Jordy Nelson:All-American (KU 2, MU 2)
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3150439

Tebow, McFadden, Smith on AP All-American first team



NEW YORK --
AP All-American First Team


OFFENSE
QB: Tim Tebow, sophomore, 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Florida.
RB: Darren McFadden, junior, 6-2, 215, Arkansas; Kevin Smith, junior, 6-1, 211, Central Florida.
WR: Michael Crabtree, freshman, 6-3, 208, Texas Tech; Jordy Nelson, senior, 6-2, 213, Kansas State.
OT: Jake Long, senior, 6-7, 313, Michigan; Anthony Collins, junior, 6-5, 320, Kansas.
G: Duke Robinson, junior, 6-5, 330, Oklahoma; Martin O'Donnell, senior, 6-5, 305, Illinois.
C: Steve Justice, senior, 6-4, 284, Wake Forest.
TE: Martin Rucker, senior, 6-6, 255, Missouri.
All-purpose: Jeremy Maclin, freshman, 6-1, 185, Missouri.
K: Thomas Weber, freshman, 6-1, 202, Arizona State.

DEFENSE
DE: Chris Long, senior, 6-4, 280, Virginia; George Selvie, sophomore, 6-4, 242, South Florida.
DT: Glenn Dorsey, senior, 6-2, 303, LSU; Sedrick Ellis, senior, 6-2, 305, Southern California.
LB: Dan Connor, senior, 6-3, 233, Penn State; James Laurinaitis, junior, 6-3, 240, Ohio State; Jordan Dizon, senior, 6-0, 220, Colorado.
CB: Aqib Talib, junior, 6-2, 195, Kansas; Antoine Cason, senior, 6-0, 185, Arizona.
S: Craig Steltz, senior, 6-2, 209, LSU; Jamie Silva, senior, 5-11, 210, Boston College.
P: Kevin Huber, junior, 6-1, 210, Cincinnati.



When it comes to being an All-American, Darren McFadden doesn't have to settle for second.

The Arkansas running back and two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up was one of four players voted to The Associated Press All-American team for the second consecutive season.

Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis were the other two-time first-team AP All-Americans on the team released Tuesday.

Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow joins McFadden in the backfield along with Central Florida's Kevin Smith, who leads the nation with 2,448 yards and 30 touchdowns. Smith is the first All-American from UCF, which began playing major college football in 1996.

Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, who finished fourth in the Heisman voting, was voted to the second team. Hawaii's Colt Brennan, third in the Heisman voting, was the third-team quarterback.

McFadden set school records with 1,725 yards rushing and 2,172 all-purpose yards, breaking the marks he set last year. He scored 16 touchdowns and threw four TD passes, working as a quarterback out of Arkansas' shotgun Wild Hog formation.

The junior has said he'll decide whether to return to school for his senior season after the AT&T Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1 against Daniel and Missouri, though he may have given a hint as to which was he was leaning after the Heisman ceremony when he said, "I think my quarterbacking days are about to come to a halt."

Kansas State receiver Jordy Nelson went from walk-on to All-American.

Nelson didn't get a scholarship after playing at Riley County High School, 20 miles from Kansas State's Manhattan campus. He redshirted in 2003 and was a defensive back in 2004, again not seeing any game time.

He moved to receiver in 2005 and started all 11 games, catching 45 passes for 669 yards. In 2006, he battled injuries and caught 39 passes for 547 yards.

This season, Nelson became a star. He ranked second in the country in both receptions (122) and receiving yards (1,606) behind fellow All-American Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech.

Crabtree set NCAA freshman records with 125 receptions for 1,861 yards and 21 touchdowns. Fellow redshirt freshmen Jeremy Maclin from Missouri (all-purpose player) and Arizona State kicker Thomas Weber also made the first team.

The last freshman to be an AP All-American was Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson in 2004.

Crabtree was also one of four players unanimously selected to the first team by a panel of 12 media members, along with McFadden, Dorsey and Southern California defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.

Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman on Saturday night. He was the second-rated passer in the country, led the Gators in rushing and became the first major college player with at least 20 rushing touchdowns and at least 20 TD passes in the same season.

Missouri's Martin Rucker, who led the nation's tight ends with 81 catches, gave the Tigers two All-Americans.

Long was joined on the offensive line by Kansas tackle Anthony Collins, guards Duke Robinson of Oklahoma and Martin O'Donnell of Illinois and Wake Forest center Steve Justice.

On the defensive line with Dorsey and Ellis were ends Chris Long from Virginia and George Selvie of South Florida.

Penn State's Dan Connor, Colorado's Jordan Dizon and Laurinaitis were the linebackers. They were also the three finalists for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker. Laurinaitis won the award.

