ESPN's K.C. Joyner has ranked his top quarterback-receiver tandems in the SEC
going into the 2012 season, and his choice for No. 1 is going to surprise a lot of people.
He has Vanderbilt's Jordan Rodgers and Jordan Matthews at the top of his list.
In choosing his top tandems, Joyner used a list of metrics from the 2011 season that detailed such things as how the combo fared in short pass yards per attempt, vertical yards per attempt and overall yards per attempt.
The No. 2 combo on Joyner's list was Georgia's Aaron Murray and Tavarres King, while Tennessee's Tyler Bray and Da'Rick Rogers were No. 3.
There's no doubt that Matthews really blossomed once Rodgers took over the Vanderbilt starting job last season, and the other guy in that Vanderbilt receiving corps to watch is Chris Boyd, who had eight touchdown catches last season. He and Matthews combined for 13 touchdown catches, and Matthews averaged 19 yards per catch.
Consistency will be the key for Vanderbilt in the fall, and that's something that coach James Franklin said was a priority this past spring -- doing all of the things right that it takes to have a potent passing game.
If I were ranking the SEC's top quarterback-receiver tandems, I'd have Arkansas' Tyler Wilson and Cobi Hamilton at the top, and they're one of the tandems Joyner lists among his honorable mention candidates along with South Carolina's Connor Shaw and Ace Sanders.
I'd also have Tennessee No. 2, but I'd have Justin Hunter (as long as he's all the way back from his injury) in there as the Vols' top receiver.
Hunter and Hamilton would be my picks as the SEC's top two receivers going into the 2012 season. Rogers would certainly be in the top 5, and if junior college newcomer Cordarrelle Patterson lives up to his hype, the Vols could have three of the top receivers in the league in 2012.