A way-too early guess at who will make the College Football Playoff this season By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer The Associated Press
It is a well-versed group of athletic directors, former coaches and players along with a sports writer, who will be armed with statistics, analytics, charts and graphs and enough highlights to start their own college football network as they settle into their work on the College Football Playoff selection committee.
In the end, though, the sport's method of determining a champion – or at least deciding who gets the right to play for the championship – comes down to a matter of opinion.
Now in its second year with an expanded bracket, 12 teams will make the playoff to close out the 2025-26 season. Five of those slots will go to conference champions. The rest will be at-large bids to be handed out by the 13-person committee.
Here’s a far-too-early prediction at where they will end up, and what the toughest choices will be before the bracket comes out on Dec. 8.
Conference champions
There’s no debate over this: The five conference champions with the best ranking from the committee will make the playoff. But in a change from last year , the top four won’t be guaranteed first-round byes.
Best guess here says these champions will be:
Southeastern: Texas, with Arch Manning, is the favorite. But Georgia wins a rematch of a Nov. 15 showdown with the Longhorns in the SEC title game that won’t have all that much riding on it, CFP-wise, since, after all, these both look like top-four teams.
Big Ten: Penn State coach James Franklin is 1-10 against Ohio State. Buckeyes have two Heisman Trophy hopefuls in Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin. Game is at the Horseshoe and Ohio State is the reigning national champion . Another Michigan upset could factor in all this, of course, but Ohio State wins the conference.
Atlantic Coast: Miami is a dark horse. Clemson has the goods and quarterback Cade Klubnik.
Big 12: Let’s assume, just because they’re a Power Four conference, that this league will produce one of the four best-ranked conference champions. But not by much. Kansas State has QB Avery Johnson returning, which could be enough to win a conference in which at least six teams, including defending champ Arizona State, have a chance.
Group of Five: If Boise State, sans Ashton Jeanty, wins at Notre Dame on Oct. 4, the Broncos are in. If not (more likely), then let’s assume Tulane takes care of business at home against both Duke and Northwestern and makes the playoff.
At-large and in charge
Texas: Longhorns split against Bulldogs with another matchup potentially in store?
Alabama: Hard to imagine the Tide losing four games again this season (or the committee overlooking any ugly number in the ‘L’ column if they do, regardless of their strong schedule.)
Oregon: QB Dante Moore chose Oregon, then UCLA, then Oregon again, and if he lives up to expectations, the Ducks could go far.
Penn State: CFP semifinalists last season, the Nittany Lions try to, once again, take advantage of the second chance the playoff offers.
Miami: QB Carson Beck came over from Georgia , but this defense will need to improve.
Notre Dame: The Irish game against better-than-expected USC on Oct. 18 will be the equivalent of a playoff play-in.
Mississippi: If only to save us from another Lane Kiffin social media barrage. But seriously, this program had one of the best transfer-portal hauls in the country. The Rebels are also getting used to winning 10 games a year and you can’t ignore that forever.
And the matchups are ...
The bye teams: No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Clemson.
The first-round matchups, on campus:
No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Alabama: This will be the conspiracy theory game. Tulane, probably ranked about 16th, will take the spot that could’ve gone to yet another SEC team. (Did you know Tulane was once in the SEC?) Meanwhile, Alabama might be good enough to be ranked fourth but the committee wanted to assert its independence by not handing byes to three SEC teams.
No. 11 Kansas State at No. 6 Oregon: The fifth, final and probably most decisive of the Big 12 vs. Big Ten matchups in 2025.
No. 10 Mississippi at No. 7 Penn State: They met in the Peach Bowl in 2023. Now, Ole Miss gets a cold welcome to the big time.
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Miami: They play a regular-season game Aug. 31. You can't ever get enough of a good thing.
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Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders sidelined with oblique injury, unlikely to play against Eagles The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cleveland rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders remained sidelined from practice Thursday with an oblique injury and it was unlikely he would play in the Browns’ preseason game against the Eagles.
Sanders sustained the injury during drills ahead of practice Wednesday. Sanders and the Browns were in Philadelphia for a pair of joint practices ahead of Saturday’s preseason game.
