To this point, 12 of the 22 players in our countdown of the SEC’s 30 best players for the 2009 season have been on the defensive side of the ball, including seven of the last eight.

We’ll keep the defensive theme alive with the No. 8 selection. Of course, he wasn’t too shabby on special teams, either:

No. 8: Javier Arenas, CB/RS, Alabama: I can already hear the question echoing down in Florida: Why is Arenas ranked ahead of Joe Haden? What gave Arenas the nod was the dimension he provided on special teams. Few punt returners anywhere in football are as fearless as he is. On top of it all, he developed into one of the better cornerbacks in the league. He rarely gave up any plays and was a blur coming off the edge on those corner blitzes. Arenas finished with five sacks and 12 tackles for loss, a remarkable number for a cornerback. He also played the star position (nickel back) when the Crimson Tide went to five defensive backs. He wound up with five interceptions and was third on Alabama’s team with 71 total tackles. In short, he did a little bit of everything in helping lead the Crimson Tide to their first national championship in 17 years.

• No. 9: Joe Haden, CB, Florida
• No. 10: Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn
• No. 11: Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida
• No. 12: Eric Norwood, OLB, South Carolina
• No. 13: Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
• No. 14: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
• No. 15: Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida
• No. 16: Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee
• No. 17: Ben Tate, RB, Auburn
• No. 18: Montario Hardesty, RB, Tennessee
• No. 19: Mike Johnson, OG, Alabama
• No. 20: Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida
• No. 21: Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia
• No. 22: Randall Cobb, QB/WR, Kentucky
• No. 23: Shay Hodge, WR, Ole Miss
• No. 24: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
• No. 25: Pernell McPhee, DE, Mississippi State
• No. 26: Malcolm Sheppard, DT, Arkansas
• No. 27: Mark Barron, S, Alabama
• No. 28: Terrence Cody, NG, Alabama
• No. 29: Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU
• No. 30: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama