As we approach the beginning of the 2023 college football season, we want to highlight some of the top players in each conference by announcing our SIS Preseason All-Conference teams. We used our all-encompassing player value stat, Total Points, along with other metrics and our scouting work as leading references in putting together our selections.

You can learn more about Total Points and the statistics referenced here.

Offense

This year’s Preseason All-Big 10 Offensive Team heavily features the powerhouses of the conference. The Michigan Wolverines lead the way with four representatives on this squad. J.J. McCarthy is the conference leader among returning quarterbacks in Passing Total Points per Play (TP/P) and Blake Corum earned more Rushing Total Points last season than any returning running back in the entire country. Add in two returning starters along the offensive line in Zak Zinter and Drake Nugent (Stanford transfer), and the Wolverines look to have a formidable group coming back this season. 

Ohio State is also well represented on this list. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka ranked first and second respectively among all Big Ten wide receivers in Total Points, and both also ranked top five in the country in this category. Donovan Jackson also finds himself on this list for the Buckeyes after ranking in the top three in Total Points and Total Points per Play amongst Big 10 guards 2022.

Other members of the All-Big 10 Offensive Team include Minnesota’s behemoth tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford, who ranked second amongst conference tight ends in Blocking Total Points, and Wisconsin’s hard-nosed running back Braelon Allen. Maryland’s Delmar Glaze led all Big 10 tackles in Total Points last season and Penn State’s Olumuyima Fashanu, who allowed only 3 blown blocks on more than 500 snaps to go along with 0 holding penalties, rounds out our offensive team. 

This team could not quite list all the top talent in the Big Ten, so there are certainly some honorable mentions who are deserving of their shine. Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa led the conference in Passing Total Points in 2022. Running back Tre’Veyon Henderson from Ohio State is an electric talent who could have made this list had he not struggled with injuries last season. FInally, Minnesota’s Chuck Filiaga ranked second among Big Ten guards in Total Points a year ago while helping anchor the Golden Gophers’ top-notch run game. 

Defense

On the defensive side of the ball, our team starts in the middle of the defense with a pair of Illini defensive tackles in Jer’Zhan Newton and Keith Randolph Jr., who are the top two returning Pass Rush Total Points leaders among DTs. Ohio State’s J.T. Tuimoloau and Indiana’s Andre Carter (Western Michigan transfer) round out the defensive line group. 

As for the linebackers, Ohio State’s Tommy Eichenberg returns to the Buckeye defense after pacing all Big Ten linebackers in Run Defense Total Points by a very wide margin last season. He is joined by Wisconsin’s Maema Njongmeta in our second-level group. 

On the back end, notable Gophers Justin Walley and Tyler Nubin earned preseason All-Conference nods along with Nebraska’s Quinton Newsome, Penn State’s Kalen King, and Iowa’s Cooper DeJean, who tied for second in the Big Ten with five interceptions last season.

This list would not be complete without crediting a couple of standout players who did not quite make the group of the top eleven presented. Edge rushers Chop Robinson (Penn State) and Aaron Lewis (Rutgers) will look to improve on 2022 campaigns in which they racked up the top two hurry totals among conference DE’s, respectively. Ohio State’s other linebacker, Steele Chambers, is also a name to watch as he boasts the most Pass Defense Total Points of all returning Big Ten linebackers from last season. 

Specialists

Our specialist group is headlined by both the kicker and punter from Iowa, Drew Stevens and Tory Taylor. Stevens went 16-of-18 on field goals for a sterling 88.9% success rate last year while also going a perfect 24-of-24 on PATs and Taylor has the highest average and net average in the conference for returning punters. Indiana’s Jalin Lucas was the only FBS player to register two kick return TDs in 2022 (as a true freshman) and is a name to keep an eye on not only in the return game, but as a running back as well.