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Author: Jacob Halleen

  • Preseason All-American Team: Safeties

    Preseason All-American Team: Safeties

    As we approach the start of the college football season we will be releasing our 2022 Preseason All-American team.  Our two safeties and two honorable mentions were selected and discussed.

    Check out our other selections in these links.

    Offense: QB RB WR TE OC OT OG

    Defense: DL Edge LB CB

    Entire series

    The safeties selected are…

    S Jordan Battle – Alabama

    S Brandon Joseph – Notre Dame

    Battle, who could’ve left for the NFL after last season, is returning to Alabama for his senior season. He is coming off a year in which he was named All-SEC First Team by both the coaches and the AP. He had 3 interceptions, 4 pass deflections, 1 touchdown and 50 tackles.

    Battle is also near the top of the SEC and the entire country in several advanced stats.

    • 29.5 Passer Rating Against (3rd in FBS)
    • -20.8 EPA (2nd)
    • 0.1 Yards Per Coverage Snap (lowest)
    • 37.6 Coverage Total Points (1st for safeties)
    • 14.1 Total Points vs the run (Top 10 for safeties)

    Joseph transferred to Notre Dame after spending the previous three seasons at Northwestern. While at Northwestern, Joseph was named to the AP First Team, AP All-Big Ten First Team, and AP Newcomer of the Year in 2020. He was also named as an All-Big Ten honorable mention by coaches in 2021.

    Joseph has been a ballhawk in the secondary the past two years. In 2020, he had 6 interceptions despite only 17 targets. In 2021, Joseph was targeted only 23 times in 376 coverage snaps but still finished with 3 interceptions and 3 pass deflections.

    His 40.8 Coverage Total Points in 2020 led the FBS among safeties and his Points Above Average was 2nd best. In 2021, he finished second in the Big Ten with 36.2 Coverage Total Points.

    Honorable Mentions

    S Jalen Catalon – Arkansas

    S JL Skinner – Boise State

    Coming off an All-SEC First Team (AP) selection, Catalan played in only 6 games in 2021 before suffering a season-ending injury. In those 6 games, he had 2 interceptions and 4 pass deflections. His 20.7 Pass Coverage Total Points in those games was 4th in the entire country among safeties.

    Skinner is returning to Boise State after his All-Mountain West 2nd Team selection in 2021. He had 2 interceptions and 6 pass deflections, with 90 combined tackles which ranked 3rd among Mountain West safeties. His 27.2 Total Points against the run in 2021 was 5th in the country at the position.

  • Preseason All-American Team: Tight Ends

    Preseason All-American Team: Tight Ends

    As we approach the start of the college football season, we will be releasing our 2022 Preseason All-American team. In this article, we’ll name our tight end and a few honorable mentions. Check out our other selections in these links.

    Offense: QB RB WR

    Defense: Edge CB

    Entire series

    TE Brock Bowers – Georgia

    Bowers returns to Georgia for his sophomore season after helping Georgia win the National Championship last year. Bowers, who won SEC Freshman of the Year and was on the All-SEC First Team in 2021, is coming off a season in which he scored 13 touchdowns, which led tight ends in FBS.

    Bowers’ 882 receiving yards were 3rd in the country, his 586 yards after the catch were tops in the FBS, and his 215 yards after first contact were good for 2nd.

    While his individual numbers jump off the page, his overall value to Georgia is even more impressive. His 46.8 EPA led all tight ends  (expected points gained/lost by a team on a play). His 19.8 Total Points was 8th in the country and 1st in the SEC among tight ends.

    Bowers was dominant as a receiver, but he also was effective as a blocker, with an 0.4% Blown Block%.

    Honorable Mentions

    TE Michael Mayer – Notre Dame

    TE Sam LaPorta – Iowa

    TE Kemore Gamble – UCF

    Mayer is coming off a season in which he had 71 receptions for 840 yards and 7 touchdowns for the Fighting Irish. He finished Top 5 in the country in receptions, yards, and yards per game, while those 7 touchdowns put him within the Top 10 among tight ends.

    Laporta’s 52 receptions and 667 receiving yards were both first among Big Ten tight ends in 2021. He averaged 47.6 yards per game which put him 2nd in the Big Ten. His 20.1 Total Points was good for 7th in the country at the position.

    Gamble is transferring to UCF for his final year. He previously played for Florida where he combined to have 39 receptions for 546 yards and 7 touchdowns the previous two seasons. Gamble has been valuable as a blocker as well, with an 0.7% Blown Block%.