Big Ten lands 5 players on AP's first-team All-American honors
Big Ten football had another impressive season this fall, and now 4 teams are preparing to fight toward a national championship in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
This week brings the first-ever round of home Playoff games across Friday and Saturday. On Monday, the AP released its full list of All-American honors for the season with the conference once again well-represented.
The Big Ten tied for the 2nd-most first-team selections with 5 players. Only the SEC produced more with 6 while the ACC also produced 5.
In a slightly unique twist, the B1G placed all 5 first-team players on the defensive side of the ball while failing to register a single offensive selection. UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger and Iowa’s Jay Higgins gave the B1G 2 of the 3 first-team linebacker selections.
While Caleb Downs was the only Ohio State player on the first-team unit, the Buckeyes placed 3 players on the second-team offense.
Meanwhile, Oregon, winners of the B1G, had just Derrick Harmon named across the first and second-team units. Dillon Gabriel, the B1G’s Offensive Player of the Year, was the third-team QB.
Here are the full All-American honors to hail from the B1G:
First-team defense
- Edge Abdul Carter, Penn State
- DL Mason Graham, Michigan
- LB Jay Higgins, Iowa
- LB Carson Schwesinger, UCLA
- S Caleb Downs, Ohio State
Second-team offense
- WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
- OG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State
- C Seth McLaughlin, Ohio State
- TE Tyler Warren, Penn State
- RB Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
- K Dominic Zvada, Michigan
Second-team defense
- DL Derrick Harmon, Oregon
Third-team offense
- WR Tai Felton, Maryland
- OT Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon
- OT Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota
- QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Third-team defense
- Edge Mikail Kamara, Indiana
- DL Kenneth Grant, Michigan
- DB Will Johnson, Michigan
- S Lathan Ransom, Ohio State
- P Eddie Czaplicki, USC