Five Buckeyes players earn AP first-team All-Big Ten honors

COLUMBUS — C.J. Stroud is going to need some extra room on his shelf. The two-time Heisman Trophy finalist has been reeling in the accolades, particularly the last few weeks, and his collection got a bit bigger Wednesday morning when he was named the AP Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year by a 22-member media voting panel.

Stroud shared the award last year with Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III, who has enjoyed a successful rookie season in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022.

Stroud is also one of five unanimous AP first-team All-Big Ten selections. So is his go-to wideout, Marvin Harrison Jr. The three other unanimous picks are Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell — the AP Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year — Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski and Wisconsin linebacker Nick Herbig.

Additionally, the AP recognized Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton as the league’s Newcomer of the Year and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh as the conference’s Coach of the Year.

Along with Stroud and Harrison, three other Buckeyes players are listed as AP first-team All-Big Ten honorees: left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.

Ohio State is second with five AP first-team All-Big Ten nominees, only behind league champion Michigan, which has six.

The Buckeyes also have five AP second-team All-Big Ten selections.

Ohio State players who made AP first-team All-Big Ten team

QB C.J. Stroud

Stroud has earned a spot on the AP first-team All-Big Ten team for the second year in a row. It comes as no surprise, considering he’s a repeat Heisman Trophy finalist, and he once again swept the conference’s offensive awards. Stroud is tied for the nation lead with 37 touchdown passes this season.

WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

With star slot wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba sidelined most of this year with a hamstring injury, Harrison stepped into the WR1 role. He ran with it, piling up 12 touchdown catches and 18 contested catches, per Pro Football Focus, while posting just one drop in 108 targets. The electrifying Harrison is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award.

OT Paris Johnson Jr.

Johnson moved from right guard to left tackle this offseason, but you would have never known that he hadn’t already been starting there. Johnson has allowed just 10 pressures this year — four fewer than he conceded as an interior offensive lineman in 2021 — although he did give up his second career sack in the regular season finale against Michigan. Still, he’s done an exceptional job protecting Stroud’s blind side.

DE J.T. Tuimoloau

Tuimoloau’s breakout sophomore campaign was highlighted by his game-wrecking performance at Penn State, where he recorded six total tackles, including three TFLs; two sacks; one forced fumble; one pass break-up, which set up a Zach Harrison interception; and two interceptions of his own, the latter of which was returned for a touchdown. Tuimoloau is second on the team with 30 pressures, per PFF, and he has registered 10.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks.

LB Tommy Eichenberg

Eichenberg has more solo tackles this season (72) than he had total tackles (64) in 2021. Eichenberg is tied for third nationally in solos, and he’s fourth in the Big Ten with 12.0 TFLs. The fourth-year Cleveland native has played through two injured hands toward the end of the regular season, but his production hasn’t wavered.

Ohio State players who made AP second-team All-Big Ten

WR Emeka Egbuka

Emeka Egbuka is Ohio State’s other 1,000-yard receiver this season. Egbuka has averaged 5.5 receptions per game in 2022, good for fifth most in the Big Ten.

OT Dawand Jones

Dawand Jones has the highest PFF offensive grade (83.8) of any Buckeyes O-Lineman this season. The 6-foot-8, 350-pound Jones has allowed just eight pressures and logged an 83.8 PFF run blocking grade from the right tackle spot.

OG Donovan Jackson

Left guard Donovan Jackson has been similarly productive as a run blocker, mounting an 83.0 PFF grade in that department. He hasn’t been as effective in pass pro, though — the sophomore has allowed a team-high 11 pressures, per PFF.

OG Matthew Jones

Right guard Matthew Jones has battled injury and criticism this season, but the veteran has still put together a respectable year, relatively at least, to the tune of PFF run and pass blocking grades north of 76.

DE Zach Harrison

Harrison has forced a team-high three fumbles in 2022, the last of which was the byproduct of a game-clinching strip sack at Maryland. Harrison has an interception as well, not to mention his 30 total tackles, 6.5 TFLs and three sacks, plus a team-best 31 pressures, per PFF.