It’s time once again to announce our SIS College Football All-American Team. 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.

A brief explanation of Total Points:

Total Points takes nearly everything that SIS measures about a play and uses it to evaluate each player on a scale that allows you to compare them more easily. It’s always useful to be able to understand the different ways in which players can be valuable. Does he break a lot of tackles? Does he get a lot of yards after the catch? Does he make the best out of a poor offensive line? Does he get more pressures than expected? Does he break up a lot of passes? Total Points offers the opportunity to take all of those elements and get a quick picture of how well a player is performing overall.

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

Here are our selections:

1st Team Offense

Heisman Finalist, Diego Pavia headlines our All-American Team as he ranked first among all QBs in Total Points with 142. He also led all QBs in Total Points per Snap and was top-3 in Passing Total Points. He is joined by his long time teammate, Eli Stowers, who led all tight ends in Receiving Total Points. 

Rutgers RB Antwan Raymond earned 78 Total Points, which led the position and also holds a 34% Broken/Missed Tackle Rate, which led all RBs (minimum 150 carries). Jeremiyah Love, another Heisman Finalist, makes our First Team after earning 64 Total Points, which ranked top-5 among all RBs. 

Miami-FL wide receiver Malachi Toney is the lone true freshman to make the SIS All-American First Team. He led the position with 45 Total Points, and he is electric with the ball in his hands, ranking in the top-5 in YAC and Broken/Missed Tackle Rate per Reception. He is joined by Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell II, who led the SEC in Receiving Total Points. 

Utah’s Spencer Fano and Tanoa Togiai headline the First Team offensive line as they led all players in Power-4 conferences in Total Points for their positions. Miami-FL tackle Francis Mauigoa ranked first in Pass Blocking Total Points for his position, and also had a 1.0% Blown Block Rate, third among all tackles (minimum 500 snaps) with Spencer Fano occupying second at a 0.9% Blown Block Rate. 

Georgia Tech’s Keylan Rutledge led all guards in the ACC in Total Points and finished in the top-10 among FBS guards with a 0.8% Blown Block Rate. Meanwhile, Iowa’s Logan Jones rounds out the offensive line with 37 Total Points, which ranked first among all centers. 

1st Team Defense

Kayden McDonald and Caden Curry dominated the line of scrimmage for the No. 1 defense in the FBS this year and both were first among FBS DTs and DEs respectively in Total Points, Total Points per Snap, Total Points Above Average, and Total Points per Snap Above Average. Tyler Onyedim was right behind McDonald at second in all four categories and was a menace against the run. David Bailey was relentless against the pass, finishing second in the FBS in both sacks and pressures.

Mac Harris made his presence felt all over the field, both in base stats; 5+ sacks, TFLs, and turnovers, and advanced stats; 13+ Total Points as a pass rusher, in coverage, and against the run. Rasheem Biles made up one-half of a dynamic LB duo at Pitt and finished with an astounding 43 Total Points above average, which led all FBS defenders. Jacob Rodriguez was one of the easier choices on the team as the do-it-all ‘backer had double-digit TFLs and PBUs, 7 FF, and 4 INTs.

Chris Johnson caused issues all season for quarterbacks who wanted to test him. He had more PBUs (9 passes defensed + 4 INTs) than completions allowed (12). Mansoor Delane took a massive step after transferring to LSU and also had more PBUs (10 passes defensed + 2 INTs) than completions allowed (9). AJ Haulcy punished QBs who tried to avoid Delane and snagged 3 INTs of his own, not to mention 20+ Run Defense Total Points and Coverage Total Points. The final spot goes to Caleb Downs who truly does it all for Ohio State, allowing just nine completions on the year while also making plays in the backfield.

1st Team Specialists

Tate Sandell was 23-of-24 on the season, but it was not just chip shots, as he went 8-of9 on 40-49 yard kicks and a staggering 7-of-7 on 50+ yarders, not to mention perfect on extra points. Ryan Eckley had a punting average north of 48 yards to go with 20 punts inside the 20, 10 inside the 10, and only 1 touchback.

