100 questions that will define the 2025 SEC season, Part 3 (50-26) ...Middle East

The 2025 SEC football season is officially under 100 days away.

Thursday of last week marked 100 days until the first full college football Saturday of the year. With just over 3 months remaining before the start of the new season, we decided to ask 100 questions that have a significant impact on the upcoming campaign.

100 questions to define the 2025 SEC season

This is the third installment of that series, which will be completed in the coming days. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

50. Will anyone have a better defensive line than Alabama?

Alabama’s defensive line should be excellent this season, particularly on the interior. Tim Keenan and LT Overton both return. Alabama was in the 87th percentile in rush defense EPA per play last season, according to Game On Paper, so this was already a strength.

49. Will Alabama have a dominant running back again?

Alabama returns 2 of its 3 leading running backs from last season in Jam Miller and Richard Young. All things considered, Alabama’s running game was pretty lackluster last season (apart from Jalen Milroe, of course) by its lofty standards. The explosive plays were there, but the Tide had just a 42% rushing success rate. Perhaps some continuity and experience will help improve things in 2025.

48. Georgia sucked at stopping explosive runs last year. Will that change in 2025?

There were a lot of troublesome signs in Georgia’s statistical profile and its inability to stop explosive running plays was near the top of the list. Georgia was in the 35th percentile nationally in explosive rush rate defense, per Game on Paper. UGA’s last national title team in 2022 was in the 90th percentile. The Bulldogs need to get back on track there.

47. Can Georgia fix its OL issues in one offseason?

Speaking of issues up front, Georgia had them on offense, too — particularly when Tate Ratledge was out injured. Now with Ratledge in the NFL, Georgia has some more permanent problems to solve. The Bulldogs are set to have 4 new OL starters this season. They’ll need to be much better in 2025 if Georgia is going to improvement significantly on offense.

46. How much will John Mateer run the ball in 2025?

The running game is a huge part of what John Mateer brings to the table, but how much will he be able to use that skill set in the SEC? He carried the ball 178 times last season at Wazzu. That seems awfully aggressive. Since 2000, there have only been 9 SEC quarterbacks to run the ball 175+ times in a given season. That list is littered with SEC royalty: Tim Tebow, Jayden Daniels, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott, Johnny Manziel and Jalen Hurts to name a few.

45. Can Oklahoma manage its schedule?

Oklahoma’s SEC schedule, for the second year in a row, is easily the most difficult in the league. The Sooners don’t face anyone with a preseason win total below 7.5. They also get Michigan in nonconference play. Oklahoma could be much-improved over what it was a season ago and could still struggle to get to 8 wins.

44. Will Ahmad Hardy’s dominance translate to the SEC?

Mizzou was super aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason, but perhaps no addition has come with more fanfare than running back Ahmad Hardy. He rushed for 1,351 yards in 12 games last season as a freshman at UL Monroe. He’s not much of a pass catcher (or at least he wasn’t with Monroe) but Hardy is widely projected to be a top 10 running back in the country this season. Whether or not he lives up to that hype will have a big impact on whether or not Mizzou’s offense can improve in 2025 despite losing Brady Cook, Luther Burden and more.

43. Will LSU’s defense take a (bigger) step forward in Year 2 under Blake Baker?

Last offseason, we were all talking about what a coup it was for Brian Kelly to lure Blake Baker (and others) away from Mizzou after an 11-win season in Columbia. Whoops. Baker was in Baton Rouge and LSU struggled (albeit with some tangible improvements, to be fair) while Missouri barely skipped a beat, winning 10. The seat is officially warm for Baker — and Brian Kelly for that matter — if things don’t substantially improve again this fall.

42. What can we expect out of Harold Perkins?

To that end, what can we expect out of Harold Perkins this fall? He’s expected to be healthy again after missing most of last year with a knee injury. Perkins has failed to match his freshman year impact in any successive season, but perhaps 2025 will be the year he reintroduces himself as an elite college football player.

