Big Ten preseason all-conference team: Athlon releases 2024 prediction

Athlon Sports has posted an immense list of their preseason All-Big Ten teams, including a first, second, third and fourth team of projected top performers in the 2024 edition of the conference.

Obviously, you’ll have your easily recognizable stars of the league and many of the top players off of the best teams — Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, etc. However, if you’re a fan of a more middle-of-the-road Big Ten team, expect to see plenty of recognition for players from your school, because the lists do a great job of highlighting playmakers off of every single squad in the conference, no matter their preseason expectation.

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So take a look below at Athlon Sports’ full preseason All-Big Ten selections:

First Team

OFFENSE

QB: Dillon Gabriel | Oregon
RB: Quinshon Judkins | Ohio State
RB: TreVeyon Henderson | Ohio State
RB: Donovan Edwards | Michigan
AP: Nicholas Singleton | Penn State
WR: Emeka Egbuka | Ohio State
WR: Tez Johnson | Oregon
WR: Evan Stewart | Oregon
TE: Colston Loveland | Michigan
C: Logan Jones | Iowa
OL: Donovan Jackson | Ohio State
OL: Ajani Cornelius | Oregon
OL: Aireontae Ersery | Minnesota
OL: Josh Conerly | Oregon

DEFENSE

DL: JT Tuimoloau | Ohio State
DL: Mason Graham | Michigan
DL: Tyleik Williams | Ohio State
DL: Jack Sawyer | Ohio State
DL: Abdul Carter | Penn State
LB: Jay Higgins | Iowa
LB: Nick Jackson | Iowa
LB: Jeffrey Bassa | Oregon
LB: Xander Mueller | Northwestern
CB: Will Johnson | Michigan
CB: Denzel Burke | Ohio State
CB: Jabbar Muhammad | Oregon
S: Dillon Thieneman | Purdue
S: Caleb Downs | Ohio State
S: Hunter Wohler | Wisconsin

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Dragan Kesich | Minnesota
P: Ryan Eckley | Michigan State
KR: Zachariah Branch | USC
PR: Zachariah Branch | USC

Well, that’s quite a bit of Oregon and Ohio State, isn’t it? The Buckeyes placed nine total players on the Athlon’s All-Big Ten First Team, five on defense and four on offense. Plus, they have two running backs on the first team with that vaunted Judkins-Henderson one-two punch.

Meanwhile, the Ducks cleaned up with the first team quarterback in Dillon Gabriel, along with two of his targets in wideouts Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart. In total, Oregon finished with five players on offense and seven total on the first team.

Second Team

OFFENSE

QB: Drew Allar | Penn State
RB: Kyle Monangai | Rutgers
RB: Jordan James | Oregon
RB: Kaytron Allen | Penn State
RB: Darius Taylor | Minnesota
WR: Daniel Jackson | Minnesota
WR: Will Pauling | Wisconsin
WR: Tai Felton | Maryland
TE: Tyler Warren | Penn State
TEL Luke Lachey | Iowa
C: Gus Hartwig | Purdue
OL: Hollin Pierce | Rutgers
OL: Josh Fryar | Ohio State
OL: Connor Colby | Iowa
OL: Josh Priebe | Michigan
OL: Riley Mahlman | Wisconsin

DEFENSE

DL: Yahya Black | Iowa
DL: Kenneth Grant | Michigan
DL: Nash Hutmacher | Nebraska
DL: Bear Alexander | USC
DL: Jordan Burch | Oregon
DL: Jah Joyner | Minnesota
LB: Jaishawn Barham | Michigan
LB: Ruben Hyppolite II | Maryland
LB: Kobe King | Penn State
LB: Mohamed Toure | Rutgers
LB: Carson Bruener | Washington
CB: Sebastian Castro | Iowa
CB: Ricardo Hallman | Wisconsin
CB: Tommi Hill | Nebraska
CB: Justin Walley | Minnesota
S: Quinn Schulte | Iowa
S: Kevin Winston | Penn State
S: Isaac Gifford | Nebraska

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Jonathan Kim | Michigan State
P: Tommy Doman | Michigan
KR: Braeden Wisloski | Maryland
PR: Tez Johnson | Oregon

Despite a ho-hum first season under center, there’s a lot of promise for Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, a talented youngster in 2023 who could take a giant leap in year two as a full-time starter. Plus, he won’t have to face both Ohio State and Michigan this season, defenses which presented major challenges a year ago.

Elsewhere, Minnesota made strong representation on Athlon’s All-Big Ten Second Team, landing a couple of playmakers on the list in Taylor and Jackson. Plus, they added another two defensive players to make it six selections through two teams. Perhaps the Gophers’ talent is flying under the radar in 2024.

