Preseason All-SEC teams: Trinidad Chambliss, Colin Simmons among 2026’s high-impact returners

If an SEC football fan went into hibernation last summer and woke up six months later, and was told Georgia beat Alabama in the SEC championship, one can imagine the reaction: Yup, sounds about right.

Ah, this person is then told that neither team was the last SEC team standing in the College Football Playoff. Nor was preseason darling Texas. No, it was Ole Miss.

Huh.

Coached by Pete Golding.

Wait …

And quarterbacked by Trinidad Chambliss.

Who the …

Hence the hazard of preseason projections. But hey, we try! As SEC media days arrive this week, we will set aside team predictions for the moment and focus on putting together our preseason first and second teams.

Note: These are part projections, but lean more towards past production. For instance, there’s a quarterback at Texas I would be very tempted to make my Heisman pick. But this quarterback, whose name may or may not elude you at the moment, does not make first or second team All-SEC.

So let’s go.

Offense

QB: Trinidad Chambliss, senior, Ole Miss

This is a loaded year in the SEC, so you could make a plausible argument for almost half the quarterbacks in the league: Texas’ Arch Manning, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton, Oklahoma’s John Mateer, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, LSU’s Sam Leavitt and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed. There’s also a ton of intrigue elsewhere, including Auburn’s Byrum Brown, who transferred from South Florida.

Chambliss gets the early nod, however, based on what he did in the Playoff. Whether he’ll be as good without Charlie Weis Jr. in charge of the offense is the big question.

RB: Kewan Lacy, junior, Ole Miss

This position may be just as loaded: Six of the top seven running backs from last season are back, although leading rusher Ahmad Hardy (1,649 yards) is recovering from a gunshot wound and does not have a timetable to return for Missouri. Lacy was just behind Hardy with 1,567 yards and had the most rushing touchdowns (24).

RB: Jaden Baugh, junior, Florida

Again, you couldn’t go wrong by going with Georgia’s Nate Frazier, Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop, Auburn’s Jeremiah Cobb, or Texas’ Hollywood Smothers, who at NC State last year was the ACC’s fourth-leading rusher (936 yards). But Baugh was third in the conference with 1,170 yards rushing last season.

WR: Isaiah Sategna III, senior, Oklahoma

The receiver position in the SEC may have as much upside as quarterback and running back, but a lot of it is unfilled. Cam Coleman (now at Texas after two years at Auburn), Alabama’s Ryan Williams, Texas’ Ryan Wingo, South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor could all easily be the SEC’s top receiver this year, but let’s defer to Sategna, the returning leader in receiving yards (965) and a dynamic punt returner.

WR: Mario Craver, junior, Texas A&M

Craver’s 917 receiving yards are second-most among returning players. But he could also gain more targets after the departure of KC Concepcion, even if he’s still mostly out of the slot.

WR: Cam Coleman, junior, Texas

Let’s use the third spot to project which star truly reaches his upside this season. Coleman, who goes from Hugh Freeze’s offense and quarterback revolving door to Manning and Steve Sarkisian, is the easy choice.

TE: Trey’Dez Green, junior, LSU

Green is a massive target (6-foot-7, 237 pounds) who had seven touchdown catches last year and could be a great safety valve on an offense that doesn’t begin with immediate star wide receivers.

OT: Trevor Goosby, junior, Texas

An all-SEC pick last year, Goosby could be a first-round pick, even the first tackle taken.

OT: Cayden Green, senior, Missouri

Green has 29 career starts, including at right tackle (when he was at Oklahoma) and guard. Now he’s the left tackle, anchoring a line with three returning starters.

G: Wendell Moe Jr., senior, Tennessee

He was first-team All-SEC last year, when he played eight games at right guard and three at left guard after transferring from Arizona.

G: Patrick Kutas, senior, Ole Miss

Another fifth-year senior, Kutas started last year at Ole Miss after starting 13 games at Arkansas.

C: Drew Bobo, senior, Georgia

The son of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo was the anchor of Georgia’s offensive line until a late-season injury. The line wasn’t the same in the CFP loss to Ole Miss.

Defense

Edge: Colin Simmons, junior, Texas

As loaded as the SEC is with quarterbacks, they better beware: The conference is also loaded with pass rushers. Among those who just missed the cut: Oklahoma’s Taylor Wein, Arkansas’ Quincy Rhodes Jr., LSU’s Princewill Umanmielen, Alabama’s Yhonzae Pierre, Georgia’s Gabe Harris … and we could name a few more. But the list has to start with Simmons, who may be the best in the country.

