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There's a reason Phil Steele's informally known as "The Oracle". The author of college football's most comprehensive (and usually most accurate) preseason preview magazine released his 2013 Preseason All-Big Ten teams this morning, and amongst the first team are a sextet of Ohio State football players.
Ohio State's Braxton Miller leads the way as the first team quarterback for the all-conference side. Joining him on the offense are OG Andrew Norwell and OT Jack Mewhort. On the defensive side, Ryan Shazier unsurprisingly gets top billing amongst linebackers, while Bradley Roby and Christian Bryant get recognized at cornerback and safety respectively. Other all-conference first team-ers of note are Nebraska's RB Ameer Abdullah, Michigan LT Taylor Lewan (the Wolverines' lone first teamer), and LB Chris Borland of Wisconsin.
The second team adds six additional Buckeyes to the list of honorees with RB Carlos Hyde, WR Devin Smith, and C Corey Linsley being recognized offensively. On the defensive side of things, Adolphus Washington makes the cut at DE while Steele is also apparently hopping on the "this-is-the-year-he-finally-puts-it-all-together" bandwagon and saying Curtis Grant will finish all-Big Ten second team LB. Safety Christian Bryant also makes the side, with includes Michigan kicker Brendan Gibbons (brunette chicks, man), UM WR Jeremy Gallon, and Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez as well.
The third team includes just two Buckeyes, with WR Corey "Philly" Brown and OG Marcus Hall getting honored. Brown also makes the third team a second time at punt returner. Michigan's QB Devin Gardner, DE Frank Clark, DT Quinton Washington, and LB Desmond Morgan are recognized on the third team, as is Penn State RB Zach Zwinak.
Finally, the fourth team adds DE Noah Spencer and K Drew Basil to the mix as other Buckeyes worth recognizing for their high potential. Northwestern athletic quarterback Kain Colter is the fourth team QB and one time Ohio State recruiting target Shane Wynn makes the fourth team for Indiana at wide receiver. Michigan's RB Derrick Green (a freshman), TE Devin Funchess, and S Thomas Gordon all also made the fourth team as well.
Here are the 2013 Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Ten Teams in their entirety. You can buy Steele's must have preview magazine June 18th at Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, CVS, Publix, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart exclusively.
2013 Preseason All-Big 10 Team
OFFENSE | ||||
1st TEAM | 2nd TEAM | 3rd TEAM | 4th TEAM | |
QB | Braxton Miller, Ohio St | Taylor Martinez, Nebraska | Devin Gardner, Michigan | Kain Colter, Northwestern |
RB | Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska | Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin | James White, Wisconsin | Mark Weisman, Iowa |
RB | Venric Mark, Northwestern | Carlos Hyde, Ohio St | Zach Zwinak, Penn St | Derrick Green, Michigan |
WR | Allen Robinson, Penn St | Jeremy Gallon, Michigan | Kofi Hughes, Indiana | Quincy Enunwa, Nebraska |
WR | Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin | Devin Smith, Ohio St | Aaron Burbridge, Michigan St | Shane Wynn, Indiana |
WR | Kenny Bell, Nebraska | Cody Latimer, Indiana | Corey Brown, Ohio St | (TE) Ted Bolser, Indiana |
TE | Jacob Pedersen, Wisconsin | CJ Fiedorowicz, Iowa | Kyle Carter, Penn St | Devin Funchess, Michigan |
C | Brandon Vitabile, Northwestern | Corey Linsley, Ohio St | Travis Jackson, Michigan St | Austin Blythe, Iowa |
OG | Spencer Long, Nebraska | John Urschel, Penn St | Marcus Hall, Ohio St | Dan Feeney, Indiana |
OG | Andrew Norwell, Ohio St | Kyle Costigan, Wisconsin | Jack Allen, Michigan St | Zac Epping, Minnesota |
OT | Taylor Lewan, Michigan | Jeremiah Sirles, Nebraska | Ryan Groy, Wisconsin | Fou Fonoti, Michigan St |
OT | Jack Mewhort, Ohio St | Rob Havenstein, Wisconsin | Brandon Scherff, Iowa | Michael Schofield, Michigan |
DEFENSE | ||||
1st TEAM | 2nd TEAM | 3rd TEAM | 4th TEAM | |
DE | Marcus Rush, Michigan St | Adolphus Washington, OSU | Frank Clark, Michigan | Ethan Hemer, Wisconsin |
DT | Bruce Gaston, Purdue | Beau Allen, Wisconsin | DaQuan Jones, Penn St | Lawrence Thomas, Mich St |
DT | Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota | Carl Davis, Iowa | Quinton Washington, Michigan | Austin Johnson, Penn St |
DE | Tyler Scott, Northwestern | Deion Barnes, Penn St | Jason Ankrah, Nebraska | Noah Spence, Ohio St |
LB | Ryan Shazier, Ohio St | Glenn Carson, Penn St | Chi Chi Ariguzo, Northwestern | Christian Kirksey, Iowa |
LB | Max Bullough, Michigan St | James Morris, Iowa | Mike Hull, Penn St | Ethan Armstrong, Wisconsin |
LB | Chris Borland, Wisconsin | Denicos Allen, Michigan St | Desmond Morgan, Michigan | Mason Monheim, Illinois |
LB | Jonathan Brown, Illinois | Curtis Grant, Ohio St | Anthony Hitchens, Iowa | Damien Proby, Northwestern |
CB | Bradley Roby, Ohio St | Ciante Evans, Nebraska | Nick VanHoose, Northwestern | Andrew Green, Nebraska |
CB | Darqueze Dennard, Michigan St | Ricardo Allen, Purdue | Adrian Amos, Penn St | Derrick Wells, Minnesota |
S | Isaiah Lewis, Michigan St | CJ Barnett, Ohio St | Greg Heban, Indiana | Malcolm Willis, Penn St |
S | Christian Bryant, Ohio St | Ibraheim Campbell, NW | Dezmen Southward, Wisc | Thomas Gordon, Michigan |
SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
1st TEAM | 2nd TEAM | 3rd TEAM | 4th TEAM | |
K | Jeff Budzien, Northwestern | Brendan Gibbons, Michigan | Mike Meyer, Iowa | Drew Basil, Ohio St |
P | Mike Sadler, Michigan St | Justin DuVernois, Illinois | Drew Meyer, Wisconsin | Cody Webster, Purdue |
KR | Jordan Cotton, Iowa | Dennis Norfleet, Michigan | Tevin Coleman, Indiana | Akeem Hunt, Purdue |
PR | Venric Mark, Northwestern | Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska | Corey Brown (WR), Ohio St |
Jesse Della Valle, Penn St |