Kentucky, which various recruiting websites designated with No. 1 recruiting class status in May and June, respectively, are behind the more traditional powers in terms of bringing in elite recruits.

How do you think this list will change? Will The top six schools on the list further separate from the bottom eight? Or will Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Missouri get on the board? Let me know in the comments section.

I'll update the results next month, so be sure to check SB Nation's recruiting hub regularly.