These defensive backs just missed the cut for the overall top 10 heading into spring camp, but their work last season deserved honorable mentions. 

Florida S Marcus Maye: Perhaps an unsung hero in a Florida defense dominated by top cornerback names, Maye can do it all on defense and should be a huge SEC star this season for the Gators.

Georgia S Dominick Sanders: The top playmaker on the nation’s No. 1 defense in passing yards allowed per game, Sanders picked off six passes and pitched in five tackles for loss for the stingy Bulldogs.

LSU CB Tre’Davious White: Another star from “DBU” took a high spot on this list, but not mentioning White would be a huge mistake. He was a Thorpe Award semifinalist with seven pass deflections and decided to come back to school for 2016. 

North Carolina CB M.J. Stewart: North Carolina’s pass defense went from one of the worst in the country to ranking in the top 20 one under Gene Chizik, and All-ACC cornerback Stewart played a monster role with four picks and 14 breakups.

Oklahoma CB Jordan Thomas: Oklahoma’s pass defense went from 120th to 33rd in a run to the Big 12 title and the College Football Playoff, and Thomas did more than his fair share with four picks on the opposite side of the NFL-bound Zack Sanchez.

SDSU S Damontae Kazee: A true stat-sheet stuffer, Kazee tied for second nationally with eight interceptions, and he also added 5.5 tackles for loss and a couple of forced fumbles for the Mountain West champions.

Tennessee CB Cameron Sutton: Sutton was more known nationally in 2015 for his special teams excellence, but he had already emerged as one of the best cover players in the entire SEC. He’s back to be a leader for an experience-laden Tennessee defense in 2016.

UConn CB Jamar Summers: Another member of the eight-interception club last season, Summers stood out for an overlooked UConn team. One of his timely picks sealed the only 2015 loss for American Athletic Conference champion Houston.

Virginia S Quin Blanding: With more than 100 tackles in back-to-back seasons, Blanding is a destructive force at safety who has managed to grab national attention despite playing on a bad Virginia team. He’ll get more love in 2016 under a new coaching staff.

Washington CB Sidney Jones: We’ll mention the biggest name in the Washington secondary later, but the veteran cornerback Jones picked off four passes, broke up 10 more and forced four fumbles last year. He’s a big-play machine for the Huskies.

2015 Stats: 108 tackles (six for loss), one INT, one forced fumble, one TD, six pass breakups

Pittsburgh is developing a knack for producing excellent freshman standouts, and Jordan Whitehead joined the club last year with the breakout season of all breakout seasons in the ACC Coastal. 

Whitehead finished sixth in the ACC with 108 tackles—coming through with six of them behind the line of scrimmage—and he also pitched in six pass breakups in the center of the defense. According to Andrea Adelson of ESPN.com, Whitehead was the first defensive player to win overall ACC Rookie of the Year honors since Dre Bly did it in 1996.

He posted those impressive defensive numbers while also getting some work on offense, and he told Adelson he’s focused on getting his weight up for the wear and tear of life as a hard-hitting safety. His work in pass coverage improved as the season went on for Pittsburgh. 

Whitehead has already shown he can make big plays happen, and the sky is the limit for him with more experience in a Pat Narduzzi defense.

2015 Stats: 49 tackles (1.5 for loss), two INTs, seven pass breakups

Budda Baker and the Washington defense flew somewhat under the radar last season, leading the Pac-12 in total yards allowed per game despite featuring a good bit of youth. Now, the safety will be back as one of the league’s best playmakers and is ready to explode even more on the national stage.

As John Sayler of SB Nation’s UW Dawg Pound writes, Baker’s influence on the game isn’t always reflected in the final box score—although he doesn’t have underwhelming numbers by any stretch.

“While he doesn’t always light up the stat sheet, Baker might be the best football player currently enrolled at Washington,” Saylor wrote. “What a luxury it is for a defense to have a free safety who is always where he is supposed be, is as sure a tackler as you will find and has impeccable timing for breaking up passes.”

