SEC spotlight: Preseason storylines to follow

Camps are underway in the SEC and whether it's a freshman turning heads or a position battle heating up, plenty of notable storylines are emerging on a daily basis. As teams continue to ramp up the intensity and the season draws closer, we take a look at five camp storylines we're following in the SEC.

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Florida has won the SEC East in back-to-back seasons almost in spite of its quarterbacks, but Gators fans are hoping the latter part changes in 2017. Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire is the presumed favorite to win the job in Gainesville, but early reports out of camp are that redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks is giving Zaire a run for his money. So can the talented young gun out duel Zaire by the time the Gators open the season? It's clear the competition is a little more heated than most expected.

As one of the nation's top recruits in the class of 2016 and a freshman starter in the SEC, Jacob Eason has done a great job of living up to his early expectations. But he'll be expected to be even better in 2017 and will shoulder more of the load offensively for the Dawgs. The question is, can he be good enough to help Georgia win the SEC East? Word is Eason has made tremendous strides this offseason, quickly quieting any talk about incoming five-star freshman Jake Fromm pushing for playing time. With fully healthy running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and an infusion of young talent, Georgia is primed for a big year, but only if Eason keeps living up to the hype.

Matt Luke has been on a few head coaching search lists in recent years and he now has his chance to lead the Ole Miss Rebels this season. This probably is not the way he envisioned it all happening for the first time, but Luke is ready for the challenge. It is never easy being a first year head coach at any school, but with what is going on in Oxford and how all this unfolded only makes it that much more difficult for Luke. The players like him. The coaches on that staff respect him. He is self-driven. And he is ready for the challenge. There will be a lot of questions surrounding Ole Miss all season, and Luke will be watched closely.

Brian Daboll has taken over as the offensive coordinator at Alabama. He was the tight ends coach for the New England Patriots the last three seasons, but he has been an offensive coordinator for three NFL teams in the past. The last time he coaches college football was in the 1998 season at Michigan State. Alabama really opened things up offensively for the first time under Nick Saban last season, so what will Daboll do differently, if anything? Sure, he is likely to add a few new wrinkles, but he did not show much in the spring game. It will be interesting to see what new formations have been added, how he will combine with Alabama did last year with New England's approach in the NFL and just how he will call a college game.

Alabama is known for its ability to reload, not rebuild after losing star players and this year the Tide are faced with replacing stars in the front seven such as Jonathan Allen, Tim Williams, Ryan Anderson and Reuben Foster. So far during the first week of camp in Tuscaloosa, all eyes are on former elite recruits such as Da'Shawn Hand, Isaiah Buggs and Da'ron Payne. The trio of former five-stars all figure to play huge roles on the defensive line and while Hand's 2017 season got off to a rough start thanks to a DUI arrest, it appears he's in line to start Alabama's season-opener against Florida State. Because of that opening week matchup agains the 'Noles, Alabama's new starters won't have much time to adjust to their new roles, so the way they progress through camp will continue to be a point of interest.