The Browns said Sanders is day to day.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said ahead of Thursday's practice that Sanders would be out “for a little bit” and the team wanted to be smart with his health because the former Colorado standout is “a thrower.”
“If you're a right guard, you can kind of play though that,” Stefanski said. “When it's a quarterback, you kind of need that muscle to throw.”
Sanders wasn't completely ruled out for Saturday's game. Stefanski said backup Joe Flacco won't play against the Eagles. Tyler "Snoop" Huntley and Dillon Gabriel could get the bulk of playing time. Kenny Pickett is limited with a hamstring injury.
Sanders completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards with two first-half touchdown passes to Kaden Davis in his NFL preseason debut in a win over Carolina on Friday night.
The Browns took Sanders in the fifth round of the NFL draft . He wasn’t selected until the 144th overall pick, a stunning fall for one of the most recognizable players in the draft class.
Sanders finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting last season for Colorado and threw for a school-record 4,134 yards last season.
“Injuries stink for all these guys,” Stefanski said. “They don't want to miss a rep for any reason. There's a way to continue to prepare to continue to get better even when you're not getting those reps because of injury.”
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From Red Grange to Travis Hunter, the AP All-America team has been the 'gold standard' for a century By ERIC OLSON AP College Football Writer The Associated Press
For 100 years, The Associated Press has honored the best of the best in college football with its annual All-America team.
Nearly 2,000 men — from Red Grange to Travis Hunter — have earned the distinction of AP All-American in a tradition that rivals the longest in the history of the game.
“For anyone named an AP All-America, the honor has immediate cachet,” said John Heisler, who worked in media relations at Notre Dame for 41 years and is the author of 11 books on the Irish's football history. “If anyone received multiple All-America honors, it always seemed like the AP recognition would be at the top of the list.”
Notre Dame leads all schools with 85 AP first-team picks since the news organization's All-America honors debuted in 1925. The Irish are followed by Alabama (83), Ohio State (79), Southern California (77) and Oklahoma (75).
The Southeastern Conference has had the most first-team picks with 340. The Big Ten has had 331. Independents, which anchored the sport's power structure into the 1950s, have had 309.
There have been 204 players twice named first-team All-American, including 12 three-time picks.
Malcolm Moran, who covered college football for four decades at The New York Times and other major newspapers, said the AP All-America team drove growth of the sport because it introduced football stars to pockets of the country where exposure to the game was limited to newsreels.
“The thing that connected 3,000 miles of players," said Moran, now director of the Sports Capital Journalism Program at IU Indianapolis, “was the AP All-America team.”
It still does.
“The AP All-America teams are probably the most consistent throughout the last 100 years and have been considered the measure most often used when chronicling the history of college football’s greatest players,” said Claude Felton, who retired as senior associate athletic director at Georgia last year after overseeing the Bulldogs' sports communications for 45 years.
How it began
Walter Camp, regarded as the “Father of Football,” is credited with being the first to honor the top players across the college game. Camp starred as a player at Yale and later was its coach, and he was the sport's chief rules maker and ambassador in the early days. He saw football as a means to develop manly traits necessary for success in the male-dominated corporate and industrial worlds at the turn of the 20th century, Camp biographer Julie Des Jardins said.
Camp named 11 players to his first All-America team, in 1889, and their names appeared in This Week’s Sport, a publication owned by Camp associate Caspar Whitney. Camp selected All-America teams every year until his death, in 1925. Famed sports writer Grantland Rice selected the Walter Camp teams into the 1950s, and coaches and college sports information directors have picked the teams for the Walter Camp Football Foundation since the 1960s.
What constitutes an All-American has evolved since the days of Camp, who didn’t necessarily look at the All-Americans as individual standouts. To Camp, it was more about team.
“He almost looked at them as the ones who were doing all the work under the hood,” Des Jardins said. “He really glorified the center because you could barely see what he was doing. But the center was essential. And he also was part of the machine that made the machine work better than the sum of its parts.”
By the 1920s, when a multitude of media outlets were naming All-America teams, individual performance was the main criteria. Grange, Bronko Nagurski, Davey O’Brien, Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard became synonymous with gridiron greatness in an era when sports fans relied on the nation’s sports pages and magazines to be arbiters of who was best.