Baker will be the heart of a strong secondary that excels in the open field on both running plays and long passing attempts. He’s fearless and plays with the intensity that every top-notch defense needs in order to succeed in a run toward a conference championship.

2015 Stats: 43 tackles (0.5 for loss), nine INTs, one TD, 15 pass breakups

The nation’s leader in interceptions last season, Shawun Lurry is an all-out ball magnet who was a real force for MAC runner-up Northern Illinois. He’s back again in 2016, ready to defend his title.

Even though he plays for a Group of Five school, Lurry got some first-team All-American honors from college football writer Phil Steele and the FWAA. That’s because Lurry just didn’t excel against lower-quality competition—he played some of his best ball against power-conference programs.

Lurry picked off a pair of passes in a tight 20-13 loss at then-defending national champion Ohio State, and he also grabbed another interception that he took 79 yards in a 17-14 loss the next week against Boston College. He had an interception in five straight games and had a pass breakup in all but five contests.

His nose for the football was evident in every game he played last season, and there’s a great chance he could put up similar numbers in his second campaign as a starter. 

2015 Stats: 91 tackles (9.5 for loss), 4.5 sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles

At this time last year, Derwin James was just getting acclimated on campus at Florida State. A former top-five recruit, per 247Sports, James didn’t even have a starting job when the Seminoles began their 2015 campaign.

Fast-forward to the end of the year, and James was already a can’t-miss playmaker. He was second on the team in tackles and tackles for loss despite starting just the last eight of Florida State’s 13 games. James was a heat-seeking missile, flying into opponents’ backfields for sacks and soaring back into coverage to halt big plays in their tracks.

And, again, James did all of that as a true freshman. He was a no-brainer pick on multiple all-freshman teams, and his list of accolades should increase exponentially this fall. One can only imagine the type of damage he can do with a full season of starts.

“I’m looking to come out next year and make more plays, to put us in a better position,” James said, per Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post. “I made a lot of plays, but I left a lot of plays out there too. That just comes with experience.”  

2015 Stats: 35 tackles, one INT, one TD, eight pass breakups

Adoree’ Jackson is one of college football’s most versatile playmakers, but don’t let his contributions on offense and special teams overshadow his talent on defense. That was his first home at USC, and he’s continued to do well there despite splitting time at other positions on the roster.

Even with the multiple responsibilities, Jackson recorded the second-most pass breakups on the team and recorded a pick-six in a 27-21 victory over pass-happy Cal. He was the Pac-12’s Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2014 and was a first-team cornerback in the conference last season. Now, he has his sights set on being the best all-around corner he can be.

“I’m going to be permanently at cornerback,” Jackson said in December, per Rich Hammond of the Orange County Register. “When [USC head coach Clay Helton] needs me on offense, he’s going to use me, but at the end of the day, my decision was to specialize at corner and continue to be a specialist in returning the ball.”

Jackson will spend his spring focusing on qualifying for the Olympics as a track star, per Hammond, but when he returns to the football field, expect him to be an even bigger playmaker in returning coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s defense.

2015 Stats: 67 tackles (five for loss), four INTs, one forced fumble, six pass breakups

If you’re looking for a safety who can do it all and do it well, look no further than LSU safety Jamal Adams. The leader in tackles, tackles for loss, interceptions and pass breakups for a talent-laden Tigers secondary, Adams has already emerged as the next big name out of Baton Rouge.

Adams is a ball hawk in every sense of the word, coming up near the line of scrimmage to take down ball-carriers and shutting down passing attempts. He’s the type of versatile playmaker who can be an even deadlier defensive weapon under new coordinator Dave Aranda.

“If Aranda just wanted Adams to focus on covering the flat or pursuing the ball-carrier from the middle of the field, two areas where he excels, he could do that, but he could also create a lot of hesitation from the offense about where exactly he’ll be and what he’ll be doing, much like the Steelers used to do with Troy Polamalu,” Ian A. Boyd of SB Nation wrote.

With Aranda’s “mad scientist” ways of creating elite defenses with unique roles, Adams has the potential to rise even higher on NFL draft boards and national award lists. The offense will take a lot of the spotlight at LSU this season, but a playmaker such as Adams is too good to ignore.

