Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
Amid the buzz surrounding incoming freshmen and major transfer portal additions, it’s easy to overlook the returning players who stayed put with their SEC programs.
There is no shortage of elite talent every year around the league from a recruiting standpoint, but not every freshman bursts onto the scene in year one. Here are four sophomores from the SEC that should have huge second year seasons in 2026.
LSU Running Back Harlem Berry
It’s very easy to get caught up in being a prisoner of the moment during the transfer portal. Being enamored with all the new shiny toys that SEC schools bring in from the portal is always exciting, but the story that should have received way more attention this offseason was retention. Plenty of stars stayed home for 2026, and one of those was LSU freshman RB Harlem Berry.
The freshman to the 🏠@HarlemBerry25 pic.twitter.com/o3FKsUAllL
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) August 22, 2025
Berry was a five-star running back out of high school that saw limited action in year one. He finished the year with 104 carries, 491 yards and two touchdowns. That was behind an offensive line that was much worse than the one LSU should field in 2026, and in an offense that was light years behind what Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weiss Jr. will put on the field this season.
LSU ranked last in the SEC in rushing offense for the past two seasons. Dating back to his time at Florida Atlantic, eight of the last nine offenses under Lane Kiffin ranked in the top five in their conference in rushing yards. They ranked first or second in five of those nine years. In three of his last four years at Ole Miss, his leading running back ran for at least 1,150 yards and 15 touchdowns. Berry should feast this offense even with a great compliment at his side like Caden Durham.
Easton Royal in the lab with Harlem Berry & Jabari Mack 👀🐯🧪
📸: @goata_coach pic.twitter.com/yJuYd7le83
— Lane Kiffin Lover (@LaneKiffinLvr) February 17, 2026
Alabama Wide Receiver Lotzeir Brooks
Ryan Williams gets all the headlines for the Alabama WR room, but Lotzier Brooks is the name to watch for a breakout in 2026. That’s the case for a lot of reasons. Part of the concern is that, as electric as Williams was during his freshman 2024 season, he led the nation with 10 drops in 2025. Beyond that, Alabama’s wide receiver room was hit hard by turnover. Do-it-all standout Germie Bernard is off to the NFL Draft, while Jalen Hale and Isaiah Horton entered the transfer portal. Even with the incoming 2026 recruiting class, Alabama currently has just 11 scholarship receivers on the roster for next season.
Brooks was a three-star out of high school that was overlooked by most of the big Power Four schools in the country. He’s small in stature at just 5-foot-9, but he’s already the fastest player on Alabama’s team and one of the fastest in the country, being clocked at over 23 mph during last summer’s offseason workouts.
He finished last season with 32 catches for 441 yards and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns, however, came in the biggest moment of the season against Oklahoma in the Tide’s first round playoff win in Norman.
I am buying so much Lotzeir Brooks stock.
This guy elevates the Alabama WR room significantly. Great route runner and look at the athleticism on this catch.
True FRESHMAN.
pic.twitter.com/oMAoefZ0X3— Garrett Armbrust (@4thandsaturday) December 20, 2025
UGA Tight End Elyiss Williams
There are few players in the league that I’m more excited about from a future standpoint than Elyiss Williams. He is a unicorn, physically. At 6-foot-8 and 255 pounds, he’s a matchup nightmare. He’s similar to Darnell Washington in height, but about 55 pounds lighter than the former UGA standout and current Pittsburgh Steeler.
Tight end has been a focal point of the Georgia offense under Kirby Smart and offensive coordinator Mike BoBo. With Oscar Delp leaving for the NFL, competition should be wide open. Williams will get plenty of runs, especially in the red zone, this season for an offense that runs a ton of two tight end personnel.
Last season, he finished the year with seven catches for 117 yards and one touchdown. Last year was the first time in four seasons that Georgia didn’t have at least two tight ends with 20 or more receptions. That should change in 2026.
Behind Oscar Delp is Georgia’s next great Tight End, Elyiss Williams
6’7 and still putting on weight, he’ll take over as the starter next year and if he can get up to 265 or so and stay athletic, has unbelievable upside. pic.twitter.com/sCSB65pLRl
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) February 19, 2026
Tennessee Offensive Tackle David Sanders Jr.
Sanders missed the first four games of last season for the Vols. It took him awhile to get his feet under him, and he didn’t make his first start until the Kentucky game in week nine. He was a mainstay at right tackle the rest of the season for the Vols, starting the final six games of the season.
Most freshmen tend to struggle at the tackle position, especially in the SEC. Sanders didn’t seem to struggle at all. In 257 snaps in pass protection, he surrendered just two sacks all year and 17 pressures. Both of the sacks came in his second career start against an Oklahoma defense who led the SEC, and finished third nationally, in sacks with 45 on the season. Sanders closed out his final four games on the year after the Oklahoma game with zero sacks allowed, seven pressures and zero penalties.
This offseason, last year’s starter at left tackle Lance Heard hit the transfer portal and signed with Kentucky. Sanders, a former five star and No. 3 ranked player nationally out of high school, will almost certainly shift to left tackle and start every game for the Vols.
BREAKING: 5⭐️ OT David Sanders Jr. has signed and is officially a Tennessee Volunteer. pic.twitter.com/Ef6YpxeF3p
— More Important Issues (@More_Issues) December 5, 2024
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