Three Michigan standouts named All-Americans by USA Today, including one first-teamer
Michigan Wolverines football has three players who appeared on USA Today‘s All-American teams, including one on the first team in senior right guard Zak Zinter. Senior running back Blake Corum and sophomore cornerback Will Johnson landed on the second team.
Michigan is one of two Big Ten teams with three players to land on the two USA Today All-America teams, joining Iowa. Penn State had two, and Ohio State and Illinois each had one.
One of seven Big Ten players to be named first-team All-American, Zinter was also named consensus first-team All-Big Ten for the second straight season. He started 12 games before going down with a season-ending leg injury in the regular-season finale against Ohio State, a 30-24 victory.
Zinter’s 76.6 overall PFF grade ranked 16th in the country among guard with at least 330 offensive snaps. He checked in tied for 18th (75.8) in run blocking and 94th in pass protection (73.8).
The 6-6, 322-pounder appeared in 45 games with 42 starts during his four years at Michigan, helping the Wolverines win the coveted Joe Moore Award for the nation’s top offensive line in both 2021 and 2022. The Maize and Blue were named semifinalists for the honor this season, but were not among the group of four finalists.
Zinter is Michigan’s first offensive lineman to earn first-team All-America honors since Taylor Lewan in 2013.
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Corum returned for his senior season after becoming Michigan’s first unanimous All-American at running back since Bob Chappuis in 1947. He also finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting.
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The 5-8, 213-pounder’s numbers haven’t been as gaudy this season, but he’s still racked up 1,028 yards on 218 carries. He’s the only FBS player this season to score a touchdown in every game, he broke U-M’s single-season rushing touchdown record with 24 and now has 55 rushing scores for his career, also a U-M record.
Corum was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker award, handed to the nation’s top rusher, and the Comeback Player of the Year Award, after he suffered a season-ending knee injury last year. Corum was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection for the second straight season.
Johnson, meanwhile, has enjoyed a breakout season with 20 tackles, 3 interceptions and 4 pass breakups. He was named a freshman All-American by multiple outlets last season and was tabbed a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection this fall.
The 6-2, 202-pounder’s 82.5 PFF coverage grade ranks 35th in the country among cornerbacks with over 100 such snaps.