The NCAA football record book lists 22 organizations that have named All-America teams, and there have been dozens of others. Most have come and gone.
The AP team
Like Camp, Alan J. Gould, the AP sports editor in the 1920s and ’30s, saw All-America teams as a way to promote the sport and create a national conversation. He unveiled the inaugural All-America team the first week of December in 1925.
Those early teams were selected by consensus of “prominent eastern coaches,” according to dispatches at the time. As it was then and remains today, the picks can be fodder for debate, the conversation around game days and postseason hopes.
In a write-up about that inaugural team, it was noted that Dartmouth coach Jess Hawley chose three of his own players — not surprising given the undefeated team's dominance that year — but one of his omissions prompted second guessing.
“Hawley honors three of his own stars, Parker, Diehl and Oberlander with places on the team but does not pick his brilliant end, Tully, who has been placed on nearly every all-star team named so far," the AP story said. No worries. George Tully got enough votes from other coaches to make the AP All-America team anyway.
The methods for selecting the AP All-America teams have varied over the years. Coaches' picks gave way to a media panel headed by the AP sports editor and made up of sports writers from the AP and newspapers across the nation. Later, the teams were picked by a small group of AP sports writers. For the past two decades, the teams have been selected by some five dozen media members who vote in the weekly AP Top 25 football poll.
“The AP was the one I that cared about -- the writers telling me that I was the player that deserved to be All-American,” 2004 All-America receiver Braylon Edwards of Michigan said. "That was the one that I was waiting for.”
Exposure for the AP All-America team was elevated when selected players were featured during a segment of entertainer Bob Hope's Christmas television special. Each player, including the likes of Earl Campbell, Billy Sims and Marcus Allen, would jog on stage. Hope would make a funny remark and then the next player would come out. The tradition lasted 24 years, until 1994.
“That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw ‘AP All-American.’ I thought of Bob Hope," Moran said.
Where the AP once was the chief purveyor of national college football news, there are now myriad outlets where fans can get their fix. But through all the changes in the media landscape, the AP All-America team has endured and continues to have the most gravitas.
“This," Moran said, “has been the gold standard.”
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Associated Press data journalist Michaela Herbst contributed from San Francisco; AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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All Time AP All-America Team List By The Associated Press The Associated Press
The Associated Press on Thursday named an all-time AP All-America team to mark the 100th anniversary of the award that began in 1925.
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE:
Wide receivers — Randy Moss, Marshall, 1997; Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh, 2003.
Tackles — Orlando Pace, Ohio State, 1995-96; Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh, 1982-83-84.
Guards — John Hannah, Alabama, 1972; Jim Parker, Ohio State, 1956.
Center — Chuck Bednarik, Penn, 1947-48.
Tight end — Brock Bowers, Georgia, 2023.
QB — Tim Tebow, Florida, 2007.
Running backs — Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988; Herschel Walker, Georgia, 1980-81-82.
Kicker — Sebastian Janikowski, Florida State, 1998-99.
All-purpose — Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska, 1972.
DEFENSE
Defensive ends — Hugh Green, Pittsburgh, 1978-79-80; Randy White, Maryland, 1974.
Defensive tackles — Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 2009; Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota, 1929.
Linebackers — Dick Butkus, Illinois, 1964; Derrick Thomas, Alabama, 1988; Chris Spielman, Ohio State, 1986-87.
Cornerbacks — Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1996-97; Deion Sanders, Florida State, 1987-88.
Safeties — Ronnie Lott, Southern California, 1980; Ed Reed, Miami, 2000-01.
Punter — Tory Taylor, Iowa, 2023.
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE:
Wide receivers — DeVonta Smith, Alabama, 2020; Desmond Howard, Michigan, 1991.
Tackles — Jonathan Ogden, UCLA, 1995; Bryant McKinnie, Miami, 2001.
Guards — Brad Budde, Southern California, 1979; John Smith, Notre Dame, 1927.
Center — Dave Rimington, Nebraska, 1981-82.
Tight end — Keith Jackson, Oklahoma, 1986-87.
QB — Vince Young, Texas, 2005.
Running backs — Archie Griffin, Ohio State, 1974-75; Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh, 1976.
Kicker — Martin Gramatica, Kansas State, 1997.