Colin Simmons had 15.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks for Texas last year. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

Edge: Dylan Stewart, junior, South Carolina

A force on the Gamecock defense with 11 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss in his career, Stewart gutted through a late-season back injury and sat out the spring. Shane Beamer has said he expects Stewart to be ready for the season.

DT: Will Echoles, junior, Ole Miss

A reserve at Baylor as a freshman, Echoles joined the Rebels and exploded last year: 11.5 TFLs, five sacks, 68 tackles and Sugar Bowl defensive MVP.

DT: David Stone, junior, Oklahoma

The middle-clogging five-star recruit was a big reason Oklahoma had the SEC’s best run defense. (And ranked second nationally.)

LB: Xavier Atkins, junior, Auburn

Atkins led the SEC with 17 TFLs last season, along with nine sacks, the anchor of an Auburn defense that hopes it now has more help from the offense.

LB: Raheem Biles, senior, Texas

Biles’ transfer from Pittsburgh probably didn’t get enough attention. He filled up the stat sheet the last two years: 183 tackles, 31.5 TFLs, 10 sacks, three pick-sixes and three forced fumbles.

LB: Chris Cole, junior, Georgia

This could be Cole or teammates Raylen Wilson and Quintavius Johnson. It’s your typical talented Georgia linebacker group, which may rotate so much that individual stats suffer.

CB: Zabien Brown, junior, Alabama

Alabama’s front seven was decimated this offseason, but the secondary is in good shape, headed by Brown, now a three-year starter who had two pick-sixes last year.

CB: Ellis Robinson IV, sophomore, Georgia

The five-star recruit (one of many on this Georgia defense) tied for the SEC lead with four interceptions last year.

Ellis Robinson IV is one of three Georgia defensive players on our first team. (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)

S: KJ Bolden, junior, Georgia

Bolden is the back end of what should be a strong defense, perhaps Georgia’s best since 2021. (Not that great, but very good.)

S: Bray Hubbard, senior, Alabama

Hubbard was first-team All-SEC and a third-team All-American last year, as voted by the AP.

Nickel: Graceson Littleton, sophomore, Texas

Littleton started his first game as a true freshman last year — at Ohio State. He gets the edge here over Georgia’s Khalil Barnes, the Clemson transfer.

Special teams

K: Tate Sandell, senior, Oklahoma

The Lou Groza Award winner is the easy choice here. Making 8-of-9 kicks from 50-plus yards is NFL-like.

P: Grant Chadwick, junior, LSU

He had plenty of reps last year: 62 punts, the most in the SEC, thanks to LSU’s offense. Chadwick did well with them, 21 downed inside the 20, and ranked second in the conference in average yards.

RS: Ryan Niblett, junior, Texas

Niblett’s 79-yard kickoff return at Mississippi State saved the game for Texas, by essentially forcing overtime, and his 75-yard punt return against Oklahoma was huge, too.

Second team

Offense

QB: Marcel Reed, junior, Texas A&MRB: DeSean Bishop, junior, TennesseeRB: Jeremiah Cobb, senior, AuburnWR: Ryan Coleman-Williams, junior, AlabamaWR: Ryan Wingo, junior, TexasWR: Nyck Harbor, senior, South CarolinaTE: Lawson Luckie, senior, GeorgiaOT: Earnest Greene III, senior, GeorgiaOT: Jordan Seaton, junior, LSUG: Brandon Baker, junior, TexasG: Dontrell Glover, sophomore, GeorgiaC: Coleton Price, senior, Kentucky

Defense

Edge: Taylor Wein, junior, OklahomaEdge: Quincy Rhodes Jr., senior, ArkansasDT: Elijah Griffin, sophomore, GeorgiaDT: Terrance Green, junior, AlabamaLB: Yhonzae Pierre, junior, AlabamaLB: Raylen Wilson, senior, GeorgiaLB: Suntarine Perkins, senior, Ole MissCB: Kelley Jones, junior, Mississippi StateCB: Eli Bowen, junior, OklahomaS: Jelani McDonald, senior, TexasS: Keon Sabb, senior, AlabamaNickel: Khalil Barnes, senior, Georgia

Special teams

K: Lucas Carneiro, junior, Ole MissP: Mason Love, sophomore, South CarolinaRS: Vicari Swain, junior, South Carolina