HOOVER, Ala. – SEC Media Days continued on Tuesday with players and coaches from Georgia, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Florida taking center stage. With all four 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.
MORE SEC MEDIA DAYS: SEC Media Days takeaways | Freshmen opening eyes
GEORGIA BULLDOGS
“They all look good. All those guys are working extremely hard and every day they’re pushing themselves and pushing their bodies to learn the playbook.” – Nick Chubb, senior running back
“Our offensive line has been working hard and we have some young guys that are working hard that could play a part in this offense. I’m excited for what we have in the future… Andrew [Thomas], Isaiah [Wilson], they came in and they’re just buying in. They don’t have the mindset of, ‘I’m the five-star that’s coming in to play,’ they want to learn and want to compete so I can play.” – Sony Michel, senior running back
“Richard LeCounte is pretty nice. He early enrolled to try to get a feel for things throughout the spring and whatnot, but I think he’s going to be really special.” – Roquan Smith, junior linebacker
VANDERBILT COMMODORES
“I would say collectively they’ve impressed me. They’re a pretty mature group. They’ve taken the challenge of everything that’s thrown at us. The linebackers that came in early like Dimitri [Moore], he’s really impressed me in his growth. Just being able to control his body and getting in and out of breaks and being physical. I think that’s a guy you’re going to have to look out for in the future.” – Oren Burks, senior linebacker
“We have a couple of receivers, I’m still learning everyone’s name. James Bostic and Chris Pierce and those guys are catching the ball really well and they’ve done a great job for us.” – Ralph Webb, senior running back
“But it's going to be guys like Jordan Griffin whose been in our program for three years, Dimitri Moore, a newcomer from Texas, who will step on the field and play for us. So it's not about one guy.” – Derek Mason, head coach
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS
“Willie Gay and Collin Hill just to name a few… I expect big things from those guys. Willie is a good guy. He came around a lot being that he’s from Starkville, so he already had a good relationship with all of us and he’s a good guy, hard worker.” – Martinas Raking, senior offensive lineman
“Keytaon Thompson now for us, who I think is a great up-and-coming quarterback, enrolled early in January for us. He gets to look at the process, the development process, and understand that it's not an instant gratification, overnight process to become a star at the quarterback position, to learn things that way in how to develop.” – Dan Mullen, head coach
FLORIDA GATORS
“Kemore Gamble is a guy who came in early and has done a good job of working hard. He has a lot of talent.” – Duke Dawson, junior defensive back
“Tedarrell Slaton is a big and he’s got some work to do, but he’s off to a good start, and I can see him being someone who can keep getting better.” – Martez Ivey, junior offensive lineman
