Earlier this week, we discussed teams on the rise in the SEC East and West. Today we discuss which teams might be sliding heading into 2016, starting with the SEC East:

Edward Aschoff: This might be piling on, but I have to say that South Carolina is sliding coming out of spring. Not only was the offense very tough to watch during the spring game, but the defense got terrible news when Will Muschamp announced earlier this week that star linebacker Skai Moore will miss the 2016 season because of a herniated disc in his neck. Just awful news for such a good player who is incredibly important to this team.

And remember, the Gamecocks had the SEC’s worst defense last year and left spring with questions remaining in a secondary that really struggled in one-on-one coverage and with the pass-rush up front. Losing Moore is a major blow to a defense looking to claw its way out of the bottom of the SEC.

Offensively, the Gamecocks likely found the future at quarterback in freshman Brandon McIlwain, but there really isn’t much around him right now, and are we prepared to say he’s ready for SEC play? That offensive line is incredibly unproven, as are the running backs and receivers. That’s rough, especially if South Carolina’s next quarterback has to rely on true freshman Bryan Edwards to be the go-to target this fall.

There were way too many questions for Muschamp to try to answer this spring, and the Gamecocks left with a handful to deal with going into the offseason.

Sam Khan Jr.: I agree with you on South Carolina, but I’ll go in another direction. Missouri is a little concerning for me for a few reasons.

First, attrition really took its toll on the offensive line during spring football. Between defections and injuries, the Tigers were at one point left with only eight healthy scholarship offensive linemen. They’ll gain one back this summer (Nate Crawford) and add some from their signing class but they’ve got work to do there.

Quarterback still is a question mark. Drew Lock has experience but struggled as a true freshman. Marvin Zanders is lacking experience. Regardless of who starts (Lock is the favorite), neither player is proven, nor are the receivers the quarterback will have at his disposal.

Defensively, I think they’ll be good but replacing a player like Kentrell Brothers is no easy task. Fortunately for the Tigers, they have a couple of good linebackers at the other spots (Michael Scherer, Donavin Newsom) but filling the void left by Brothers will be a challenge.