One of the most electric players in college football, Kaden Wejen is a nightmare for opponents in the open field. He had a punt return average above 28 with 3 TDs and a kick return average above 30 yards per return with another return TD. He was simply unreal.

2nd Team Offense

The 2nd Team QB was a tough choice, but Brendan Sorsby was a major driver of the Cincinnati offense. He was responsible for over 3,300 offensive yards and 36 TDs coupled with a Top-3 FBS QB rank in both Total Points and Total Points per Snap. True freshman sensation Caleb Hawkins had nearly 1,600 scrimmage yards to go along with 26 TDs, and was second among FBS RBs in Total Points. Kewan Lacy was a major reason Ole Miss made the CFP after his 1,400-yard, 20-TD season.

Duce Robinson had over 1,000 yards receiving this season, but he also drew 8 defensive pass interference calls, which resulted in another 141 penalty yards, highlighting value not found in the box score. Jackson Harris gained 37% of his yards after the catch while forcing 13 failed tackles (10 missed tackles + 3 broken tackles), which resulted in Harris finishing first among FBS WRs in Receiving Total Points. A versatile player, Dallen Bentley was the only FBS TE this season to earn 15+ Total Points as both a receiver and as a blocker.

Dorion Strawn and Caleb Lomu bookend the offensive line after both finishing Top-3 among FBS tackles in Total Points with Strawn leading all tackles. Lomu had a 1.4% Blown Block Rate on all plays while Strawn had a 1.0% Blown Block Rate as a run blocker. On the interior, Fernando Carmona Jr., Emmanuel Pregnon, and Iapani Laloulu all were extremely reliable this season. Laloulu led the Oregon OL with a miniscule 0.6% Blown Block Rate, and his teammate Pregnon was not far behind at 1.0%. Carmona Jr. excelled as a pass blocker where he had a Blown Block rate of just 1.1%.

2nd Team Defense

Oregon’s Bear Alexander anchors the interior defensive line as one of the best run defenders in the country, ranking 3rd in Run Defense Total Points. Meanwhile, Texas Tech’s AJ Holmes Jr. finished top-5 in Total Points and top-10 in Pass Rush Total Points for defensive tackles.

Utah’s John Henry Daley was second in Total Points and first in Pass Rush Total Points among all defensive ends. He finished the season with a 19.3% Pressure Rate, which is top-5 for his position (minimum 25 Pressures). Missouri’s Zion Young also ranked in the top-5 for defensive ends for Pass Rush Total Points, which also tops the SEC. 

UTSA’s Shad Banks Jr. was elite in pass coverage this season, ranking first in Total Points among LBs with 27 Total Points, while also being tied for third nationally with 3 INTs. LSU’s versatile LB Harold Perkins Jr. also finished the season  tied for third nationally with 3 INTs as well as being the SEC leader in Total Points for the position. 

Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore headlines the secondary after finishing the season with 38 Pass Coverage Total Points, which ranks second nationally and grabbing 5 INTs as well. He is joined by Arizona State’s Keith Abney II and Tennessee’s Colton Hood, who each ranked in the top-6 in both Total Points and Pass Coverage Total Points for the position. Neither allowed a TD when targeted as the primary defender this season. 

Northwestern’s Robert Fitzgerald led all safeties in Total Points with 65 and was an elite run defender on the backend, amassing 43 Run Defense Total Points, which ranked second for the position. He is joined by Old Dominion’s Jerome Carter, who led the G5 safeties in Total Points, with 52. His 36 Pass Defense Total Points places him 6th nationally, helped by 4 INTs this season. 

2nd Team Specialists

South Carolina’s Vicari Swain had a punt return average over 15 yards and returned 3 for TDs, establishing himself as one of the most electric playmakers in the country. Hawaii’s Kansei Matsuzawa was fantastic this season finishing 25-of-26 on FG attempts, including 11of-11 over 40 yards, and was perfect on 37 extra point attempts. Tulsa punter Angus Davies led the AAC in Total Points for punters with 14. He held the second longest punt of the season at 80 yards, had a net average over 41 yards, and 21 of his 47 punts landing inside the 20 yard line without a single touchback. 

*All stats as of 12/3