Michigan kicker Jake Moody named first-team preseason All-American by Associated Press

Michigan Wolverines football has an Associated Press preseason All-American in graduate kicker Jake Moody. He was a consensus All-American last season, landing on the AP’s first team. Moody is hoping to become the Wolverines’ 24th-ever two-time first-team All-American.

A three-time All-Big Ten honoree, Moody was Michigan’s first ever Lou Groza Award winner, which is handed out to the nation’s top kicker. He could become the first-ever two-time award winner should he take home the hardware after another stellar season.

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He led the team with 125 points, the second-highest single-season total in program history and most-ever by a kicker, nailing 23 of his 25 field goal attempts with a program-record 56 extra points. He also sailed 98 kickoffs with a 62.8-yard average and 65 touchbacks.

Moody came back to Michigan for one last season to boost his NFL stock and win with the Wolverines again.

“I just wasn’t ready to leave yet,” Moody told TheWolverine.com this summer. “I love it at Michigan. The NFL is a big step, and I felt like I could increase my chances to make it to the NFL, come back and enjoy one more year of college.

“All-American, Lou Groza … those are the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. So to achieve it … it’s pretty awesome when you set goals and you achieve them. 

“But we’re not done yet. I’ve got one more season. I’ve got to try and repeat last season.”

Michigan will also face several AP preseason All-Americans this season, five of whom are from arch rival Ohio State. Here’s the list:

• First team: Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell, Iowa defensive back Riley Moss, Rutgers punter Adam Korsak.

• Second team: Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, Ohio State offensive tackle Dawand Jones

Michigan’s entire special teams unit ready to run it back

Michigan’s entire snap (senior William Wagner), hold (graduate punter Brad Robbins) and (Moody) kick ‘battery’ is back from a special teams unit that ranked No. 1 in the country last season per Football Outsiders. The same goes for the top cover men, like senior safety Caden Kolesar, who head coach Jim Harbaugh called U-M’s best special teams player.

“Don’t be surprised if he’s voted a team captain,” Harbaugh said on the In The Trenches podcast. “Tremendous leader, both on special teams and on defense.”

Moody is looking to become the first-ever two-time Lou Groza Award winner as the nation’s top place kicker after taking home the hardware last season, and Robbins is a candidate for the Ray Guy Award (best punter). Graduate walk-on Rhett Anderson was impressive as a place kicker in the spring game, and sophomore Tommy Doman provides depth at both punter and kicker.

The Maize and Blue also have several options at kick and punt returner. Junior A.J. Henning took over both roles by the end of last season, bringing back seven kicks for 177 yards and one touchdown and 29 punts for 274 yards. He earned third-team All-Big Ten honors for his special teams production.

Junior wideout Roman Wilson and junior running back Blake Corum are also capable of returning kicks. Graduate receiver Ronnie Bell has repped at the punt returner spot in fall camp. He was the main man there last season, before injuring himself on a 31-yard return in the second quarter of the season-opener against Western Michigan. 

“I’ve always been a punt returner, so I feel like I’m comfortable being a punt returner, I’m good with being a punt returner, so that’s something that I want to do,” Bell said. 

The decision was up to him, not a push from the coaches.

“I just kinda went back there,” Bell said with a smile.

The Michigan unit has high expectations as a whole, with Phil Steele projecting it to once again be the best in the land. But there hasn’t been entitlement, Harbaugh noted.

“[Coordinator Jay Harbaugh’s] got them playing lights out, and that was last year, and that doesn’t mean anything,” the head coach said. “Last year was last year — you almost throw it away. I don’t want to hear about it; this is this year. You see the same kind of fervor in the way they attack everything that they do.”