2015 Stats: 46 tackles (three for loss), six INTs, two TDs, one forced fumble, two pass breakups

How did Alabama’s secondary go from its Achilles’ heel to a bona fide strength in its 2015 national championship campaign? Look no further than Eddie Jackson, who moved from cornerback to safety and simply took over games.

Jackson picked off six passes in 2015—including a huge one in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game—and ran a pair of them back for touchdowns. The Crimson Tide needed help preventing the explosive plays that hurt them in 2014, and that played right into Jackson’s skill set at safety.

Even though the 6’0″, 194-pound Jackson doesn’t have the size of Alabama’s typical star safeties under Nick Saban, he has emerged as one of the best defensive playmakers in the entire country at his new home. He also provided an added boost at run support for the nation’s No. 1 defense in that category.

Alabama will have to reload at several major spots heading into 2016, but it can rely on Jackson to patrol the center of a strong secondary. A full offseason of work at safety could mean even better production from Jackson in 2016.

2015 Stats: 40 tackles (four for loss), one sack, four INTs, two TDs, 14 pass breakups

Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III was recognized as one of the nation’s best defensive backs all of last season, and for good reason. However, there’s an argument to be made that he wasn’t even the best corner on his own team in 2015.

Jalen Tabor had as many interceptions as Hargreaves last season and returned two of them back for touchdowns. He broke up 14 passes to Hargreaves’ four, as opposing quarterbacks were forced to choose between throwing at one or the other.

Advanced statistics paint an even better picture for Tabor. According to Vincent Ronca of Pro Football Focus, Tabor led the country at the end of the regular season in opposing QB rating on passes thrown his direction—16.7. He also showed great versatility in playing the nickel and dime roles last year for Florida.

Now, it’s Tabor’s turn to become the star name in the Florida secondary, and he told Luis Torres of the Palm Beach Post he is using the lack of national recognition from last year as motivation for a huge 2016. SEC quarterbacks who were glad to see Hargreaves go to the NFL won’t get a break when they face the Gators.

2015 Stats: 52 tackles (3.5 for loss), two INTs, one TD, 20 pass breakups, one forced fumble

With Jabrill Peppers possibly moving to linebacker this season, the spotlight in the Michigan secondary should shine on elite cornerback Jourdan Lewis. That’s good, because he deserved even more national attention than what he was getting on Jim Harbaugh’s 10-win team.

Lewis ranked third nationally in pass breakups last season and was the shutdown cornerback of the nation’s No. 1 pass defense in yards allowed per attempt and completion percentage. He was one of the busiest defensive backs in all of college football, but he rarely made a mistake in coverage.

“What’s crazy about Lewis’ season is just how often he was targeted,” Gordon McGuinness of Pro Football Focus wrote last December. “He saw 85 passes thrown into his coverage, the third-most in the conference. He made opponents pay, though.”

Having the shutdown cornerback back for 2016 will be huge for a Michigan defense that has the potential to be even better in its first year under new coordinator Don Brown. Lewis’ presence can have a major effect on any offense that faces him.

2015 Stats: Thorpe Award winner, Unanimous All-American; 72 tackles (one for loss), eight INTs, one TD, 13 pass breakups

Not only is Desmond King the best college defensive back heading into the 2016 season—he took home the Thorpe Award last year and still decided to return to school—but he might be the best defensive player in the entire country.

King had the second-most interceptions in the country last year and finished in the top 20 in pass breakups. He is the only defensive unanimous All-American from the 2015 season who will be back in 2016, and he was by far the best player on an Iowa team that won its first 12 games of the season.

The ball-hawking cornerback had a knack for coming up with huge plays when his team needed them the most. His two games with a pair of interceptions last year—against Pittsburgh and Wisconsin—were won by a combined seven points by the Hawkeyes. 

King might not reach the eight-interception mark he had last year in 2016, but that’s because opposing quarterbacks should know by now not to throw in his direction. He’ll be the unquestioned leader of a tough Iowa defense that returns seven starters and could make another run toward the College Football Playoff.

All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.

Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.