All-purpose — Tim Brown, Notre Dame, 1986-87.
DEFENSE
Defensive ends — Bubba Smith, Michigan State, 1966; Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech, 1984.
Defensive tackles — LeeRoy Selmon, Oklahoma, 1975; Warren Sapp, Miami, 1994.
Linebackers — Jerry Robinson, UCLA, 1976-77-78; Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma, 1985-86; Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina, 1980.
Cornerbacks — Champ Bailey, Georgia, 1998; Tyrann Mathieu, LSU, 2011.
Safeties — Bennie Blades, Miami, 1986-87; Al Brosky, Illinois, 1951.
Punter — Reggie Roby, Iowa, 1981.
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Voters: AP sports writers Cliff Brunt, Maura Carey, Schuyler Dixon, Josh Dubow, Stephen Hawkins, Larry Lage, Mark Long, Michael Marot, Steve Megargee, Eric Olson, Eddie Pells, Noah Trister
'It's legendary' - AP All-America honor resonates for some of college football's all-time greats By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer The Associated Press
Desmond Howard walked up a ramp in Schembechler Hall, looking at black-and-white pictures hanging on a white wall where Michigan honors its All-America football players.
The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner stopped to point out the image of two-time AP All-America receiver Anthony Carter, who starred for the program several seasons before Howard crossed the Ohio border to become a Wolverine.
Howard grinned after taking a few more steps and seeing his high-top fade hairstyle captured in a photo that cemented his legacy for the college football program with the most wins.
“You’re remembered as one of the greats, that’s for sure," Howard told the AP. “You put on the V-neck sweater with the maize block 'M,’ and you take your picture and you know that you’re in a special group.”
With the 2025 season here, the AP named an all-time All-America team to mark the 100th anniversary of the first team from the early days of the sport. Many outlets have named All-America teams over the decades, but only a few such as AP have stuck around. A number of player sspoke with AP about what the honor meant:
Hugh Green, Pittsburgh
When the three-time All-America defensive end is asked who was the most influential people in his life, he says Bob Hope .
Hope's annual Christmas specials featured AP All-Americanss from 1971 to 1994 and Green recalled the late comedian pulling him aside during commercial breaks to rave about his play in games that were not on TV.
“Kids today might take it a bit different, but we should always have a person that has his credentials do the AP All-American show every year,” Green said. “That was something very special and unique.”
Herschel Walker, Georgia
Walker won a national championship as a freshman with the Bulldogs and said he got too much credit over teammates like the offensive linemen who paved the way for his success. The three-time All-America running back is proud, though, to have shown that someone from Wrightsville, Georiga, with a population of about 3,000 people, could make it big.
“I wanted to inspire people from my little hometown — or kids from small towns around this country — to let them know you can do it too,” he said.
Anthony Carter, Michigan
The late Bo Schembechler was known for a run-heavy offense at Michigan, but that didn't stop a 155-pound freshman from becoming a big-play threat right away and eventually a two-time AP All-America.
“No one thought I would last in the Big Ten,” Carter said. “To be an All-American means a lot, coming out of Michigan because we didn't throw the ball a lot. I wouldn't have achieved what I did without a lot of great teammates.”
Orlando Pace, Ohio State
Buckeye Grove is a small patch of land with a sea of trees a few steps south of Ohio Stadium, a place where Ohio State honors its All-America football players with a buckeye tree and a plaque.
“When you get older, you kind of appreciate those things,” said Pace, a two-time All-America offensive tackle. “I have kids that go to Ohio State, and I always tell them to go by and check out my tree.”
Greg Jones, Michigan State
He played in 20 games, including the playoffs, as a rookie linebacker for the New York Giants when they won the Super Bowl in 2012. His NFL career ended after a six-game stint the next season in Jacksonville. His back-to-back All-America honors, however, still shine as accomplishments.
“It’s etched in history,” Jones said, holding one of the plaques with his All-America certificate. “Obviously, you can get cut from an NFL team, you can lose your job, but that can stay forever.”
Braylon Edwards, Michigan
The Wolverines' all-time leader in receptions, yards receiving and touchdown catches was aware two decades ago that there were a lot of college football All-America teams, but recalled one being the most coveted.
