SEC Media Days: Freshmen who have impressed

HOOVER, Ala. – SEC Media Days wrapped up Thursday with players and coaches from South Carolina, Ole Miss and Auburn taking center stage. With all three of those programs expected to get contributions from incoming freshmen, Rivals.com surveyed some of the players and coaches about which newcomers have impressed thus far.

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“We think we recruited very well at the wide receiver position. OrTre Smith was a guy on campus midyear. But we have very good competition at the position.” – Will Muschamp, head coach

“OrtTe Smith, Chad Terrell, Shi Smith, I think they’re all going to be able to help us this year.” – Deebo Samuel, junior wide receiver

“Chad Terrell, Will Register and Shi Smith are all guys that I think can help us this year on offense.” – Jake Bentley, sophomore quarterback

“I spend most of my time around the offensive linemen [Calvin Ashley, Nick Brohms, Austin Troxell] but they way they’ve approached it I’ve been really impressed. They’ve taken it upon themselves to come in and learn the offense.” – Braden Smith, senior offensive lineman

“I'm not ready to say [Calvin Ashley] will get first-team reps. He's a talented young man. We'll give him a good look." – Gus Malzahn, Auburn head coach

"I feel like we got a young one in Malik Willis. That is a freshman that really caught my eye in the spring." — Malzahn

“We really need … D.D. Bowie or C.J. Miller to step in and really help us in the middle of our defense.” – Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss head coach

“The guy I'm really excited to see is D.D. Bowie. Really can't wait to see him field punts and maybe even kickoffs … really would like to see D.D. Bowie and see how he handles that.” – Freeze

“C.J. Miller and D.D. Bowie have really done a great job, man. They’re going to be some guys that can play on the defensive side of the ball. I’m excited about their athleticism.” – Javon Patterson, junior offensive lineman