Seven from B1G make PFF's Preseason 2019 All-American First-Team
The Big Ten is a great conference.
Its football teams year in and year out have loads of NFL talent on its rosters and the teams themselves consistently achieve great things on the field.
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On Thursday, Cam Mellor at Pro Football Focus wrote out his 2019 Preseason All-American team. The full team can be seen here.
Before looking at the guys the made it from the Big Ten, it should be noted that Wisconsin had three players on PFF’s offensive team, marking the most of any school outside of Clemson with four total players (Wisconsin and Clemson both have three offensive players).
Here are the Big Ten selections:
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
“No running back comes close to Taylor’s production of back-to-back seasons with 1,300+ yards after contact and at least 66 missed tackles forced on the ground.”
WR: Rondale Moore, Purdue
“The shiftiest receiver in college football returns for a true sophomore campaign after leading the nation with 37 missed tackles forced after the catch last year.”
OT: Cole Van Lanen, Wisconsin
“Leading the nation’s tackles in run-blocking grade by some margin, the aforementioned Taylor has one of the better run-blocking tackles that we’ve seen in five years of grading out in front of him.”
Center: Tyler Biadasz, Wisconsin
“The pinnacle of the center position in 2019, Biadasz has finished 16 games without a single pressure allowed and dominates at the next level in run blocking.”
Edge: Chase Young, Ohio State
“No edge defender had more pressures than Young did in 2018 and that number should only be on the rise as he continually wins his pass-rushes with ease and with a bevy of pass-rush moves.”
Edge: A.J. Epenesa, Iowa
“Epenesa is primed for big things in 2019 in an extended role. On limited snaps, he leads the Power-5 in pass-rush win rate over the past two seasons.”
Kick Returner: Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Iowa
“Smith-Marsette racked up 701 yards on just 24 returns while averaging the nation’s top yards per attempt among qualified active returners.”