41. Can Ole Miss have an elite defense again with mostly new personnel?

Years from now, fans will look back on the 2024 season and wonder how Ole Miss possibly could have missed the Playoff. The Rebels had one of their best offenses ever led by Jaxson Dart and a defense that graded out as elite according to most advanced metrics. We’ve talked about the offense in previous iterations of this story, but what about the defense in 2025? It’s a big concern, to be frank. The Rebels rank 83rd in defensive returning production, according to Bill Connelly. That’s OK if you’re Texas or Georgia and you recruit the high school ranks at a high level every single year. It’s much more difficult to overcome if you’re as reliant on transfers as Ole Miss has been in recent cycles. Frankly, it would be shocking if Ole Miss doesn’t take a sizable step back on defense in 2025.

40. How big of a leap can Cam Coleman take?

In a world that includes Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith, don’t forget about Cam Coleman. No, Coleman didn’t have as flashy of a freshman season. But the former 5-star still managed almost 600 yards despite having a significantly-worse QB situation than either Williams or Smith. Auburn upgraded at QB this offseason with Jackson Arnold and should be better up front, too. Coleman could have a special season on the Plains.

39. If Auburn has a top-3 defense in the SEC, how high is the ceiling?

It didn’t always feel like it, but Auburn was pretty good on defense last season. The Tigers finished the year in the 71st percentile in EPA per play on that end. Now they’re top-30 in defensive returning production in 2025, per Connelly. There’s certainly a reality where Auburn has one of the best defenses in the SEC and makes a real run at a Playoff berth.

38. Can South Carolina effectively replace all the production it lost on defense?

We’ve talked about returning production a lot in this piece, but it’s a massive concern for the Gamecocks. Dylan Stewart is back, but Kyle Kennard and others are gone. South Carolina sent a whopping 8 defensive players to Indianapolis for the scouting combine. Shane Beamer has done a remarkable job of building this program, but I’m not sure they’re in a place where they can reload quite that fast. South Carolina’s secondary and pass rush were elite a year ago, so a significant step back could keep the Gamecocks from reaching their lofty expectations in 2025.

37. If South Carolina has another big year, will Shane Beamer look around?

On the other hand … what happens if it all clicks for South Carolina again? If the Gamecocks somehow challenge for a CFP berth in back-to-back years? There could be some very interesting conversations had about Beamer, particularly in a year where at least a couple of high-level SEC jobs could open. Beamer has never given any indication he would leave South Carolina, but I wonder if it would be difficult for him to turn down a program like Oklahoma or Florida should they come calling.

36. The Vols thrived thanks to Dylan Sampson in 2024, what’s the plan without him next season?

The degree to which Tennessee’s offense relied on Dylan Sampson last season is probably not being discussed enough. He had a staggering 258 carries last season — nearly 20 per game. Since the pandemic, only 3 SEC running backs have hit that average for a full season: Tyler Badie, Cody Schrader and Quinshon Judkins (twice). But I do bring good news: DeSean Bishop and Sampson put up virtually equal EPA-per-rush numbers last season, per Game On Paper. Their success rates were similar enough, too. I think there’s reason to believe Bishop could be an approximation of what Sampson was a year ago at running back, at least on a per-down basis. Whether or not Bishop can (or should) handle Sampson’s volume of carries is another matter.

35. Can Tennessee’s defense survive without Jermod McCoy … and for how long?

Tennessee star cornerback Jermod McCoy reportedly tore his ACL back in the winter. At this point, it’s unclear if he’s going to be back in time for the start of the season. That’s the hope, but time will tell if he’s able to make it back. If he misses time to begin the year, it would be a huge loss for the Vols. McCoy received a PFF coverage grade of 89.6 last season, which is tops among SEC cornerbacks who are returning in 2025.

