The SEC Media Days All-SEC team has been announced, and Arkansas tackle Dan Skipper was the sole Razorback to be a first team selection. This keeps with the media’s prediction that Arkansas will finish last in the SEC West.
Dan Skipper can add “preseason All-SEC” to his ever growing list of accomplishments and accolades in his career as an Arkansas Razorback. The big tackle was the sole Hog to make the media’s first team, on either offense or defense.
I’m not surprised that the media did not have many Razorbacks on their list this year, since they’ve pretty much unanimously picked the Hogs to finish dead last in the SEC West. What is surprising, though, is the snubbing of Jeremy Sprinkle from the first OR second team list.
Sprinkle was named third team All-SEC, which just does not make sense to me in the least. He lead the SEC in touchdowns by a tight end last year with 6, which left him tied for 8th most in the conference overall. He had almost 400 yards receiving as a tight end playing BEHIND the Mackey Award winner.
Ahead of Sprinkle on the list are O.J. Howard of Alabama (first team) and Evan Engram of Ole Miss (second team). Both of those guys had more yards than Sprinkle did last year, but they also weren’t playing second fiddle to the best tight end in the nation.
Joining Jeremy on the third team unit is wide receiver Drew Morgan. Morgan had a breakout year in 2015, finishing the season tied for second in the conference in touchdowns with 10, sixth in the conference in receptions with 63, and ninth in yards per game with 64.8.
Morgan was criminally left off of these lists at the end of last year, despite having better numbers than a lot of the guys who got named to these lists at the end of the season. I’m actually surprised to see him on this list, since he is probably the most underrated pass catcher in the conference.
And with the return of Keon Hatcher and Jared Cornelius, don’t be surprised if Morgan continue to fall through the cracks of defensive coordinators, either. Not many schools can cover three big time pass catchers, and Morgan has a knack for getting open.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Hogs made even less of a showing. Which, honestly, should not be a shock. The Hogs were awful on pass defense last year, finishing deal last in the conference. So it shouldn’t be surprising that the Razorbacks only have 1 player from the defense getting recognized, and he certainly isn’t in the secondary.
More from Razorbackers
- Nike’s latest Arkansas Razorbacks shoes are a must-have
- Believe it or not, Arkansas football has never played these FBS teams
- Arkansas vs UConn Prediction and $1,000 BetMGM Promo
- Arkansas vs. UConn, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16: How to watch, odds, predictions
- When was the last time Arkansas won the NCAA Tournament? (Odds to win March Madness)
Deatrich Wise, Jr. was named to the third team All-SEC team. He ended 2015 tied for sixth in the conference in sacks with 8, and he got all of those sacks in SEC play. He is expected to be a big time play maker for the Hogs on defense this year, and his being named to this list shows that even though the media doesn’t have much faith in the Hogs defense, they are expecting Wise to shine on his own.
Some people may think that the Razorbacks were disrespected by these lists, but honestly…it’s about what I expected. I thought that maybe Frank Ragnow and Brooks Ellis could make the cut, but that’s about it. Sprinkle not being at least 2nd team seems weird to me, though.
When it’s all said and done, this is just par for the course for a team that no one has any expectations from. It’s a far cry from where the Razorbacks were at this time last year, with a senior heavy team and a preseason top 25 ranking. The Hogs have got to go out and prove their doubters wrong. And while they are certainly inexperienced
in key positions, its not like they don’t have the talent. It’s just that no one has seen it yet. And that is reflected on this list as well.