Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams, Texas running back Bijan Robinson, Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter and Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. deliver some major star power to the 2022 USA TODAY Sports All-America teams.
USC led all teams with three first-team selections: Williams, offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees and defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu. Michigan had two members of the first-team offense in running back Blake Corum and center Olusegun Oluwatimi.
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Selecting the second-team quarterback wasn’t so easy. While TCU senior Max Duggan finished second to Williams in the Heisman voting, the All-America honors went to Alabama junior Bryce Young, last year’s Heisman winner.
With 27 touchdowns and 3,007 passing yards, Young nearly carried the Crimson Tide to the playoff despite playing alongside an inexperienced receiver corps and an underperforming offensive line.
Another position that featured a debate over multiple candidates was running back. Robinson and Michigan’s Blake Corum were first-team picks and Alabama-Birmingham’s DeWayne McBride and Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn earned second-team accolades, edging out candidates such as Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim, Pittsburgh’s Israel Abanikanda and Mississippi’s Quinshon Judkins.
On defense, the most obvious choices were Carter, Anderson, Cincinnati linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. and Utah cornerback Clark Phillips III.
Among the Power Five, the Big Ten led all conferences with 15 picks, followed by the SEC with 10, the Big 12 with seven and the ACC and Pac-12 with six. The teams included two representatives from Notre Dame and six players from the Group of Five.
Six programs were tied with three picks: USC, Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama and Kansas State. In addition to Vaughn, the Wildcats had a first-team defensive lineman in Felix Anudike-Uzomah and a second-team offensive lineman in guard Cooper Beebe.
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Caleb Williams, USC
RB: Blake Corum, Michigan
RB: Bijan Robinson, Texas
WR: Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
WR: Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
TE: Brock Bowers, Georgia
OL: Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan
OL: John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota
OL: Peter Skoronski, Northwestern
OL: O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida
OL: Andrew Vorhees, USC
DEFENSE
DL: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State
DL: Jalen Carter, Georgia
DL: Tuli Tuipulotu, USC
DL: Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech
LB: Will Anderson Jr., Alabama
LB: Jack Campbell, Iowa
LB: Ivan Pace Jr., Cincinnati
CB: Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU
CB: Clark Phillips III, Utah
S: Kamren Kinchens, Miami (Fla.)
S: Chris Smith, Georgia
SPECIALISTS
K: Christopher Dunn, North Carolina State
P: Adam Korsak, Rutgers
RET: Jaylin Lucas, Indiana
ALL-PURPOSE: Will Shipley, Clemson
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Bryce Young, Alabama
RB: DeWayne McBride, Alabama-Birmingham
RB: Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State
WR: Nathaniel Dell, Houston
WR: Charlie Jones, Purdue
TE: Michael Mayer, Notre Dame
OL: Joe Alt, Notre Dame
OL: Steve Avila, TCU
OL: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
OL: Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State
OL: Jason Kirkland, Washington
DEFENSE
DL: Calijah Kancey, Pittsburgh
DL: Jose Ramirez, Eastern Michigan
DL: Jonah Tavai, San Diego State
DL: Jared Verse, Florida State
LB: Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State
LB: Jason Henderson, Old Dominion
LB: Drew Sanders, Arkansas
CB: Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State
CB: Devon Weatherspoon, Illinois
S: Sydney Brown, Illinois
S: Jammie Robinson, Florida State
SPECIALISTS
K: Jake Moody, Michigan
P: Tory Taylor, Iowa
RET: Anthony Gould, Oregon State
ALL-PURPOSE: Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama