13 Buckeyes appear on Athlon preseason All-Big Ten team

Season awards won’t be handed out in the Big Ten for another seven-or-so months –– you know, once the season actually takes place –– but that won’t stop us from having fun with a bit of preseason speculation.

Athlon Sports engaged in a healthy helping of that this month with its preseason 2021 Big Ten All-Conference Team, which not-too-surprsingly featured more Ohio State players than any other program in the Big Ten.

The Athlon list doesn’t exactly abide by every parameter set up in the official Big Ten coach and media-voted balloting system, with the addition of a fourth team as well as an all-purpose player listed on offense, but nevertheless, we’re sorting through every Buckeye that found their name on this set of preseason predictions.

ALSO: A look at the over/under win totals set for Ohio State and others in ‘21

There may not be a Buckeye represented at the quarterback position on Athlon’s all-conference first team, a sight that many had come accustomed to seeing given the level of play under center for the Buckeyes over the past several years, but a couple of Ohio State players did made the list at other skill positions.

Athlon gave Indiana’s Michael Penix Jr. the nod as first-team QB and Iowa and Minnesota’s Tyler Godson and Mohamed Ibrahim the first-team distinctions at running back, but joining them from the Ohio State roster are Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, taking both wide receiver slots next to Penn State’s Jahan Dotson as the all-purpose player.

The inclusion of Olave and WIlson comes as no surprise, and nor do the other two Buckeyes that made the first-team offense, with starting left and right tackles Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere appearing in two of the five offensive line slots.

The Buckeyes had half as many defensive players given a first-team distinction as they did on the offensive side, and both came from Larry Johnson’s vaunted defensive line.

Returning after an All-America campaign a year ago, fifth-year senior DT Haskell Garrett was named first-team all-defense on Athlon’s list, and so too was junior defensive end Zach Harrison, who many expect to see a breakout season from in 2021.

Despite the lack of experience at quarterback for the Buckeyes entering this season, Athlon showed plenty of confidence in one of the three Ohio State players vying for the vacant starting job, naming redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud the all-conference second-team quarterback.

Joining Stroud on the second-team offense was fourth-year Buckeye running back Master Teague, who held down the starting post for Ohio State most of last year before Trey Sermon went on a historic stretch late in the season. Teague didn’t play in April’s spring game, but he is by far the most tenured and experienced player in Tony Alford’s running back room entering 2021.

A third member of Johnson’s defensive line made Athlon’s all-conference team in fourth-year DE and Cleveland native Tyreke Smith, who began putting it all together toward the end of the 2020 year before missing the national championship game with COVID-19.

The only member of Matt Barnes and Kerry Coombs’ Ohio State secondary to make an all-conference team, senior cornerback and early favorite for potential first-round 2022 NFL Draft status Sevyn Banks was one of four second-team DBs, joining fellow cornerback Matt Hankins from Iowa, as well as the Hawkeyes’ Jack Koerner and Maryland’s Nick Cross at safety.

The third-team offense, headed by veteran Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan, saw just one Buckeye among the group, with none coming in the way of skill positions.

Harry Miller, the highly-touted 2019 recruit that’s entering his third season with the Buckeyes, was listed among the four offensive line slots in Athlon’s third slate of all-conference performers.

Miller, who began his Buckeye career backing up Josh Myers at center, started most of last season at left guard for Ohio State, and while he appears to be contention to start at either spot for the Buckeyes in 2021, Athlon did not slot him in at center here.

No members of the Buckeye defense cracked Athlon’s third-team squad.

In what may otherwise have seemed a criminal omission, Ohio State senior tight end Jeremy Ruckert claimed the final tight end spot among Athlon’s four all-conference teams.

The previous three selections at the position included Wisconsin’s Jake Ferguson on the first team, Indiana veteran Peyton Hendershot on the second team, and Iowa’s Sam LaPorta getting the nod with the third group.

FInally, the lone Buckeye linebacker to make a list, and just the second member of Ohio State’s back seven, former five-star 2018 recruit Teradja Mitchell was the final Silver Bullet to receive a selection.

As mentioned before, Ohio State had the highest number of selections among the group, but Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana and Penn State were not far behind, with 11, 11, 10 and 10 members of their respective rosters landing on one of the four Athlon all-conference teams as well.