The 2024 Big Ten football season is just about to reach its dramatic conclusion with Saturday’s championship game. But with the regular season wrapped up, it’s time to dive into some individual honors.

The official B1G honors will be unveiled on Tuesday afternoon. Before we get there, I tackled the list of awards from my own perspective.

Be prepared: This is not a prediction of how I believe each award will go (though I would be shocked if some of the official results differ from my own). Instead, this is simply how I would vote if I had a ballot for the individual honors.

Let’s get to it!

Offensive Player of the Year/QB of the Year — Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

The B1G’s top offensive honor went to a receiver last season (Marvin Harrison Jr.), but that’s because the top QB — JJ McCarthy — did not have the traditional powerhouse numbers of a top QB. That’s not the case this year.

In fact, Gabriel came close to taking home the QB version of a triple crown in passing yards, completion percentage and passing touchdowns. Gabriel led the B1G and was 2nd nationally while completing 73.5% of his passes, trailing only Shedeur Sanders for that mark.

Gabriel’s 3,275 passing yards also led the league while finishing 10th nationally, but his 24 touchdown passes finished 2nd behind Will Howard and Kurtis Rourke, who tied for the lead with 27. Oregon’s QB did have 7 rushing touchdowns, giving him 31 total scores heading into the postseason.

Then there’s the team performance component. Oregon was the only team in college football to finish 12-0, and Gabriel’s value to his team was clear.

Even after his leading receiver, Tez Johnson, went down against Michigan, Gabriel kept slinging the rock at an efficient clip and leading the offense well. It makes the standout QB an easy choice for the top honor.

RB of the Year — Kaleb Johnson, Iowa

If a non-QB were to win the B1G’s top offensive honor, it would be Johnson. In fact, Johnson led all non-QBs in the B1G in scoring with 138 points and 11.5 points per game. He was the only non-kicker inside the top 4, and only Rutgers’ Kyle Monangai joined Johnson in the top 10.

For added context, Iowa finished the regular season averaging exactly 28 points per game. That means Johnson accounted for 41% of Iowa’s scoring on a weekly basis.

In addition to those accolades, Johnson led the B1G in rushing (1,537 yards), yards per game (128.08) and rushing touchdowns (21). He also maintained his efficiency.

In spite of logging the 2nd-most carries (240), Johnson finished 4th in the B1G with 6.40 YPC. By comparison, only 1 of the 3 players ranked ahead of Johnson logged more than 100 carries, and that was TreVeyon Henderson with 108.

WR of the Year — Tai Felton, Maryland

Pat Bryant and Jeremiah Smith tied for the B1G lead with 10 receiving touchdowns. But I can’t in good faith overlook Felton’s performance in comparison to the rest of the Maryland offense.

The senior set program records while finishing with 96 receptions to lead the B1G. He also topped the league with 1,124 receiving yards and 93.7 yards per game.

TE of the Year — Tyler Warren, Penn State

This is the easiest call on the list because Warren is also the simple pick for the Mackey Award as the nation’s top TE.

He led all B1G TEs (and plenty of prominent wide receivers) while finishing with 978 receiving yards. Warren produced 6 receiving touchdowns and arguably the single best performance of the season at USC with over 200 receiving yards.

Oh, and do we need to get into the rest of Warren’s toolbox? Just for kicks, Warren has 189 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns while also completing 3 passes and operating a Wildcat package.

Defensive Player of the Year/DL of the Year — Abdul Carter, Penn State

The B1G’s DL of the Year was arguably the toughest of the group. But Carter gets the edge over Indiana’s Mikail Kamara and Oregon’s Matayo Uiagalelei, and I’m also going with Carter for the top defensive honor.

Uiagalelei led the B1G with 10.5 sacks this season, but Kamara and Carter were right behind at 10 apiece. The true difference here goes to the TFLs.

In that regard, Carter led the way with 19.5 TFLs to trump Kamara (15) and Uiagalelei (12.5). Carter also registered 2 forced fumbles and 3 pass breakups.

He also stepped up in key moments. He had 2 sacks against Ohio State and registered multiple games with 4 TFLs and 2 sacks.

Coming into the season, many were wondering how Carter’s transition to the edge from his linebacker position would work out. We now have our answer: He’s a game-wrecker of the highest order.

LB of the Year — Carson Schwesinger, UCLA

If you had told me coming into the season any B1G play would out-tackle Jay Higgins, I would have been mildly surprised. Seeing just how dominant Schwesinger was in pure tackles for UCLA is also impressive.

He led all B1G players and finished 3rd nationally with 136 tackles, but Schwesinger’s solo stops are what takes the cake. His 90 solo stops also led the country. (For context, Higgins had just 49 solo stops from his 118 total tackles.)

The rest of Schwesinger’s performance also speaks for itself. He recorded 8.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble while recording 10+ tackles 9 times this season!

At one point, he had 10+ tackles in 6 straight games.

DB of the Year — Caleb Downs, Ohio State

Downs’ numbers fell short of his 100-tackle freshman season at Alabama with just 62 tackles for Ohio State. But anyone who watched the Buckeyes understands the impact Downs had.

He came up big in the game against Oregon with 8 tackles, a TFL and 2 pass breakups. And while he recorded just 4 tackles against Penn State, Downs was instrumental in keeping Tyler Warren in check.

Against Michigan, Downs was arguably the best player on the field for Ohio State. He recorded 11 tackles and what should have been a game-changing interception for the Buckeyes.

Kicker of the Year — Dominic Zvada, Michigan

Zvada led all B1G kickers with a 94.4% while converting 17-of-18 field-goal attempts this season (and 25-of-26 PATs). His range was particularly important for the Wolverines.

He went a perfect 7-for-7 on kicks from 50+ yards to become the first kicker in Michigan history with 4+ kicks from that range in a season. Considering the offense’s struggles, Michigan needed Zvada’s leg to keep the team in many games.

Punter of the Year — Eddie Czaplicki, USC

Czaplicki was an impressive special teams weapon. Though his punts (40) lagged behind some other punters, he dropped over half of them deep inside enemy territory (20 downed inside the 20-yard line).

His average yardage still was a booming 48.5 yards per punt and he had just 1 touchback all season. Czaplicki’s 45.7 net average would still rank 2nd in average distance per punt in the B1G.

Returner of the Year — Kaden Wetjen, Iowa

No other B1G player was as effective as Wetjen in punt and kick return duties. He is 1 of just 2 players with multiple punt returns of 30+ yards (Hank Beatty, Illinoi), and Wetjen led all qualified returners with 26 yards per game on punt returns.

Wetjen also finished 2nd in the B1G with 5 kickoff returns of 30+ yards and was 3rd in average return yardage at 25.04 among qualified players.

Freshman of the Year — Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State WR

This pick was only made slightly difficult by Minnesota’s Koi Perich delivering 5 interceptions. But there’s no point in overthinking this one.

Smith stepped into his true freshman season with all the expectations of the No. 1 overall recruit and immediately delivered. His 10 receiving touchdowns tied for the B1G lead and finished tied for 10th nationally.

He finished 4th in the B1G with 934 receiving yards and was immediately a go-to threat for the Buckeyes.

Coach of the Year — Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Who else? Cignetti has led Indiana to its first season with 10+ wins and an 11-1 record, and the Hoosiers should be a lock to reach the Playoff field.

Considering the Hoosiers went 3-9 last season, and the historic futility of IU football, there’s no question about this one. Cignetti wins. We Googled him.