Third Team

OFFENSE

QB: Will Howard | Ohio State
RB: Chez Mellusi | Wisconsin
RB: T.J. Harden | UCLA
RB: Devin Mockobee | Purdue
RB: Woody Marks | USC
WR: Kaden Prather | Maryland
WR: Zachariah Branch | USC
WR: Bryce Kirtz | Northwestern
WR: Jahmal Banks | Nebraska
WR: Donaven McCulley | Indiana
TE: Jack Velling | Michigan State
TE: Terrance Ferguson | Oregon
C: Ben Scott | Nebraska
OL: Bryce Benhart | Nebraska
OL: Sal Wormley | Penn State
OL: Emmanuel Pregnon | USC
OL: Nick Kidwell | Indiana
OL: JC Davis | Illinois

DEFENSE

DL: Jay Toia | UCLA
DL: Aaron Lewis | Rutgers
DL: Dani Dennis-Sutton | Penn State
DL: Deontae Craig | Iowa
DL: Derrick Moore | Michigan
DL: Josaiah Stewart | Michigan
LB: Seth Coleman | Illinois
LB: Cody Lindenberg | Minnesota
LB: Kydran Jenkins | Purdue
LB: Cal Haladay | Michigan State
LB: Sonny Styles | Ohio State
LB: Alphonzo Tuputala | Washington
CB: Ephesians Prysock | Washington
CB: Robert Longerbeam | Rutgers
CB: Davison Igbinosun | Ohio State
CB: Theran Johnson | Northwestern
S: Xavier Nwankpa | Iowa
S: Lathan Ransom | Ohio State
S: Tysheem Johnson | Oregon

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Jai Patel | Rutgers
P: James Evans | Indiana
KR: Nicholas Singleton | Penn State
PR: Logan Loya | UCLA

As we move from first to second to third team, the lists just keep getting longer. In fact, on the third team, there was enough players to provide all 18 of the new-era Big Ten teams at least one representative on Athlon’s All-Big Ten Third Team. So, every fanbase ought to be happy.

The big attention-grabber with this group is Ohio State quarterback Will Howard making out as what Athlon considers to be the third-best quarterback in the Big Ten. Fans in the conference may have varying viewpoints. Perhaps some could argue Howard is more accomplished at the college level than Allar on the Second Team, or others may say that better options exist on some of the other teams. But either way, the Kansas State transfer gets the nod.

Fourth Team

OFFENSE

QB: Miller Moss | USC
RB: Leshon Williams | Iowa
RB: Roman Hemby | Maryland
RB: Cam Porter | Northwestern
RB: Jonah Coleman | Washington
RB: Kaden Feagin | Illinois
WR: Pat Bryant | Illinois
WR: Jeremiah Hunter | Washington
WR: Julian Fleming | Penn State
WR: Elijah Sarratt | Indiana
WR: J.Michael Sturdivant | UCLA
TE: Thomas Fidone II | Nebraska
TE: Zach Horton | Indiana
C: Josh Kreutz | Illinois
OL: Quinn Carroll | Minnesota
OL: Myles Hinton | Michigan
OL: Josh Simmons | Ohio State
OL: Josh Carlin | UCLA
OL: Mason Richman | Iowa
OL: Jack Nelson | Wisconsin
OL: Marcus Mbow | Purdue

DEFENSE

DL: Ty Robinson | Nebraska
DL: Mikail Kamara | Indiana
DL: Jordan Phillips | Maryland
DL: Aidan Hubbard | Northwestern
DL: Danny Striggow | Minnesota
DL: Jimari Butler | Nebraska
LB: Eric Gentry | USC
LB: Aiden Fisher | Indiana
LB: Tony Rojas | Penn State
LB: Donnell Brown | Maryland
LB: Cody Simon | Ohio State
LB: Jestin Jacobs | Oregon
LB: Jordan Hall | Michigan State
DB: Jack Henderson | Minnesota
CB: Jermari Harris | Iowa
CB: A.J. Harris | Penn State
DB: Flip Dixon | Rutgers
S: Akili Arnold | USC
S: Dante Trader | Maryland
S: Miles Scott | Illinois
S: Devin Turner | Northwestern
S: Kamren Fabiculanan | Washington

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Drew Stevens | Iowa
P: Mark Crawford | Minnesota
KR: A.J. Henning | Northwestern
PR: Semaj Morgan | Michigan

Well, the fourth team was an absolute doozy. Other than the one quarterback and four specialists, Athlon got pretty liberal with their final All-Big Ten Team, featuring a 22-man fourth team defense that doubles the typical 11-man lineup.

With five safeties, seven linebackers, eight offensive linemen, five running backs and five receivers, along with an expanded list at seemingly every position except QB, every single Big Ten team was able to land numerous names across these All-Big Ten preseason teams. Just for fun: Ohio State landed 16 total All-Big Ten players per Athlon, while Oregon placed 12.