Superlatives: Alabama lands eight on First-Team All-SEC

The SEC Coaches released their All-SEC teams yesterday, and eight ‘Bama players made the cut for first team. The second team is where it got wonky, more for where he was not than where he was.

First team Defense:

Da'Ron Payne, Rashaan Evans, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Harrison

First Team Offense:

Calvin Ridley, Jonah Williams, Ross Pierschbacher, Bradley Bozeman

Second Team:

Raekwon Davis, Levi Wallace, J.K. Scott (seriously, what in the hell does this kid have to do to get some love? He’s the best punter in the game and has been for three of the four years he’s been on campus. Yeesh.)

To the surprise of no one, Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson was picked as the offensive player of the year. Georgia’s Roquan Smith was selected as the Defenisive POY. I have a hard time arguing against either of those, TBH. Linebackers are far more visible than safeties, even if I would have personally given my vote to Minkah.

The real shoutout goes to the petty SOB (or SOBs) who decided that we couldn’t have a single unanimous player on the first team.* Minkah Fitzpatrick was on all-but one ballot, while Auburn’s outstanding Braden Smith was also left off of one ballot. LOLWUT? That absolutely reeks of some Ed Orgeron clown s***, doesn’t it? (Or maybe Kirby has really taken a heel turn?!) Feel free to speculate below.

* In our ballot for the SB Nation All-American team, I very much had Minkah, Kerryon, Braden, and Roquan all on the the first-team. And that irritates the hell out of me about some voters. If you’re going to vote, put aside your pettiness. These kids have earned your respect, and there’s not a single objective case to be made for omitting Braden Smith or Minkah Fitzpatrick from a ballot. If you can’t take the high ground, let a grown-up take the reins.

—

Elsewhere, yet another Alabama player was a finalist for some national hardware. Center Bradley Bozeman was named one of three finalists for the Rimington award, given to the nation’s outstanding center.

I’d have put Frank Ragnow on here instead of Will Clapp, TBH. But, I’m not going to weep over it either: players from 4-8 teams always have to do more to catch some eyeballs. He’ll get his reward in April when he’s the first center off the board. Best of luck to Bradley; the exclusion of Ragnow really helps him here. The award was last won by a ‘Bama player in 2015 by the outstanding Ryan Kelly, presently wasting away in Indianapolis under crackpot polysubstance enthusiast Jim Irsay (NTTAWT: I’m not here to jugdge your kink, crutch, or mental health -- just your ability to own an NFL franchise.)

—

Finally, the Alabama football team held its end-of-season awards banquet, where coaches and players honored their own.

The Team MVP was Minkah Fitzpatrick, though Da’Ron Payne, Rashaan Evans, Shaun Dion Hamilton and others took home multiple awards. The list is long, but AL has the rundown for you here.