SB Nation 2009 All Big 12 Preseason Team

by Seth C on Jul 24, 2009 6:55 AM CDT in Football Comment 18 comments

You guys aren't going to be too happy.

The Big 12 blogs of SB Nation got together to vote on the All Big 12 2009 Preseason Team and as you might guess, the team was dominated by two other schools in the Big 12 South. I'll give you a few seconds to take a guess. In any event, we were asked to only nominating players that we thought had a realistic shot of being named to the all conference team and my nominees were as follows:

RB Baron Batch
QB Taylor Potts
OL Brandon Carter
OL Marlon Winn
WR Detron Lewis
WR Edward Britton

DT Colby Whitlock
LB Brian Duncan
LB Marlon Williams
DB Jamar Wall

You can imagine that I knew that Potts really didn't have a chance to make the team, but I still felt that he's going to have all-conference-like numbers by the time it's all said and done. The rest of them I felt was fairly solid picks and could conceivably be on an all-conference team at the end of the season.

When we were asked to vote, we could not vote for the team that we cover, thus I could not vote for any Red Raiders.

Now, without further delay . . .

The SB Nation 2009 All Big 12 Preseason Team

DEFENSE	OFFENSE	SPECIAL TEAMS
CB Dominique Franks, OU	OL Russell Okung, OSU	K Alex Henery, Nebraska
CB Perrish Cox, OSU	OL Adam Ulatoski, Texas	KR Dez Bryant, OSU
DE Sergio Kindle, Texas	OL Chris Hall, Texas	P Derek Epperson, Baylor
DE Auston English, OU	OL Trent Williams, OU
DL Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska	OL Kurtis Gregory, Missouri
DL Gerald McCoy, OU	QB Sam Bradford, OU
LB Joe Pawelek, Baylor	RB Kendall Hunter, OSU
LB Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri	RB DeMarco Murray, OU
LB Travis Lewis, OU	TE Jermaine Gresham, OU
S Darrell Stuckey, Kansas	WR Dez Bryant, OSU
S Jordan Lake, Baylor	WR Jordan Shipley, Texas
	WR Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas
	FB Matt Clapp, OU

Obviously, there's a pretty heavy lean towards the Big 12 South, and I was conscious of the fact that I seemed to be voting for quite a few South players and tried to be diligent in reviewing players that it wasn't due to a possible South bias. In any event, where did my fellow SB Nation writers get it wrong, and get it right? I thought Brandon Carter deserved a first team nod and corn blight of Corn Nation did a good job of breaking down offensive lines. Also, you might be able to project Detron Lewis as a first team receiver, but right now his numbers aren't up to par with Bryant, Shipley and Briscoe.

Comments and criticisms encouraged.

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Comments

Batch is the Man

Again we see the bias, here. Wasn’t Carter an All American last year? And maybe Woods last year just overshadowed Batch(haha). Anyway, once again Tech must double down on proving themselves over again. Potts has the most talent/experience of anyone being a first year starter for Leach except maybe Symons and he holds the singel season yardage record. Anyway, Batch/Jeffers will be dynamic!!!!! We will win at least 9 games in the regular season! Wreck’ em Tech!

by techgolf44 on Jul 24, 2009 7:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Keep the list

and use it to make a point at the end of the year when several Techsters are on the only list that counts!

by Red Raider in South GA on Jul 24, 2009 7:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Brandon Carter over Curtis Gregory any day

Searching for reasons an AP All-America 2nd team award winner was denied All Big 12 preseason. As an offensive Guard, Carter is ranked higher for the NFL draft than Gregory in every board I’ve seen. Tech’s offensive line was one of the most solid in the country last year and Carter was a big part of its success. Also, not that this should be a huge factor, but Gregory has his knee scoped in the offseason.
Also, Perrish Cox may be a bit of a stretch over Jamar Wall. Tim Griffin states, “Cox showed flashes of become a steady and productive cornerback as well. And the fact he did it against the Big 12’s top receivers says something.” Are those top receivers some of the ones listed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eTgIixblV8&NR=1 and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh1isXJTuJA&feature=related (:31 spot)?

by rpowel2 on Jul 24, 2009 8:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

man, i’m going to miss watching crabtree play for TTU.

by kayakyakr on Jul 24, 2009 9:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

What hurt Carter

Was the fact we just voted “OL”, and not tackles and guards.

I think Hall, Okung, Ulatoski, and Williams are the 4 best OL in the conference if you do not factor positions. The reason why I personally voted Gregory over Carter is due to the rest of the Tech’s OL. You graduated some very good linemen in Vazquez and Reed. I have reservations so I gave the nod to Gregory. I’m not sure what the other voters did.

I do think that if we went C, OG, OG, OT, OT then Carter probably makes the list. Then there’s the tough task of choosing two of: Okung, Ulatoski, and Williams.

Clone Chronicles

by Mark Kieffer on Jul 25, 2009 2:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why would we expect anything different???

It’s just the same lack of respect that I’ve become accustomed to. If nothing else, it’s great bulletin board material for the locker room.

