Ready for Some Football

It is that time of the year again, time for the start of college football. What would the start of college football be without a preseason All-American list? Once again, I am here to give you my preseason All-Americans. As usual, there will be more than 11 a side, to account for the different types of formations (spread, three receiver set, 4-3, 3-4, etc). I explain some of my picks, while others I do not. Why? Because I can.  (Starters in capitals).

Offense

QB - AARON MURRAY, Georgia; Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville; Tajh Boyd, Clemson - I know that the topic is not who is included, but it is now who was left off - that is right, no Johnny Manziell - and it has nothing to do with all of the problems of the offseason.  Murray is about ready to rewrite the entire SEC passing record book, Bridgewater is the most accurate quarterback in football and Boyd is every bit the dual threat Manziell is.  In fact, I could think of three or four more to place here before I get to Manziell.

RB - D'ANTHONY THOMAS, Oregon; LACHE SEASTRUNK, Baylor; Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona; Todd Gurley, Georgia - Other than Clowney, this might be the most talented group on the board.  Thomas or Carey could single handedly win the Pac-10 (or whatever number they are using nowadays).  With all due respect to T.J. Yeldon, Gurley is the best RB in the SEC.  Seastrunk might be the most dynamic player in the country.  Is that Ka'Deem?  Nah, that ain't Ka'Deem!

WR - MARQUISE LEE, USC; SAMMY WATKINS, Clemson; Amari Cooper, Alabama; Stefon Diggs, Maryland - The first three are self-explanatory, or at least they should be.  Easiest starters to pick other than Clowney and Santos, especially for my brother Marquise.  I had to put Diggs somewhere, and since I did not select Duke Johnson as a RB, he has to be my special teams returner.

TE - AUSTIN SEFERIAN-JENKINS, Washington; Eric Ebron, Jr., North Carolina - The weakest spot in the team, but Seferian-Jenkins already has over 100 career catches.

OL - JAKE MATTHEWS, Texas A and M; DAVID YANKEY, Stanford; GABE IKARD, Oklahoma; CYRIL RICHARDSON, Baylor; TAYLOR LEWAN, Michigan; Cyrus Kuandijo, Alabama - Matthews will need to step into Luke Joeckel's shoes.  All 6 of these lineman are important cogs to their teams success this year.

Defense

DE - JADEVEON CLOWNEY, South Carolina; DEVONTE FIELDS, TCU; Stephen Tuitt, Notre Dame - With Clowney heading this group, no justification is really necessary.  I look for Fields to take a huge leap this year.  Tuitt had 12 sacks last year.

DT - WILL SUTTON, Arizona State; LOUIS NIX, Notre Dame; Tim Jernigan, Florida State; Dominque Easley, Florida - Sutton is the best collegiate DT since Ndamulkong Suh, and he can single-handedly stop a run game while also provide a bit of a pass rush up the middle.  Easley might be the stretch here, but I look for him to be up to the challenge of the tough SEC trenches.

LB - C.J. MOSLEY, Alabama; ANTHONY BARR, UCLA; KYLE VAN NOY, BYU; Ryan Shazier, Ohio State; Chris Borland, Wisconsin; Denzel Nkemdiche, Mississippi - Mosley and Barr are no brainers, while Van Noy has 45 tackles for loss in his career.  Shazier and Borland will rack up lots of tackles in the run happy Big 10.  I include Nkemdiche because a couple of years ago I mentioned, but did not include, a young Jon Bostic.  Nkemdiche has all kinds of talent and athleticism.

CB - BRADLEY ROBY, Ohio State; IFO EKPRE-OLOMU, JR., Oregon; Jason Verett, TCU; Louchiez Purifoy, Florida - Roby might not make a tackle or interception this year, teams are that scared of  him.  Ekpre-Olomu has the best name on the team.  Purifoy might play both ways this year.

S - ED REYNOLDS, Stanford; HA HA CLINTON-DIX, Alabama; Craig Loston, LSU; Lamarcus Joyner, FSU - Ed Reynolds is a returning Thorpe Award finalist, and there is nothing funny about the way Clinton-Dix plays with his 5 interceptions last year.  Joyner can play either corner or safety.

Special Teams

K - CAIRO SANTOS, Tulane - Nobody else is even close.  Second easiest choice in this list.

P - KYLE CHRISTY, Florida - He was the best punter last year; he should continue to be the best punter this year.

KR/PR - DUKE JOHNSON, Miami; Dri Archer, Kent State; - Duke Johnson does it all, including starting running back this year.  He is likely going to be the best player on the field in every game he plays this year.  Scored touchdowns rushing, receiving and returning last year.  Diggs and Thomas could also have been used here, but they are listed at WR and RB already.