Admittedly, I went back and forth on the order of these last six players.

One of the factors I consider when choosing which players had the best season is the impact they had on their team. This next player had a profound impact on his team in 2009 and should have an even bigger impact next season.

If you were picking your top 30 players in the league heading into the 2010 season, he would have to be in the top 3, maybe the top 2:

No. 6: Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas: I’m on record as voting for Mallett as the first-team All-SEC quarterback this past season over Florida’s Tim Tebow. It was close, but I felt like Mallett had a better regular season and his numbers suggested as much. That vote came before the bowl games, and Tebow’s record performance in the Sugar Bowl nudged him past Mallett in my mind. Still, it was close, and any time you throw 30 touchdown passes in the SEC, you’ve had a terrific season. And to throw 30 touchdowns in your first season playing in the league is even more impressive. Mallett wasn’t perfect in 2009 and was still learning on the job to a large degree, but he has everything you’re looking for in a franchise quarterback. He was tempted to turn pro and thought about it long and hard. In the end, he made the right decision and returns as one of the top passers in the country. He has a very good understanding of Bobby Petrino’s system and will be even more effective next season. Look for his accuracy to improve and look for him to have a few more answers when teams do things to try and confuse him similar to what happened against Alabama this past season.

• No. 7: Anthony Dixon, RB, Mississippi State
• No. 8: Javier Arenas, CB, Alabama
• 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