FIRE ’EM UP CAPTAIN LEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." Woody Hayes

by cityman on Jul 24, 2009 9:55 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

same old same old

Can’t say I am surprised by the result. After all we did beat all those guys expect OU. Maybe there is a little jealousy being expressed. And the players they honored are all great folks. However its hard to believe we don’t have one player /position deserving of an Big 12 SB Nation preseason honor? Not one? Seems to me the Raiders had B.Carter and Matt Williams overlooked in a big way. Just another pebble in the disrespect pile of stones flung by those who dislike Red Raiders. Question Seth did anyone get an honorable mention type votes like B. Duncan and then just lose out to Pawelek? Might be interesting to see how close anty Raiders got in the voting.

by centexraider on Jul 24, 2009 11:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very typical

Honestly, when do we really get any respect before a season begins? OU and UT will always be the cover story. Tech just needs to use this to their advantage and stay under the radar until we get our shot. If Tech can win either of the 2 games(OU/UT) than we will be sitting pretty provided we don’t give any of the given games away. Personally, I would much rather lose early to UT rather than late to OU. Of course I want us to win that game but a late season loss costs more.

by Raider1992 on Jul 24, 2009 10:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

outdone by Baylor

I’m sure you all have noticed that 3 Baylor players are on that list. Two of them are on defense. Is Pawelek really that much better than Brian Duncan? Ruffian better start recruiting because I don’t want Baylor to have a better defense than ours. There really is no excuse for Tech to not attract a better quality player. If Baylor can, so can we.

by CoachT on Jul 24, 2009 10:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Seems fairly accurate, personal rooting interest aside. I do think omitting Carter is a mistake, but the rest haven’t done enough to garner that kind of ranking just yet. Maybe next year…

Anyone else slightly tired of the “we get no respect” argument? We got a TON of preseason respect last year. More than we’ve ever had. Had a great year to top it off. But we lost the two main people who made that possible.

by Tech92 on Jul 24, 2009 12:51 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

+1

by TT4EVER on Jul 24, 2009 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

agreedo

Yeah I really don’t care about what the media says since the major outlets like espn have the journalistic integrity of the signature page of a high school yearbook.

I think dixon or brandon williams might have gotten a nod if not for their little surprise exits. I think swindall or lewis have a real breakout year while britton continues to be incosistent.

by CaneBreak on Jul 24, 2009 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

disagree

The only problem is no other team has repeatedly reloaded on offense like Tech has over the last few years. And the two spots that we reload the best at are WR and QB. So yea they are showing disrespect.

But, we should all be used to that by now regardless of what the media says we know our team better than most people do. That’s why it hurts more or else you and I would not be on this website talking about our team.

"56,000 screaming crazies in The Jones rockin' as it has never rocked before" - Terry Bowden

If you not having fun....then your not playing the game right.

by texastfan on Jul 24, 2009 4:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, the problem with your first paragraph is we just don’t know who will be the new go to WR…can’t name them all the all conf pre-season team ; )

And to honestly think that Potts is a better QB right now than Bradford or McCoy is, well…you get the point. Putting up absurd numbers at the QB position, as we’ve shown for a decade, does not necessarily mean you are a great QB at Tech. I mean, Leach has an eye for talent, but to me, for the QB…it’s the system. You let any decent QB launch it 40-50 times a game and they’ll all put up pretty massive numbers.

by Tech92 on Jul 24, 2009 8:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Besides, I’d rather see three or four guys make the POSTseason all-whatever teams. If we’ve learned anything, we’ve learned TTU works very well as the underdog. I say continue to leave our guys off teams, don’t rank us, and make fun of our glittery helmets. More fuel for the Leach Fire.

by Tech92 on Jul 24, 2009 12:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Taylor Potts

Although I am a Longhorn fan, I hail from Abilene, so I do want Taylor Potts to succeed (as well as Leong). I haven’t been able to keep up with him much, just reading a recent article on him on ESPN. How does he look to you guys? When I watched him in high school, I saw a big, strong guy with a good arm and decent mobility. He seems to have more of an NFL build than most of Leach’s past QB’s, but maybe I’m just being biased. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll see the same success as Harrell, but with Leach’s system, I’m sure Potts can throw for about 10 million yards.

Do you guys like how he’s running the offense? Is he quick with his reads and throws, as is important in Tech’s offense? Do you think the current receivers will help him enough or will he really rue the fact that he missed having Crabtree?

by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 24, 2009 4:48 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Potts

Although it is Pott’s first year as a starter, he may be coming in with as much knowledge of the system as anyone has. He says he has become very much at ease running the plays and is chomping at the bit wanting to get the season going. He has shown good abilities in the last couple of years and that experience can only help him to succeed at a level most prognosticators are not expecting from him. Expect a surprisingly smoother offense from the start than you might expect because of Pott’s abilities, as well as the overall improved depth of the Tech team as a whole.

Harrell is the only QB to arrive with more fanfare and he certainly backed up all the hype. There is a freshman coming in and another still in high school for another year that has committed. Both are highly rated and the QB slot looks to be in very capable hands for a long time. With the uptick in quality Tech has been able to get they are on their way to seriously contend yearly for the Big-12 South title, and the national title as well because of their talent improvement. Even with Leach’s “system” a team has to have better talent than was here for the first few years to become great. We are very close and , who knows, we may be there sooner than anyone thinks.

TTpilk

by TTpilk645 on Jul 24, 2009 7:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs