Matchup nightmares, game-wreckers, monsters on the line of scrimmage. The SEC does not lack for scary players who strike fear into the hearts and minds of fans, coaches and even the toughest players sharing their field.

The best conference in college football boasts some of the best to ever play the game, many of whom will forever haunt the dreams of opposing fan bases. So in light of spooky season, let’s highlight a few guys who send chills down the spines of those on the other sideline and terrify the hopes and dreams of fans whose favorite teams have had a shot if not for their dominance.

Here are 10 of the scariest SEC players this century. (Note: We know we’re leaving off some absolute beasts. Narrowing this list down to 10 was the scariest part of all. Read our honorable mentions at the bottom).

READ: Alabama football ‘villains’? 10 people, players and things Tide fans love to root against

Will Anderson Jr., Alabama

Let’s start with the man they call “The Terminator” in Tuscaloosa. Think of all the defensive superstars Nick Saban has coached at Alabama, yet Anderson could be his best ever. The Georgia native terrorizes offensive lineman and quarterbacks, even through double-teams and game plans entirely built around containing him. Fast, strong and unblockable, the future first-round pick is as good as it gets as an edge rusher and an absolute terror for offensive coordinators looking for answers.

Eric Berry, Tennessee

A two-time unanimous All-American and future All-Pro safety, the ball-hawking Berry laid the wood on receivers and disrupted offensive schemes as one of the Volunteers’ finest. While his Tennessee teams did not compete to win the conference, they made life difficult for some teams, particularly when Berry and head coach Lane Kiffin nearly derailed Nick Saban and Alabama’s national title hopes in 2009 before Terrence Cody blocked a last-second field goal (a play that haunts plenty of dreams to this day). But Berry, a cancer survivor, was a dominant force in the secondary who flew all over the field.

Brock Bowers, Georgia

Is he the best player in college football right now? The Bulldogs tight end has a case. To call him a matchup nightmare seems unfair to him. The dude is an absolute freak you can only hope to contain, whether he’s making circus catches or taking handoffs to rumble for chunks of yards all the way to the end zone. Another player on this list became the highest-drafted at Bowers’ position, but watching him obliterate defenders each Sunday begs the question: Are we ready for a tight end to go number one overall in the NFL draft? We have at least one more season to find out how much more damage Bowers can do in the SEC.

Joe Burrow, LSU

Speaking of number one overall picks, the LSU transfer quarterback confounded the league when he pulled a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde trick of his own in 2018 and 2019, when during the latter season he suddenly transformed into arguably the greatest college quarterback to ever play. In 15 games, the man threw for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and just six interceptions. You read that right. Sixty TDs. All on his way to an undefeated season and national championship. And yes, he had equally scary teammates in wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. Most unsettling of all for opposing fan bases was Burrow’s coolness under pressure. He sliced and diced defenses with surgical precision, as his face rarely, if ever changed expression. A cold-blooded killer.

Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina

Ask Denard Robinson, a fantastic college player in his own right, about how scary an unblocked Clowney looks in the backfield in less than a split-second. That 2013 Outback Bowl hit — in which Clowney appeared to teleport behind the offensive line only to blast Robinson before he could even touch the ball, causing a fumble during which Clowney picked up the pigskin with one paw — has defined his legacy as a defensive demon. Probably the biggest recruit in Gamecocks history, Clowney solidified his future as top overall pick his sophomore season with 13 sacks and 23.5 tackles for loss, as he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

Nick Fairley, Auburn

Ferocious. That’s the only way this Tiger defensive tackle knew how to play. the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Lombardi Trophy winner in 2010, he was the anchor of Gene Chizik’s national championship-winning defense. While Cam Newton (frightening for opponents in his own right) deservedly earned much of the credit for Auburn’s incredible run, Fairley’s dominant play in the trenches was arguably just as important to the Tigers’ success.

Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M

On one hand, it was a privilege to watch Manziel, a quarterback the likes of which we’d never seen up to that point, dazzle the nation with scrambling and playmaking abilities no defensive scheme could contain or predict. But the the stress he caused opposing fan bases and teams, especially Alabama’s, did a number on all who witnessed his brilliance. A worthy Heisman Trophy winner and one of the great college football quarterbacks of all time, Manziel quickly and undeniably became a thorn in the side of the Crimson Tide. You could even see the relief wash over Saban’s face after Bama defeated the Aggies in College Station in 2013, a look that praised the lord above they’d never have to face Johnny Football again.

Kyle Pitts, Florida

Picked fourth overall in the NFL Draft, the highest any tight end has gone, Pitts in many ways redefined the way the position is played in college football. You hear Nick Saban often say tight ends create so many matchup issues for linebackers and safeties, consider Pitts Exhibit A. He had 12 touchdowns in 2020, one of which came in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama, along with 129 receiving yards and all the momentum he needed to become a pro. We’ve seen some all-time great TEs come through the SEC this century, but Pitts’ skill-set was especially chilling.

DeVonta Smith, Alabama

You don’t leave off a player nicknamed the Slim Reaper, not when he won the Heisman Trophy in arguably the greatest season a wide receiver ever had in college football. For defensive coordinators, there’s nothing more petrifying than knowing exactly where the ball is going and that there is nothing you can do about it. Smith sticking around for his senior season didn’t seem like the scariest prospect at first, but paired with QB Mac Jones and Steve Sarkisian’s masterful scheming, he accounted fo 1,856 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns on his way to a national championship.

Tim Tebow, Florida

Now an SEC Network analyst and long-considered one of the nice guys in any sport, Tebow isn’t what many would consider “scary,” at least not on the surface. But when it was 4th-and-1 with the game on the line, only one guy was getting the ball and plowing ahead to convert it, again and again. Tebow still gets nods as the best to ever play quarterback at the college level. A special competitor who was built like a truck, Tebow knew how to win and would often will his Florida teams to victory when he wasn’t running over defenders or throwing goal-line jump-passes. He had that Michael Jordan quality of your team is probably losing if Tebow shows up, especially during his 2008 national title run.

Honorable mentions: John Henderson (Tennessee), Josh Reed (LSU), Carnell Williams (Auburn), Jaylen Waddle (Alabama), David Pollack (Georgia), Darren McFadden (Arkansas), DeMeco Ryans (Alabama), Glenn Dorsey (LSU) Rolando McClain (Alabama), Patrick Willis (Ole Miss), LaRon Landry (LSU), Brandon Spikes (Florida), Percy Harvin (Florida), A.J. Green (Georgia), Chance Warmack (Alabama), Mike and Maurkice Pouncey (Florida), Mark Barron (Alabama), Cam Newton (Auburn), Alshon Jeffrey (South Carolina), Jarvis Jones (Georgia), Tyrann Mathieu (LSU), Melvin Ingram (South Carolina), Caleb Sturgis (Florida), Kevin Minter (LSU), Matt Elam (Florida), Michael Sam (Missouri), Dak Prescott (Mississippi State), Amari Cooper (Alabama), Evan Engram (Ole Miss), Derrick Henry (Alabama), Myles Garrett (Texas A&M), A’Shawn Robinson (Alabama), Daniel Carlson (Auburn), Devin White (LSU), Roquan Smith (Georgia), Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama), Josh Allen (Kentucky), Bryce Young (Alabama)

More SEC football lists:

SEC football’s 14 funniest characters this century

12 controversial officials’ calls from last 40 years of SEC football

8 ‘hateful competitors’ who helped define Alabama football under Nick Saban