re: what SEC teams returns the most starters from last year?

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Everything I've read usually uses returning starters. I'm not saying he's wrong but I want some proof that the percentage of the 2 deep is more important than the percentage of starters.

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It probably depends more on the team. For Auburn on defense the 2 deep is very important because of how much we substitute on defense under Ellis Johnson as DC. The guys we lost on defense as starters are pretty much interchangeable (or in the case of Holland at MLB addition by subtraction) with who we have coming back outside of Dee Ford and possibly Chris Davis at returner. Our defense should be much improved as long as Carl Lawson can get healthy by LSU game or so. If we are without him we are going to be crazy thin at DE and Ford will be tough to replace.

On offense I don't think the 2 deep means squat outside of injuries unless the backups have a fair amount of experience, which in this case will be true for Auburn at RB and possibly at LT depending on who replaces Robinson.

I think most Auburn fans really only consider us to be losing 5 true starters in Robinson at LT, Prosch at FB, Ford at DE, Chris Davis at CB/returner, and Mason at RB. Everyone else we lost was not a starter at various times during the year, and probably accounts for his comments on the 2 deep.

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You're right, UGA is better suited to make a run than AU. AU 's time has passed.

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Nobody is saying that. I fully expect Auburn to have another big year. But look at what some on here is advocating. Two deep is more important than returning starters? Wasn't it LSU fans that were claiming they would win it all last year based on their two deep returners? Particularly on their defense?

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ETA: Nope. Vols are at 10

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Holy shite. Was it last year that they returned a ton of people? I would have sworn I heard they return a lot of players.

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Again....can you provide some type of link that substantiates that? We are not saying you are wrong, but you are just throwing out an opinion without some kind of proof. By the graphic Conway gave out, we should expect 3 teams that have never won a SEC Championship(A&M, Miss. St., and South Carolina) to dominate, while Georgia, Ole Miss, and Alabama should have bad seasons. I cna see South Carolina having an excellent season, and Miss. St. even doing better than normal.....but would the returning two deep numbers depend upon the talent level found in those positions? I mean, Kentucky could return their entire two deep, but I wouldn't count on them contending, would you?

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There won't be any link to prove it. It is an opinion but it's not like it's some crazy theory. Obviously some positions like QB you shouldn't use the 2 Deep since only the starter plays. But other positions like DE I think you should look at the 2 Deep since the backup gets a lot of playing time.

And the graphic just shows how many return from last years team. It's not implying that those teams will be better than the other teams. It's implying that teams with a lot of returning starters will be a slightly improved version of the year before since it's essentially the same team with one more year of experience

So if a team is 0-12 and returns everybody, you can probably expect them to go 3-9 this year. And if a team went 10-2 and returned everybody, they would probably be a title contender.

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We actually return 17, if I'm counting correctly.

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I think that our numbers wherever people talk about returning starters are going to be a bit off, because we lost Jeff Scott, who did start most of our games, but was something like 3rd in rushing yardage due to his injuries, and get should get Aaron Morris back, who was a starter two years ago before his knee injury.

So it depends on how one defines "starter" in a sense.

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I think Tennessee returns a lot too but lost some skill spots and a couple on the line.

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Tenn lost all 5 starting OL and 4DL