Best SEC players (2000-2020) - 64 player bracket (VOTE)

Quarantine boredom led me to create this bracket. Before people complain about seeding and players being left off - I did this formulaically. So much of this is subjective and in 20 years there have been way too many incredible players to cram in to here.

I also wanted to compare apples to apples for as long as possible. So you will see 4 different regions . Unfortunately OL were left off, mainly because of the limited bracket space and the fact that the average SEC fan isn't paying very close attention to offensive linemen from other teams.

The method I used was as follows: Any player that finished top 10 in the Heisman received an auto-bid and received the top seeds in their region. Seeding of these players was done by their respective Heisman finish. For players that both finished the same, I used NFL draft selection as the tiebreaker to seed them. After top 10 Heisman finalists were seeded, the next tier of auto-bids went to players who were both "Consensus" All Americans and top 32 NFL draft selections. These players were seeded based on NFL draft selection. This is how the Consensus All American Team is made up, per Wikipedia:

quote:

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Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. Players are chosen against other players playing at their position only. To be selected a consensus All-American, players must be chosen to the first team on at least two of the five official selectors as recognized by the NCAA. Second- and third-team honors are used to break ties. Players named first-team by all five selectors are deemed unanimous All-Americans. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans.[5]

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Each region was a little unique, I will explain any deviations within each region of the bracket. Without further ado:

QB REGION

Notes: Obviously we have 4 Heisman winners here, so to seed the top 4 I went off draft selection. Burrow is presumed #1 but since Cam is a known #1 he gets the top seed. Burrow gets #2 because it is practically certain he goes before the 20's where Manziel and Tebow Went.

There were 11 QB's who were top 10 heisman guys. There were no QB's who were consensus AA and not top 10 heisman. So to get QB's 12-16, I used highest NFL draft selections.

(1)Cam Newton
(16)Drew Lock

(8)Eli Manning
(9)Jason Cambell

(4)Tim Tebow
(13)Jamarcus Russell

(5)Tua
(12)Matthew Stafford

(3)Johnny Manziel
(14)Jay Cutler

(6)Rex Grossman
(11)Dak Prescott

(7)AJ McCarron
(10)Ryan Mallett

(2)Joe Burrow
(15)Matt Jones

RB/WR REGION

Notes: I deviated from the criteria for this region, mainly because heisman voting schews towards RB and it resulted in leaving off some WR's that would not do the bracket justice. If you didn't win the heisman, you had to be a top 32 pick. For this region, heisman winners were seeded first (tiebreaker: NFL draft position) - Henry and Ingram. Next were heisman top 10 finishers and top 32 picks (seeds 3-7). Next tier (7-9) were consensus AA and top 32 picks (Jeudy and Chase have not been top 32 picks yet but I assume both to be at this point). 10-16 were given to the highest drafted players.

(1)Mark Ingram
(16)Odell Beckham

(8)Jamarr Chase
(9)Jerry Jeudy

(4)Darren McFadden
(13)Julio Jones

(5)Leonard Fournette
(12)Cadillac Williams

(3)Trent Richardson
(14)Todd Gurley

(6)Amari Cooper
(11)AJ Green

(7)Mike Evans
(10)Ronnie Brown

(2)Derrick Henry
(15)Knowshon Moreno

Missed the cut: Kerryon Johnson, Rudi Johnson, Tre Mason were all Heisman top 10 finalists but did not make it as they weren't top 32 picks (Sorry Auburn, I promise this wasn't intentional ). Jabarr Gafney (33), Josh Reed (36), and Hunter Henry (35) were consensus AA but just missed the top 32 cutoff. There are too many top 32 selections that missed the cut to list out - OBJ/Knowshon Moreno as picks #12 round out our 16 here. The next 3 closest guys were Donte Stallworth (#13), Micheal Clayton (#15), OJ Howard (#19)

DL/LB Region

Notes: The top 5 were top-10 heisman vote getters

(1)Jonathan Allen
(16)Marcus Spears

(8)Devin White
(9)Josh Allen

(4)Roquan Smith
(13)Derek Barnett

(5)Jarvis Jones
(12)Nick Fairley

(3)Glenn Dorsey
(14)David Pollack

(6)Myles Garrett
(11)Patrick Willis

(7)Jadaveon Clowney
(10)John Henderson

(2)Quinnen Williams
(15)CJ Moseley

Missed the cut:
Shane Ray, Donta Hightower, and Reuben Foster were all consensus AA and top 32 draft picks, but missed the cut based on draft position tiebreaker.

CB/S Region

Notes: Mathieu is the only heisman top 10 finalist

(1)Tyrann Mathieu
(16)Derek Stingley Jr.

(8)Dee Milliner
(9)Vernon Hargreaves

(4)Laron Landry
(13)Haha Clinton Dix

(5)Morris Claiborne
(12)Reggie Nelson

(3)Patrick Peterson
(14)Carlos Rogers

(6)Joe Haden
(11)Thomas Davis

(7)Mark Barron
(10)Minkah Fitzpatrick

(2)Eric Berry
(15)Tre'davious White

Missed the cut: The only other consensus AA were Deandre Baker and Grant Delpit (could be drafted first round but unknown). Baker went #30 overall. I debated if I should put Baker at seed 16 or consensus AA Stingley. I gave Stingley the nod because while he obviously hasn't been drafted, I think it is a very safe bet he will go higher than #30.

Voting Rules

I am going to count the votes that are posted by midnight on Saturday, and tally the results of round 1. DO NOT VOTE in any matchup that involves a player from your favorite team (unless the matchup is between 2 players from your team). I want to eliminate bias as much as possible. If I see votes you make for a player on your team based on team icon, other than exceptions noted above, I will not count them. The criteria I have in mind is voting for who you think the best player was while in college, i.e. who would you rather have on your team based on how good they were in college. Although this is just for fun, so whatever criteria you want to use to vote then go for it.

If I made any omissions or mistakes, I apologize. I tried my best to include everything but this took way longer than I thought it would when I started