If an SEC football fan went into hibernation last summer and woke up six months later, and was told Georgia beat Alabama in the SEC championship, one can imagine the reaction: Yup, sounds about right.Ah, this person is then told that neither team was the last SEC team standing in the College Football Playoff. Nor was preseason darling Texas. No, it was Ole Miss.Huh.Coached by Pete Golding.Wait …And quarterbacked by Trinidad Chambliss.Who the …Hence the hazard of preseason projections. But hey, we try! As SEC media days arrive this week, we will set aside team predictions for the moment and focus on putting together our preseason first and second teams.Note: These are part projections, but lean more towards past production. For instance, there’s a quarterback at Texas I would be very tempted to make my Heisman pick. But this quarterback, whose name may or may not elude you at the moment, does not make first or second team All-SEC.So let’s go.OffenseQB: Trinidad Chambliss, senior, Ole MissThis is a loaded year in the SEC, so you could make a plausible argument for almost half the quarterbacks in the league: Texas’ Arch Manning, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton, Oklahoma’s John Mateer, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, LSU’s Sam Leavitt and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed. There’s also a ton of intrigue elsewhere, including Auburn’s Byrum Brown, who transferred from South Florida.Chambliss gets the early nod, however, based on what he did in the Playoff. Whether he’ll be as good without Charlie Weis Jr. in charge of the offense is the big question.RB: Kewan Lacy, junior, Ole MissThis position may be just as loaded: Six of the top seven running backs from last season are back, although leading rusher Ahmad Hardy (1,649 yards) is recovering from a gunshot wound and does not have a timetable to return for Missouri. Lacy was just behind Hardy with 1,567 yards and had the most rushing touchdowns (24).RB: Jaden Baugh, junior, FloridaAgain, you couldn’t go wrong by going with Georgia’s Nate Frazier, Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop, Auburn’s Jeremiah Cobb, or Texas’ Hollywood Smothers, who at NC State last year was the ACC’s fourth-leading rusher (936 yards). But Baugh was third in the conference with 1,170 yards rushing last season.WR: Isaiah Sategna III, senior, OklahomaThe receiver position in the SEC may have as much upside as quarterback and running back, but a lot of it is unfilled. Cam Coleman (now at Texas after two years at Auburn), Alabama’s Ryan Williams, Texas’ Ryan Wingo, South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor could all easily be the SEC’s top receiver this year, but let’s defer to Sategna, the returning leader in receiving yards (965) and a dynamic punt returner.WR: Mario Craver, junior, Texas A&MCraver’s 917 receiving yards are second-most among returning players. But he could also gain more targets after the departure of KC Concepcion, even if he’s still mostly out of the slot.Mario Craver enters 2026 as Texas A&M’s top receiving threat after KC Concepcion moved on to the NFL. (Tyler Kaufman / Getty Images)WR: Cam Coleman, junior, TexasLet’s use the third spot to project which star truly reaches his upside this season. Coleman, who goes from Hugh Freeze’s offense and quarterback revolving door to Manning and Steve Sarkisian, is the easy choice.