“The AP was the one I that cared about," Edwards said. "The writers telling me that I was the player that deserved to be All-American, that was the one that I was waiting for.”
James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
When the three-time All-America linebacker takes recruits on tours as an assistant coach, Buckeye Grove is always a stop on the visit.
“It’s pretty cool to kind of honor that tradition,” he said.
Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
He is the only Associated Press College Football Player of the Year to exclusively play defense, but still laments that he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. He was an AP All-America in 2009.
“The Associated Press saw something special in me that the Heisman didn’t,” Suh said. “I am all 10 toes down with The Associated Press."
Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
As the son of second-team AP All-America defensive tackle Chris Hutchinson, earning a spot on the All-America wall alongside his father was a goal for Aidan Hutchinson during his senior year four years ago.
“There’s a lot of All-American teams, but AP is different,” he said. “It’s legendary.”
Terrion Arnold, Alabama
The Crimson Tide recognizes its All-America players on a wall in their training facility, intentionally putting the displays in a room recruits visit on campus, and at various locations at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“Just walking in there and being a little kid and just thinking, one day that would be me, and then just going out there and fulfilling that dream,” Arnold said. “It's also one of those things when I take my future family to Alabama, and look at it, `Son, this is what your dad was like.'”
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100 years of AP All-America football teams: Here's who we think are the best of the best By ERIC OLSON AP College Football Writer The Associated Press
Ohio State and Pittsburgh each placed three players on The Associated Press All-Time All-America team announced Thursday as part of the news organization’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the storied honor for the top players in college football.
Since 1925, nearly 2,000 men have been named AP first-team All-Americans, one of the most prestigious honors in the sport.
The Big Ten led all conferences with seven selections, two more than the Southeastern Conference.
Of the 25 players on the first team, five won the Heisman Trophy and 21 are in the College Football Hall of Fame, two are nominated for induction in 2026 and two are not eligible because they are not yet 10 years removed from their college careers.
A panel of 12 AP sports writers who cover college football selected the all-time team. It won't be, and shouldn't be, considered definitive. There have been far more great players over the last century than spots available.
For a player to qualify, he must have been an AP first-team All-American at least once. His professional career, if any, was not to be considered. Also, a member of the all-time team could only be listed on the side of the ball where he was named first-team All-America. All-purpose players could come from any position.
Voters were cautioned against recency bias, but it is notable that only three of the first-team selections played before 1970. Of the 12 players who were three-time All-Americans, only four made the two all-time teams picked by AP.
Florida's Tim Tebow edged Texas' Vince Young (2005) for all-time first-team quarterback. Tebow won the Heisman and made the AP All-America team as a sophomore in 2007, his first year as the starter.
He led the Gators to their second national championship in three years in 2008 and narrowly missed a chance at another when the 2009 team started 13-0 but lost to Alabama in the SEC championship game. He remains the SEC career leader in rushing touchdowns and touchdowns responsible for.
Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders (1988) and Georgia's Herschel Walker (1980-81-82), both Heisman winners, are the running backs. Marshall's Randy Moss (1997) and Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald (2003) are the wide receivers.
The offensive line is made up of Ohio State's Orlando Pace (1995-96) and Pitt's Bill Fralic (1982-83-84) at tackle, Alabama's John Hannah (1972) and Ohio State's Jim Parker (1956) at guard and Penn's Chuck Bednarik (1947-48) at center. The tight end is Georgia's Brock Bowers (2023).
The all-purpose player is Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska (1972).
On defense, Pitt's Hugh Green (1978-79-80) and Maryland's Randy White (1974) are the ends and Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh (2009) and Minnesota's Bronko Nagurski (1929) are the tackles. The linebackers are Illinois' Dick Butkus (1964), Alabama's Derrick Thomas (1988) and Ohio State's Chris Spielman (1986-87).
The secondary is made up of Heisman winner Charles Woodson of Michigan (1996-97) and Florida State's Deion Sanders (1987-88) at cornerback and Southern California's Ronnie Lott (1980) and Miami's Ed Reed (2000-01) at safety.
The specialists are Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski (1998-99) and Iowa punter Tory Taylor (2023).