In the secondary, the cornerbacks were Aqib Talib from Kansas and Antoine Cason from Arizona. The safeties were Jamie Silva from Boston College and Craig Steltz from LSU, each with six interceptions.

Cincinnati's Kevin Huber was the punter. He led the nation with a 46.9-yard average.

The Big 12 had eight players selected to the first team, leading all conferences. The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference were second with four All-Americans each.

I'd take Curtis Lofton over any LB on that list right now.

Martin Odonnel is a stud. Man he would look good in Red

2nd and 3rd teams:

SECOND TEAM

Offense

Quarterback — Chase Daniel, junior, Missouri.

Running backs — Ray Rice, junior, Rutgers; Mike Hart, senior, Michigan.

Wide receivers — Mario Manningham, junior, Michigan; Harry Douglas, senior, Louisville.

Tackles — Ryan Clady, junior, Boise State; Sam Baker, senior, Southern California.

Guards — Robert Felton, senior, Arkansas; Anthony Parker, junior, Tennessee.

Center — Jonathan Luigs, junior, Arkansas.

Tight end — Fred Davis, senior, Southern California.

All-purpose player — Felix Jones, junior, Arkansas.

Kicker — Austin Starr, junior, Indiana.

Defense

Ends — Vernon Gholston, junior, Ohio State; Lawrence Jackson, senior, Southern California.

Tackles — Terrill Byrd, junior, Cincinnati; James McClinton, senior, Kansas.

Linebackers — J Leman, senior, Illinois; Curtis Lofton, junior, Oklahoma; Ali Highsmith, senior, LSU.

Cornerbacks — Brandon Flowers, junior, Virginia Tech; Malcolm Jenkins, junior, Ohio State.

Safeties — Patrick Chung, junior, Oregon; William Moore, junior, Missouri.

Punter — Durant Brooks, senior, Georgia Tech.

___

THIRD TEAM

Offense

Quarterback — Colt Brennan, senior, Hawaii.

Running backs — Matt Forte, sophomore, Tulane; Jonathan Stewart, junior, Oregon.

Wide receivers — James Hardy, junior, Indiana; Davone Bess, junior, Hawaii.

Tackles — Kirk Barton, senior, Ohio State; Ryan Stanchek, junior, West Virginia.

Guards — Andrew Crummey, senior, Maryland; Branden Albert, junior, Virginia.

Center — Adam Spieker, senior, Missouri.

Tight end — Travis Beckum, junior, Wisconsin.

All-purpose players — DeSean Jackson, junior, California.

Kicker — John Sullivan, senior, New Mexico.

Defense

Ends — Nick Reed, junior, Oregon; Greg Middleton, sophomore, Indiana.

Tackles — Vance Walker, junior, Georgia Tech; Frank Okam, senior, Texas.

Linebackers — Xavier Adibi, senior, Virginia Tech; Ben Moffitt, senior, South Florida; Scott McKillop, junior, Pittsburgh.

Cornerbacks — Alphonso Smith, junior, Wake Forest; Michael Jenkins, junior, South Florida.

Safeties — Kenny Phillips, junior, Miami; Taylor Mays, sophomore, Southern California.

Punter — Brett Kern, senior, Toledo.

:spock:
Dizon is the best LB in the Big XII, without question.

No. The best at racking up tackles 5 yards past the line of scrimmage? Yes.

The AP snubbed Andre Smith , the sophomore man-child of a left tackle from Alabama.

He was snubbed so bad that he didn't even make the second or 3rd teams. :rolleyes:

He did make the first team All-SEC squad. It's too bad you don't watch the elite because your college football world revolves around the inferior Big XII.

Too bad this isn't an SEC award, it's a National award.
And the Big 12 is so inferior that they doubled the number of first team All-Americans as the all mighty SEC.

And it seems that wasn't good enough for All American.

Big 12 has 8 on 1st team...next closest conf has 4.

It's subjective because the writers that vote for this honor don't watch 20-25 games that would be needed to make an expert opinion. And they definitely don't see all the action in the mid-majors, i.e. the Sun Belt, MAC, C-USA, M-West, WAC.

There wasn't a sophomore listed among the offensive linemen on the AP All-American squads so that isn't an indictment on Andre Smith. That's fine, my boy Andre will enter next fall as a Preseason All-American, make the 1st team AP squad and possibly take home the Outland Trophy, before being a first round draft pick in the 2009 draft.

Oh Orangecameltoe got owned.

Maybe you can make a "crystal ball\hopes and dreams" thread or something?

This thread is for discussing All Americans. Thanks.