By Jeremy Hillman
SouthernPigskin.com

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Led by two Heisman Trophy winners, the SEC is losing a few headliners this off-season.

The SEC is losing a considerable amount of talent to the NFL this off-season. Two Heisman winners, Cameron Newton (Auburn QB) and Mark Ingram (Alabama RB), are gone. Prolific quarterback Ryan Mallett (Arkansas QB) and dominate receivers A.J. Green (Georgia WR) and Julio Jones (Alabama WR), they are gone too. Add to that the loss of superstar defensive players Nick Fairley (Auburn DT), Patrick Peterson (LSU DB), Marcell Dareus (Alabama DT) and Justin Houston (Georgia DE) and you begin to get the idea that the Southeastern Conference is losing some serious athletes to the NFL.

That being said, when given the question, “which player is the biggest loss for an SEC team this offseason?’, most people would respond with one of the players listed above. As a matter of fact, when asked that very question in a recent interview, I answered Cam Newton. Off the top of my head, it seemed like the easy answer.

However, when I went and researched the question a bit more, I came up with a surprising new answer. A name that very few, if any, experts or even fans would answer. But I can tell you, it is most likely the correct response to this particular question:

Kentucky WR Randall Cobb

To his team, Cobb will be the most missed athlete of any player leaving from the SEC this off-season.

In 2010 Randall Cobb rushed for 5 touchdowns as a running back, caught 7 touchdowns as a receiver, passed for 3 touchdowns as a quarterback and returned a punt for a touchdown as well. That is 16 total touchdowns in 4 different ways.

As a receiver Cobb was lethal, finishing 3rd in the SEC with 84 catches for 1,017 yards. When you add his 424 rushing yards, 955 kick return yards and 58 passing yards, your jaw begins to drop. Cobb racked up 2,396 all purpose yards (184 big yards per game).

He was Kentucky’s #1 WR, #2 RB, #3 QB and #1 return man for punts and kicks. It could literally take 3 or more players to replace his production on the field. Even then, you may not see the prolific numbers Cobb produced at each position.

Kentucky football has been on the upswing as of late. The Wildcats reached a solid feat at the end of this season, celebrating their fifth straight bowl invite. Six wins this season made it possible for them to extend that milestone. You can rest assured that without Cobb, there would not have been six wins this season and thus no bowl streak. Maybe the two seasons before that too? You don’t want to point to one player when you see a program on the rise, it takes a total team effort for sure. However, there hasn’t been a player more important to his team than Randall Cobb the last two SEC seasons. That now makes him, in my mind, the biggest loss of this off-season. It will be a major challenge for Kentucky to receive their 6th straight bowl invite next season without the services of #18 this fall.

In the arguably the biggest win of the season for Kentucky, against nationally ranked South Carolina, Cobb caught 8 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 27 yards, returned kicks for 75 yards and scored on a 2 point conversion attempt. Aside from defense, he truly did a little of everything.

Randall Cobb may not have been the best player at one position. He wasn’t on the best team. But he is probably the biggest loss in the SEC this winter. A surprising answer among a list of superstars, but a deserving answer for a player that excelled in the shadows of players at bigger programs.

The Top 10 biggest losses in the SEC this off-season (not best player list, but biggest loss ranking):

1. Randall Cobb WR Kentucky
2. Cameron Newton QB Auburn
3. Patrick Peterson DB LSU
4. A.J. Green WR Georgia
5. Julio Jones WR Alabama
6. Nick Fairley DT Auburn
7. Ryan Mallet QB Arkansas
8. Marcell Dareus DT Alabama
9. Justin Houston DE Georgia
10. Jerrell Powe DT Ole Miss

Now things move onto national signing day as each SEC program will try and reload with talent and work to replace players like the ones listed above. Check back often for recruiting updates from southernpigskin.com throughout the next few weeks!