Many fans might say Anthony Munoz and Ray Guy, among others, are glaring omissions.
Munoz, who played at Southern California from 1976-79, is considered one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time, college or pro. He's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Alas, he was never a first-team AP All-American.
Guy, who played at Southern Mississippi from 1970-72, remains the only punter selected in the first round of an NFL draft. But punters were not included on AP All-America teams until 1981.
First team offense
Wide receivers — Randy Moss, Marshall, 1997; Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh, 2003.
Tackles — Orlando Pace, Ohio State, 1995-96; Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh, 1982-83-84.
Guards — John Hannah, Alabama, 1972; Jim Parker, Ohio State, 1956.
Center — Chuck Bednarik, Penn, 1947-48.
Tight end — Brock Bowers, Georgia, 2023.
QB — Tim Tebow, Florida, 2007.
Running backs — Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988; Herschel Walker, Georgia, 1980-81-82.
Kicker — Sebastian Janikowski, Florida State, 1998-99.
All-purpose — Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska, 1972.
First team defense
Ends — Hugh Green, Pittsburgh, 1978-79-80; Randy White, Maryland, 1974.
Tackles — Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 2009; Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota, 1929.
Linebackers — Dick Butkus, Illinois, 1964; Derrick Thomas, Alabama, 1988; Chris Spielman, Ohio State, 1986-87.
Cornerbacks — Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1996-97; Deion Sanders, Florida State, 1987-88.
Safeties — Ronnie Lott, Southern California, 1980; Ed Reed, Miami, 2000-01.
Punter — Tory Taylor, Iowa, 2023.
Second team offense
Wide receivers — DeVonta Smith, Alabama, 2020; Desmond Howard, Michigan, 1991.
Tackles — Jonathan Ogden, UCLA, 1995; Bryant McKinnie, Miami, 2001.
Guards — Brad Budde, Southern California, 1979; John Smith, Notre Dame, 1927.
Center — Dave Rimington, Nebraska, 1981-82.
Tight end — Keith Jackson, Oklahoma, 1986-87.
QB — Vince Young, Texas, 2005.
Running backs — Archie Griffin, Ohio State, 1974-75; Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh, 1976.
Kicker — Martin Gramatica, Kansas State, 1997.
All-purpose — Tim Brown, Notre Dame, 1986-87.
Second team defense
Ends — Bubba Smith, Michigan State, 1966; Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech, 1984.
Tackles — Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma, 1975; Warren Sapp, Miami, 1994.
Linebackers — Jerry Robinson, UCLA, 1976-77-78; Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma, 1985-86; Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina, 1980.
Cornerbacks — Champ Bailey, Georgia, 1998; Tyrann Mathieu, LSU, 2011.
Safeties — Bennie Blades, Miami, 1986-87; Al Brosky, Illinois, 1951.
Punter — Reggie Roby, Iowa, 1981.
First team by conference
Big Ten — 7
SEC — 5
Independent — 4
ACC — 2
Big East — 2
Big Eight — 2
Big 12 — 1
MAC — 1
Pac-10 — 1
(asterisk)Based on players’ school affiliations at the time they were in college
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Eagles' Landon Dickerson serves beers at practice while recovering from knee surgery The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Landon Dickerson played bartender and served cold ones for the Super Bowl champion Eagles with the injured offensive lineman's career temporarily on ice.
The Eagles can't wait for Dickerson to resume his day job.
Dickerson passed around beers Thursday at the end of a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns — with a brace on his right knee following meniscus surgery that will keep the three-time Pro Bowl lineman sidelined at least through the end of training camp.
Dickerson was injured at the end of Sunday's open practice at Lincoln Financial Field. There is no set timetable for his return, and Brett Toth took first-team snaps at left guard this week at practice.
Toth likely will start for the Eagles when they play their second preseason game Saturday against the Browns.
“Whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to step to the plate and give it the best I got,“ Toth said. ”Hopefully I can perform to the standard that was before me.”
Beyond that, there are no guarantees. The Eagles remain hopeful Dickerson could return for the season opener when the Eagles raise their championship banner on Sept. 4 against Dallas.
“Don’t have to name any starters or any backups at any position,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “Brett’s done a nice job and I like the depth that we have at that position and I know we have options there, but you asked about Brett, I think Brett’s doing a really good job and he’s got a lot of versatility.”
