#1 GEORGIA (12-0) vs #8 ALABAMA (11-1); 4 PM ET; CBS … I think we have seen this before in the SEC championship game with 2-time defending national champion Georgia playing Alabama. Indeed, its the 4th time in the past 6 seasons that the Bulldogs and Tide have met for conference honors. And there is no secret why the two teams, that have combined to win 9 of the past 11 conference titles and 5 of the past 8 national championships are so dominant. They have great players and this year is no exception. Georgia, for example, has a couple of top ten prospects in TE Brock Bowers (#19, 6-4, 230) and OT Amarius Mims (#65, 6-6, 320), both of whom are finally back in the lineup after both missed extensive time with injuries. It hardly seemed to matter, though, as the Dawgs just kept rolling along, in large part because they still win mostly with defence. Indeed, Georgia appears to have quality prospects at just about every position on the D with the headliners including DT Nazir Stackhouse (#78, 6-2, 320), LBs Jamon Dumas-Johnson (#10, 6-1, 245) and Smael Mondon (#2, 6-3, 225), CB Kamari Lassiter (#3, 6-0, 180) and safeties Javon Bullard (#22, 5-11, 105) and Tylee Smith (#23, 5-10, 205). However, the unit’s best prospects are actually sophomores DE Mykel Williams (#13, 6-5, 265) and S Malachi Starks (21, 6-1, 205), both of whom figure to be elite prospects in 2025. Meanwhile, players to watch when Georgia has the ball include C Sedric Van Pran (#63, 6-4, 310), arguably the top prospect at the position for the upcoming draft, along with OT Xavier Truss (#73, 6-6, 320) and WR Dominic Lovett (#6, 5-10, 190). And it doesn’t seem fair, but QB Carson Beck (#15, 6-3, 220) has emerged as a top-flight college QB as he’s completing 72% of his pass attempts for 3,500 yards and 22 TDs; as a 4th year player he’s eligible to jump to the NFL this winter, but the feeling is he’ll return to school because this was the first year he saw much PT and enter the 2025 draft where he figures to be one of the top prospects at the position.
While Alabama won 11 games so far this fall and ranked in the top 10 it has not been the kind of dominating season that people have come to expect in Tuscaloosa. However, the Tide, who have had at least one player selected in the opening round for a record 15 straight years as well as at least one top ten pick in each of the past 5 years, still figure to be a major player at the 2024 draft. In fact, there is every chance in the world that Alabama will be back in the top ten again this coming spring as they have at least a couple of prospects with top 10 potential in ER Dallas Turner (#15, 6-4, 245) and CB Kool-Aid McKinstry (#1, 6-0, 195), both of whom are currently considered to be the top prospects at their respective positions. The Tide also has at least one more player with first-round potential in rising OT JC Latham (#65, 6-5, 360), while DE Justin Eboigbe (#92, 6-4, 295), TE CJ Dippre (#81, 6-5, 260), RB Jase McClellan (#2, 5-11, 215), WR Jermaine Burton (#3, 6-0, 195), CB Terrion Arnold (#3, 6-0, 195), LB Chris Braswell (#41, 6-2, 255), S Jaylen Key (#6, 6-1, 210) and NB Malachi Moore (#13, 6-0, 200) are all later round candidates, although truth be told, the Alabama draft class won’t necessarily have the same kind of depth it has had in recent years. While it hasn’t always been pretty for Alabama this fall, the Tide has played much better of late thanks in large part to improvement in the play of QB Jalen Milroe (#4, 6-2, 220) who is completing 66% of his pass attempts including that 30-yard TD pass on a 4th and goal in the last minute of the Tide’s dramatic Iron Bowl win over Auburn last week that kept Alabama’s CFP playoff hopes alive, although they’ll need to upend the Bulldogs to have any hope.
