Multiple Longhorns robbed in the All-SEC voting tabulations giving them more fuel for College Football Playoffs
Anthony Hill doesn’t make first team All-SEC? No love for Michael Taaffe?
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian began building an SEC-caliber roster from the first day he arrived in Austin. Four years later, Longhorns fans can see tangible results.
Not only did Texas play in the SEC championship game in its first season. Seven Longhorns were named to the All-SEC team unveiled on Tuesday.
Everyone who earned some recognition should be honored. But some of these choices reveal the quixotic nature of postseason all-conference selections, leaving fans totally guessing as to who got included and who got left out.
Left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and cornerback Jahdae Barron were both named first-team selections. Both are worthy.
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Banks had the fifth-highest pass blocking season grade (90.3) among all tackles in college football, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s expected to be a first-round pick this spring.
Barron, teammate Michael Taaffe and Heisman Trophy finalist Travis Hunter (Colorado) were tied for the nation’s 14th-best defensive coverage grade (90.9) against all receivers. Barron was a finalist for the Nagurski and Jim Thorpe Awards, and Hunter is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
Yet oddly enough, Taaffe was somehow bypassed for all three All-SEC teams.
To be fair, picking an all-conference team is hard, and it’s impossible to please everybody. The league prefers to have someone represented from all 16 teams, so that must be factored into the equation. These teams are usually forgotten about the day after they’re released.
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But for players like Taaffe, a former walk-on who rose to starting safety, this could be another huge motivating factor driving him this postseason.
And speaking of Barron, it seems ill-advised to have only one Longhorn on the first team when their unit has the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense. Linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. was a second-team All-SEC pick along with quarterback Quinn Ewers and tight end Gunnar Helm.
Hill is the emotional heart and soul of UT’s defense, not to mention the team’s leading tackler. Ewers threw for 2,665 yards and 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season. He guided Texas to a 7-1 league mark as the Horns reached the SEC championship game. Helm had 611 yards with five touchdowns.
Perhaps Taaffe was ignored to include safety Andrew Mukuba on the third-team All-SEC picks. Mukuba is fourth on the team in tackles and has four interceptions.
Running back Quintrevion Wisner was also a third-team All-SEC pick. He posted career highs in back-to-back games against Kentucky and Texas A&M to close out the regular season.