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson remained confident that Toth could handle the spot but was relieved that Dickerson wasn't necessarily expected to remain sidelined deep into the season.
“It was alarming but I'm glad we got a good-case scenario,” Johnson said. “Make no mistake, Landon's one of the, if not, the best guard in football.”
Toth, who played at Army, has had three stints with the Eagles and spent a bulk of that time on the practice squad.
“H’s a really smart individual, really good with the detail of the game,” Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said. “He understands a lot of positions, which is great to have a guy like that that can line up in multiple spots and be able to step in if something happens. So I think that’s the biggest thing he brings and I think he’s been in the system for a while.”
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Aaron Rodgers, T.J. Watt, and most other Steelers stars will skip preseason meeting with Tampa Bay The Associated Press PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin is in no rush to see Aaron Rodgers in a game situation.
The NFL's oldest player is going to sit out Pittsburgh's meeting with Tampa Bay, meaning the four-time MVP most likely won't make his official debut with the Steelers until the season opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 7.
While Tomlin declined to officially rule out Rodgers for Pittsburgh's preseason finale with Carolina on Aug. 21, the NFL's longest tenured coach has rarely made starters available for the final exhibition game.
Star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, wide receiver DK Metcalf, defensive back Jalen Ramsey and tight ends Jonnu Smith and Pat Freiermuth also will sit out for a second straight week. Linebacker Patrick Queen and defensive end Cam Heyward — who is “holding in” amid a contract dispute — also will get the day off.
“Some of those veteran guys I mentioned have been doing it for a long time and particularly at a high level,” Tomlin said. “Coupled with the fact that I’ve liked what I’ve seen from them in a practice setting, is the reason why sometimes I move that collective out of the way.”
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From quirks to legends: The evolution of AP All-America college football teams over 100 years By MICHAELA HERBST and ERIC OLSON Associated Press The Associated Press
A century of Associated Press All-America college football teams features plenty of great teams, great players and a host of of head-scratching quirks, reflecting how the game itself has evolved over 100 years.
Let's start with the most important position: quarterback.
In 1925, when the first AP All-America team was named, the quarterback position did not loom nearly as large. The forward pass had only been legal since 1906 and the required number of yards for a first down had changed from 5 to 10 yards in 1912. The notion of throwing the ball was still in its infancy.
Of the 11 men on the 1925 team, three were listed as “backs” and one as a “running back.” It's not clear why Stanford's Ernie Nevers was labeled a running back.
For the first 45 years, with two exceptions, quarterbacks were simply listed among the backs. For reasons unknown, Northwestern's Otto Graham (1943) and Michigan's Bob Timberlake (1964) were called QBs but Heisman Trophy winners Roger Staubach of Navy (1963) and Steve Spurrier of Florida (1966) were not. Quarterbacks have been specifically designated as such every year since Notre Dame's Joe Theismann in 1970.
Through 1949, the All-America team was made up of 11 players (there were 12 in 1948). A short-lived move to two-platoon football began in 1945 with players no longer required play both offense and defense. The AP began naming 22 All-Americans in 1950.
But in 1953, when one-platoon football returned, it was back to 11 All-Americans. In 1964, there were 22 men on the team even though unlimited substitution didn't return until 1965.
Position titles were kept general into the 1970s, a holdover from those one-platoon days. Backs could be running backs and quarterbacks but also linebackers and defensive backs. Linemen were just linemen. Ends were positioned at the end of the offensive line and were blockers and receivers, or they could be defensive ends.
Specialists weren't recognized until kickers and punters were first honored in 1981, and the first all-purpose player wasn't named until 1991.
Notre Dame is the leader
Since 1925, there have been 1,952 players named to the AP All-America first team. Notre Dame has had the most with 85, followed by Alabama with 83, Ohio State with 79, Southern California with 77 and Oklahoma with 75.
This year's AP All-America team will be released in December.
Where they're from
The state of Texas has produced a nation-leading 255 AP first-team All-Americans through 2024.
The Lone Star State is followed by California with 170, Ohio with 138, Florida with 133 and Pennsylvania with 111.
