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This might be the final installment of this preseason power-rankings round up since each blog as been posting them at a pretty irregular schedule and some haven't been able to post their rankings before the next poll is taken. This isn't me blaming anyone, just an observation of fact.
Furthermore, I'm beginning to suspect they are being used simply to throw shade. That bores me.
SEC Position Rankings: Our Ballot for the Conference's Linebacker Rankings - Red Cup Rebellion
11. Missouri - Mizzou lost their two best linebackers from last year.
Accuracy Not Guaranteed: 2014 SEC Linebacker Rankings - Rocky Top Talk
13. Mizzouri It turns out that Kendall Brothers is actually just one guy. Our mistake. Though, to be fair, when you factor in Gary Pinkel's ability to coach him up, he should probably be considered at least like 1.05 guys. Or 1.3 guys. Or somewhere in between the two.
HAHA "Mizzouri" get it guys? Oh and they misspelled Kentrell's name! Double-whammy. Another Gary Pinkel coach 'em up "joke"? [/slaps knee]
SEC Power Poll Ballot: Preseason Linebackers Team Ranking - Garnet And Black Attack
10. Missouri Tigers The Tigers have to replace two starters, including leading tackler Andrew Wilson. They have enough players in the pipeline to field a decent unit, though.
SEC Football: Ranking The League's Linebacker Units - A Sea Of Blue
11. Missouri. Lost two linebackers including their leading tackler. Kentrell Brothers was set to have a breakout year but then had surgery on his labrum. Darvin Ruise you will be relied upon. Perhaps Mizzou's outstanding defensive line will pick up the slack for their linebacker corps this year.
SEC Unit Rankings: Linebackers - And The Valley Shook
13 MIZZOU: Brothers 70 tackles, 40 solo, 6.5 TFL, 1 sack They only return one starter and surprise! He had offseason surgery. Mizzou's back seven is pretty terrible.
13) Mizzou Losing your top few players and replacing them with players without distinction usually isn't a recipe for success.
11. Mizzou A nice returning middle guy in Kentrell Brothers, but he's surrounded by n00bs.
Results according to the SEC Blog Poll
14. Vanderbilt (13.8 Average)
13. Arkansas (12.7 Average)
12. Kentucky (11.4 Average)
11. Missouri (11.3 Average)
10. Florida (10.5 Average)
9. LSU (8.0 Average)
8. Tennessee (7 Average)
7. MSU (6.5 Average)
6. South Carolina (6.3 Average)
5. Ole Miss (5.2 Average)
4. Texas A&M (4.7 Average)
3. Auburn (2 First Place Votes, 3.4 Average))
2. Georgia (2 First Place Votes, 2.6 Average)
1. Alabama (6 First Place Votes, 1.6 Average)
| SEC West | SEC East | |
| 1. Alabama | 2. Georgia | |
| 3. Auburn | 6. South Carolina | |
| 4. Texas A&M | 8. Tennessee | |
| 5. Ole Miss | 10. Florida | |
| 7. Miss St. | 11. Mizzou | |
| 9. LSU | 12. Kentucky | |
| 13. Arkansas | 14. Vanderbilt |
I don't have a lot of analysis to provide you except the SEC West is clearly ranked higher than the East which follows with the perception that the West is stronger than the East. I think Georgia's LBs are the most proven and will be trusted to win games like their road matchup with Mizzou. We all remember #52 Amarlo Herrera and #59 Jordan Jenkins who threw James Franklin on the ground somewhat late and injuring his shoulder.
Florida's Antonio Morrison famously got to know Justin Britt last year.
I don't think Texas A&M's ranking is reflective of the dismissal of Darian Claiborne (among others) - which really drives home the fruitlessness of power ranking things so prone to change.
Which brings us back to Kentrell Brothers, who had probably his best game came in Athens vs. Georgia.
| Opponent | Solo | Ast | Total | Loss | Sack | Int | Yds | TD | PD | Final Score |
| Georgia | 3 | 7 | 10 | 1,0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41-26 |
This provides me with a perfect excuse to remind folks about our defensive depth chart.
As of right now, Mizzou's starting Linebackers are Jr. WLB Kentrell Brothers, So. MLB Michael Scherer, So. SLB Donavin Newsom, acknowledging the youth we realize this is probably the LB corps Mizzou will be fielding for the next year or two with the caveat that Mizzou has consistently had solid production from the LB position and we'll see out things play out during the season.