34. If Florida struggles, does it pull the plug on Billy Napier early?

Billy Napier defied the odds by earning his way to another season in 2025 after his hot seat status reached a boiling point early last year. Home losses to Miami and Texas A&M in early September looked like they would be too much to overcome, but the Gators found a way. The schedule is a little easier to start this season, but Florida still faces Miami, LSU and Texas before the first week in October is over. If UF struggles or is uncompetitive in a couple of those games, does Florida pull the plug early?

33. What is the ceiling for Jadan Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson?

Montrell Johnson is gone, but I’m excited to see the duo of Jadan Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson in Gainesville this fall. Baugh showed more than a few flashes as a true freshman last year and Jackson beat the door down with a success rate of 59% on a healthy dosage of carries. If they get good blocking you could talk me into this being one of the best running back duos in the SEC.

32. Texas’s secondary was unbelievable in 2024. What happens if there’s growing pains with a young DB room?

Texas is still considered to be one of the very best teams in the country going into the season, but there is a key area of weakness to point out: the DB room. Weakness is perhaps too strong, but it is certainly a question mark after losing Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba to the NFL Draft. Michael Taaffe is back and that definitely helps, but Barron and Mukuba will be difficult to replace. The good news: Texas does have a pretty forgiving regular-season schedule if the back end of your defense is the primary potential pain point. Games against Julian Sayin and DJ Lagway could get complicated, but this is not a schedule that’s loaded with elite QB play.

31. Will Marcel Reed be able to improve enough as a passer?

We know Marcel Reed can run the ball, but can he improve as a passer? His starting place is not bad by any means — 7.8 yards per attempt with a 15-to-6 TD-to-INT ratio. The key will be how much more upside he has, which remains an open question coming into 2025.

30. What will life be like for Texas A&M without an elite defensive line?

Texas A&M had an outstanding defensive line last season led by Shemar Stewart and Shemar Turner. They’re both gone now, as is Nic Scourton. The Aggies brought in some transfers this offseason to help replace them, but this is a unit that I’d expect to take a step back next season.

29. Is there another level for Taylen Green at Arkansas?

Taylen Green is another returning starter at quarterback in the SEC. He got off to a good start last year, but was ultimately too turnover prone with 9 interceptions. Arkansas will need better play out of him in 2025 if it wants to make a bowl game.

28. Who is the best tight end in the SEC?

A lot of the answers to these questions are subjective, but there is a clear answer in this case: Vanderbilt. Eli Stowers is back after he caught 49 passes for 638 yards a year ago in a run-heavy Commodores offense. This will be his third season playing with Diego Pavia and the two clearly have a great connection. With players like Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland and Gunnar Helm now in the NFL, Stowers has a case for the best returning tight end in America.

27. Who has the best offensive lineman in the SEC?

There’s a few ways you could approach this. The most talented offensive lineman in the SEC is likely Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor. He’s who you’ll find at the top of all the way-too-early 2025 mock drafts. As for production, the highest-graded returning offensive lineman in the SEC this year is Florida center Jake Slaughter. The highest-graded returning tackle is Texas A&M’s Dametrius Crownover.

26. Who will be this year’s surprise team?

Seemingly every year the SEC has a team or two who blow their regular-season win total out of the water. In 2024 it was South Carolina, who won 9 games despite being projected to potentially miss a bowl by Vegas. In 2023, Missouri had a win total of around 6 and ended up winning 10 in the regular season. For 2025, my pick would be Texas A&M. There are some question marks on both sides of the ball as mentioned above, but the schedule is manageable enough that the Aggies could hit big if they catch some breaks. Mike Elko has proven himself as a great coach and the Aggies are 7th in Connelly’s post-spring returning production rankings, which is a good indicator that growth is coming relative to last year’s results. BetMGM has A&M’s win total set at 7.5. I don’t think 10 is out of the question if everything breaks right.

100 questions that will define the 2025 SEC season, Part 3 (50-26) Saturday Down South.

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