For those of you who don't recognize Phil Steele, the guy is the guru of college football. He is usually fairly accurate as to his preseason predictions and what he says carries a lot of weight, particularly at this time of the year. Steele's release of his pre season All Big XII and All-American teams is getting quite a bit of buzz around the college football landscape because of the various inclusions and omissions and, in light of the horrible weather cancelling Iowa's baseball game against Purdue, I would like to throw in a couple notes on his list. Obviously Phil Steele is far more accurate than everyone (you too ESPN) including myself but the man is not infallible (see him predicting Illinois as the number 3 team in the Big Ten last season). So here are my thoughts on Phil's preseason All American teams.
All-America team preview
- My biggest complaint, of this entire list, is the inclusion of Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey. This one perplexes me quite a bit because Posey wasn't even top five in his conference last season. Indiana, Iowa, Penn State, and Michigan State all have at least one receiver returning who was a bigger asset to their team than Posey was to the Buckeyes last year. The guy has skills, and maybe this has something to do with the touchdown pass he threw against NewMexico State last season, but I just don't see him having a big enough impact on this team to be an All-American. The Buckeyes like to run the ball and they have the offensive line to grind it out. Posey isn't an undefendable superfreak which means corners will jam him, he will get stuck in traffic, and he still hasn't figured out how to become an elite wide receiver. He has potential, but right now I think this is a huuuuuuge stretch for him, especially when the rest of the Buckeye receiving corps is losing a number of veterans. Tandon Doss, Marvin McNutt, DJK, Mark Dell, these are just some of the receivers who will likely put up bigger number and be bigger factors for their team in the Big Ten than Posey.
- Sticking with the Buckeyes on the list, I think I would switch Terrel Pryor and Justin Boren. Boren is a physical freak who will be a sure fire NFL prospect. Stefan Wisniewski of Penn State is a great lineman but I would swap him and Boren because of how dominant Boren figures to be along a dangerous Buckeye line. Pryor as a first team AA player will certainly draw some controversy, but I can see where this is coming from. Pryor looksready for a breakout year and there just aren't many returning quarterbacks who look like they will be capable of getting the statistics and the wins they would need to earn the 1st team AA spot. That being said, Case Keenum and Houston look poised to put up all kinds of nasty numbers and I think he will be the better quarterback. Also, how Cameron Heyward got supplanted by Robert Quinn as a first team DE I will never understand.
- I would swap Evan Royster and La'Michael James. James was by far the bigger X-factor for his team last year and with Oregon losing Jeremiah Masoli James should figure to have an even bigger role this season. Royster certainly deserves to be on this list but it isn't like he is setting the world on fire. His feet are painfully slow and he seems to lack an identity as a runner. The fact that he has been so succesful in spite of those things is certainly impressive, but it doesn't mean he is the better player.
- Mark Barron? Robert Sands? Really? Maybe it is just my homerism or my love of safeties who play like center fielder-shark hybrids but Tyler Sash should be swapped with one of those guys.
- Kyle Rudolph = OVERRATED. The guy is a solid player but he might as well be playing offensive tackle in new Notre Dame coach Chip Kelly's system. DJ Williams and Lance Kendricks could both claim the no.1 spot instead of Rudolph but given what Wisconsin has traditionally done with the position and Kendricks' raw talent I think he will be in the top spot by the end of the year.
- I don't know much about everyone's punter but I am uneasy about putting Ryan Donahue that high up.
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