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SEC Media Days: What we learned on day 2

By Matt Green

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 07: The Auburn Tigers hold up the SEC sign in celebration after defeating the Missouri Tigers 59-42 to win the SEC Championship Game at Georgia Dome on December 7, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 07: The Auburn Tigers hold up the SEC sign in celebration after defeating the Missouri Tigers 59-42 to win the SEC Championship Game at Georgia Dome on December 7, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The unofficial start to the college football season is upon us with SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala.

On the second day of SEC Media Days, it was time for Georgia, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and Florida to take the stage, literally and figuratively. Kirby Smart started things off, followed by Derek Mason, Dan Mullen, and Jim McElwain.

This is probably the only day of the four-day event that job security was not a topic of discussion. Smart and McElwain are still too early in their tenures to have anyone wanting them to get the axe, while Mullen and Mason have each exceeded the relatively low expectations of Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.

So here’s what we learned from Day 2 of SEC Media Days.

Georgia

ATHENS, GA – NOVEMBER 26: Jacob Eason (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA – NOVEMBER 26: Jacob Eason (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
  • There is no quarterback controversy in Athens. True freshman Jake Fromm may have helped light a fire under Jacob Eason, but he was never close to taking the job.
  • Sophomore Mecole Hardman will play offense. He came into Georgia as the no. 1 athlete in the  country, but he rarely saw the field at cornerback as a freshman. He could replace Isaiah McKenzie in the slot.
  • Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are on a mission. They came back to Georgia to win something, and they were likely the catalyst in several Bulldogs electing to return for the senior seasons.

Vanderbilt

  • Derek Mason is the man. I was ready to run through a wall for this guy after hearing him speak and I’m not even playing.
  • Vanderbilt is shrinking the talent gap between them and the rest of the SEC. They beat Georgia and Tennessee in 2016.
  • Ralph Webb is ready for the spotlight. He’s always been thought of as underrated or under the radar, but he’s now being recognized as one of the SEC’s best running backs. He needs 1,912 rushing yards to break Herschel Walker’s all-time SEC rushing record of 5,259 yards.

Mississippi State

  • There’s a different culture in Starkville. Expectations have increased. It’s not SEC championship-or-bust, but they expect to compete and win every game they play, and it hasn’t always been that way.
  • We still haven’t seen how good Nick Fitzgerald can be. We all know what kind of athlete and runner he is, but Dan Mullen wants to see him become more accurate and develop as a passer. He’s a junior now and we should expect big things from him in 2017.

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Florida

  • Jim McElwain knows who his starting quarterback is, but he did not bother sharing that with the media. Hint: There’s a guy named Malik Zaire who transferred from Notre Dame, and I’m guessing he didn’t transfer to Florida to carry a clipboard.
  • McElwain did not schedule LSU as the homecoming game, and he’s tired of being asked about it. He even said that he thought it was funny that people thought it was news.
  • Do not ask McElwain about the shark picture. He did not find that funny, and apparently he and his family had to deal with a lot of personal attacks because of it. It was funny to joke about, but as you might expect, the trolls on Twitter took it too far.

Wednesday will be the wild day in Hoover, Ala. Alabama will take the stage, along with Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas A&M.

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