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Tennessee Vols Running Back Jalen Hurd the Most Disrespected Player in the SEC

By Caleb Calhoun

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Despite more than 1,000 overall yards as a freshman, Tennessee Vols running back Jalen Hurd is being completely overlooked by SEC media.

The fact that Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs made Preseason All-SEC and running back Jalen Hurd did not speaks to two things.

First, the level of depth at running back in the SEC is ridiculous and stands far and away above the depth at quarterback. Second, Hurd is still not getting nearly the recognition he deserves.

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Last year, Hurd picked up 899 yards rushing on the five touchdowns, and he added on 221 yards receiving and another two touchdowns. Yes, those numbers won’t blow you away when you look at SEC running backs.

But consider, for a moment, that his 4.7 yards per carry average came with a brand new offensive line, every member of whom never started a game before last year, and it also came with a quarterback who was a terrible fit for the offense for the first seven games.

Let’s move on to South Carolina, right after Dobbs was inserted into the lineup. Hurd then had 77 carries for 416 yards, good for more than five yards a carry, along with three touchdowns. And he also caught 16 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.

But with that track record, Hurd does not get any All-SEC recognition, and while 10 SEC running backs are on the preseason Doak Walker Award Watch List, Hurd is not one of them.

Really? Hurd is not a Top 10 running back in the SEC?

Let’s go down the list of who beat him out for All-SEC Selections.

The first team was Leonard Fournette and Nick Chubb. Okay, there’s no debate on that one. They are clearly the two best running backs going into this year.

But after that were Alabama and Arkansas running backs on the second and third teams. Derrick Henry and Jonathan Williams made second team All-SEC. Fair enough since both had more yards and more yards per carry than Hurd last year, but we should mention that those two were running behind the two best offensive lines in the SEC.

And then comes the third team, which features Arkansas’s Alex Collins and Alabama’s Kenyan Drake. Now the egregious one is Drake. Collins was a 1,000-yard rusher, so his presence is understanding.

But how can you put Drake on there over Hurd? He only had 112 yards on the year before missing the second half of the season due to injury. And consider that before his injury, with an elite passing game and a dominant offensive line, two things Hurd did not have, he barely averaged over five yards a carry.

There is no reason Drake should be ahead of Hurd for Preseason All-SEC. He was at least left off the Doak Walker Watch List.

But let’s add on the other players who were put ahead of Hurd on the Preseason Doak Walker Watch List. One of those is Tra Carson of Texas A&M. His average last year was the same as Hurd’s, 4.7 yards per carry, and he only had 585 yards despite having a way better passing game for the full season than Hurd had.

Him being on the list is more baffling than Drake.

Russell Hansbrough of Missouri did have more yards per carry and nearly 1,100 yards on the season, but his overall numbers barely eclipsed that of Hurd with, once again, a passing game and a solid offensive line. I could listen to an argument for Hansbrough, but Hurd deserves more respect going into the year.

Then you’ve got Ralph Webb of Vanderbilt, who averaged fewer yards per carry but is the one player who could play the less help card than Hurd. Still, putting him over Hurd is laughable.

Then you’ve got Brandon Wilds of South Carolina, who only had 570 yards on the ground last year, far short of what Hurd did.

And finally Ashton Shumpert of Mississippi State was named, who was a backup last year to Josh Robinson and had fewer than 300 yards. But somehow he was named ahead of Hurd.

So here we are, with 11 running backs overall mentioned over Hurd for either Preseason All-SEC or the Preseason Doak Walker Watch List despite what Hurd accomplished as a freshman. Yes, the SEC is loaded at running back, but this is ridiculous.

What’s more is that Dobbs gets to make the third team All-SEC and Hurd does not, but honestly, who is a better player for the Vols?

No disrespect to Dobbs, but at this point, it’s not even close. Hurd has shown way more to this point.

And doing everything he did as a freshman with no help, he has certainly shown enough to get some preseason recognition.

Next: 2015 Vols Football Season Preview by Position: RB

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