Monday, September 5, 2016

Are you Ready for some Football?!

It is that time of the year again, time for the start of college football.  We have already had a fascinating start to the season with 6 ranked teams losing (and a record-breaking 7th to fall tonight, as FSU and Ole Miss - two ranked teams - faceoff in Orlando).  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 on each 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 - DESHAUN WATSON, Clemson; Pat Mahomes, Texas Tech; Greg Ward, Jr.,  Houston  - Watson is one of the easiest selections on this list.  Mahomes might be the biggest and strongest quarterback that Kliff Kingsbury has ever had at Texas Tech and Greg Ward, Jr. is the best quarterback nobody (except Florida State) has heard of.

RB - LEONARD FOURNETTE, LSU; CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY, Stanford; Dalvin Cook, Florida State; Nick Chubb, Georgia; Samaje Perine, Oklahoma - The returning talent of this group is absolutely astounding.  Any of these five could be the load-carrying feature on this all-star team.  I start McCaffrey because he blocks, and catches better than Cook.

WR - JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER, USC; MIKE WILLIAMS, Clemson; Christian Kirk, Texas A & M; Calvin RidleyAlabama; Corey Davis, Western Michigan - Nowhere near the names of the other positions (especially running back), but this is an exciting group of receivers.  Kirk is a threat to score every single time he touches the football.

TE - O.J. HOWARD, Alabama; Jake Butt, Michigan - Howard makes his third straight appearance on this list.  Although Butt will likely have better stats because of the overall talent of the skill positions at Alabama, Howard is a beast.

OL - CAM ROBINSON, Alabama (T); RODERICK JOHNSON, FSU (T); PAT ELFLEIN, Ohio State (C); DAN FEENEY, Indiana (G);  DORIAN JOHNSON, Pittsburgh (G); Zach Banner, USC; Conor McDermott, USC; Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame - Elflein returns from last year's All-American team, and Feeney is one reason why Jordan Howard was such an effective runner at Indiana last year.  Robinson and Johnson are the prototypical college star tackles.

Defense

DE - MYLES GARRETT, Texas A & M; JONATHAN ALLEN, Alabama; Charles Harris, Missouri - Between Garrett and Allen, we could see 50+ tackles for loss this  year.  Harris completes the SEC trifecta on the outside of the line.

DT - MALIK MCDOWELL, Michigan State; CARLOS WATKINS, Clemson; Lowell Lotulelei, Utah - Not just big space eaters, McDowell and Watkins both make plays from the interior of the defense.

LB - RAEKWON MCMILLAN, Ohio State, REUBEN FOSTER, Alabama; DEVONTE FIELDS, Louisville; Anthoney Walker, Northwestern; Jabrill Peppers, Michigan; Tim Williams, Alabama - With McMillan on the field, you better diversify your plays, bitches.  Foster is a tackling machine, and Fields is the type of playmaker that has moved Louisville into the upper echelon of college football programs.

CB - DESMOND KING, Iowa; JOURDAN LEWIS, Michigan; Jalen Tabor, Florida - Desmond King won the Jim Thorpe award as the nation's best defensive back last year, with 8 interceptions.  Lewis had 20 passes defensed.  Tabor is the second consecutive Jalen to make this list.

S - DERWIN JAMES, Florida State; BUDDA BAKER, Washington; Jamal Adams, LSU - JAMES is the heir apparent to Jaylen Ramsey, while Baker returns after a phenomenal year last year for the Huskies.

Special Teams

K - ANDY PHILLIPS, Utah - Phillips was on the team last year (behind Aguayo) for no reason that I just thought we should have three kickers on the team (kickers means kickers and punters).

P - JK SCOTT, Alabama - A booming punter who grew 1 1/2 inches this offseason.

KR/PR - EVAN BERRY, Tennessee - Berry led the nation in kickoff return average last  year, beating second place by almost 5 whole yards per return.  No backups needed because the two Christians can also return very well (McCaffrey and Kirk - not a religious reference).

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