BH's Official Preseason All-Big 12 Team
It's June, so why not give a preseason All-Big 12 Team a shot?
BH's Official 2018 Preseason All-Big 12 Team
Offense
QB: Will Grier, West Virginia
RB: Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma
RB: David Montgomery, Iowa State
WR: Marquise Brown, Oklahoma
WR: Denzel Mims, Baylor
WR: Davis Sills V, West Virginia
OL: Dalton Risner, Kansas State
OL: Ben Powers, Oklahoma
OL: Bobby Evans, Oklahoma
OL: Yodny Cajuste, West Virginia
OL: Julian Good-Jones, Iowa State
Offensive MVP: Anderson
*The Big 12 boasts an absurd collection of studs at running back and wide receiver.
The conference's leading returning rusher, Justice Hill of OSU, is missing from the first team. In most years, TCU’s Darius Anderson would be a lock for the first team. WVU’s Kennedy McCoy and Alex Barnes of KSU could easily run for a thousand yards this year. Then there are explosive second-string runners Trey Sermon of OU and Sewo Olonilua of TCU.
Notable omissions at receiver include CeeDee Lamb, who might be the most talented receiver in OU history, and breakout candidate Collin Johnson of Texas.
*On the other hand, the dearth of quality tight ends and fullbacks stands out. Having one on the all-conference team didn't feel right.
*The Sooners have no shot at replicating the dynamic throwing attack we saw from them when Baker Mayfield was behind center. That could keep Hollywood Brown from putting up the numbers necessary to be a first-team pick. Of course, if OU's rushing attack forces defenses to cheat, Brown could thrive as a deep threat.
Defense
DL: Ben Banogu, TCU
DL: Daniel Wise, Kansas
DL: Charles Omenihu, Texas
LB: David Long, West Virginia
LB: Dakota Allen, Texas Tech
LB: Joe Dineen Jr., Kansas
LB: Ty Summers, TCU
DB: Kris Boyd, Texas
DB: Brandon Jones, Texas
DB: Parnell Motley, Oklahoma
DB: Duke Shelley, Kansas State
DB: Jah’Shawn Johnson, Texas Tech
Defensive MVP: Banogu
*Not surprisingly, the talent on this side of the ball in the Big 12 pales in comparison to the offense. How many of these guys will be NFL draft picks?
*The biggest story with the defensive team is the presence of two Red Raiders and two Jayhawks. You could argue that players like Dineen and Allen might be stat compilers more so than standout players, but production counts for something.
On a related note, Tech's defense could end up being the surprise of the season in the conference.
*Banogu feels like a default pick as MVP. Boyd would be my second choice at the moment.
*If someone from OU other than Motley is going to make first team, who would it be?
Kenneth Murray?
That should concern you if you're a Sooner fan.