Houston (33) ranks as the No. 1 hometown for first-team picks followed by Dallas (30), Los Angeles (27), Chicago (26) and Miami (25).
3-time All-Americans
Twelve players earned AP All-America first-team honors three times, a truly elite group that represents fewer than 1% of the 1,949 All-Americans so far. Five played primarily offense and the other seven were on defense:
RBs Felix “Doc” Blanchard and Glenn Davis of Army, 1944-46; B Doak Walker, TCU, 1947-49; LB Richard Wood, Southern California, 1972-74; LB Jerry Robinson, UCLA, 1976-78; DB Kenny Easley, UCLA, 1978-80; DL Hugh Green, Pittsburgh, 1978-80; WR Anthony Carter, Michigan, 1980-82; RB Herschel Walker, Georgia, 1980-82; OL Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh, 1982-84; RB Marshall Faulk, San Diego State, 1991-93; LB James Laurinaitis, Ohio State, 2006-08.
Notable position leaders last 50 years
Over the past half-century (1974-2024), some notable bragging rights:
— BYU leads the nation with four AP first-team All-America quarterbacks honored a total of five times: Marc Wilson (1979), Jim McMahon (1981), Steve Young (1983) and Ty Detmer (1990-91).
— Southern California has the most AP All-America running backs with five players honored seven times: Anthony Davis (1974), Ricky Bell (1975-76), Charles White (1978-79), Marcus Allen (1981) and Reggie Bush (2005).
— Alabama has the most AP All-America linebackers with 12 players honored 14 times: Cornelius Bennett (1986), Derrick Thomas (1988), Keith McCants (1989), DeMeco Ryans (2005), Rolando McClain (2009), Dont’a Hightower (2011), Mark Barron (2011), C.J. Mosley (2012-13), Reggie Ragland (2015), Reuben Foster (2016), Will Anderson Jr. (2021-22) and Dallas Turner (2023).
— Alabama also has the most AP All-America defensive backs with 11 players honored 12 times: Tommy Wilcox (1981), Antonio Langham (1993), Kevin Jackson (1996), Javier Arenas (2009), DeMarcus “Dee” Milliner (2012), Landon Collins (2014), Minkah Fitzpatrick (2016-17), Deionte Thompson (2018), Patrick Surtain II (2020), Kool-Aid McKinstry (2023) and Terrion Arnold (2023).
— Colorado has the most All-America punters with four players honored five times: Barry Helton (1985-86), Keith English (1988), Tom Rouen (1989) and Mark Mariscal (2002).
-- UCLA has the most All-America kickers with four players honored five times: John Lee (1984-85), Bjorn Merten (1993), Justin Medlock (2006) and Ka’imi Fairbairn (2015).
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This story has been updated to correct the number of BYU All-America QBs and the total number of All-Americans from Texas.
Justin Herbert to play in his first-ever preseason game as the Chargers face the Rams By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer The Associated Press EL SEGUNDO, Calif.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Justin Herbert is set to play in a preseason game for the first time in his career when the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Rams on Saturday.
Herbert will be in for one or two series at SoFi Stadium, coach Jim Harbaugh said Thursday.
“I wanted to go out there and see the pass rush,” Herbert said. “In practice as a quarterback you don’t always get the true feeling of a pass rush so I thought it would be helpful.”
Herbert said he was supposed to play last week against the New Orleans Saints, but the plan was scuttled when Rashawn Slater's season-ending injury caused changes at the tackle positions.
Entering his sixth season in the league, the 27-year-old quarterback has yet to throw a pass in a preseason game. When he was a rookie in 2020, the preseason was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2021, Herbert was coming off a stellar rookie year and then-Chargers coach Brandon Staley didn't want to risk an injury during exhibition play. Staley maintained that approached in 2023. Last year, Herbert was in a walking boot with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot that caused him to miss nearly three weeks of training camp.
Trey Lance and Taylor Heinicke will play after Herbert. Lance threw for only 55 yards against the Saints but he ran seven times for a team-high 48 yards, including a 5-yard TD run. Lance threw for two TDs in a win over the Detroit Lions in the Hall of Fame game.
Heinicke started against the Saints and was 1 of 5 for 8 yards.
Also among the offensive starters who'll play against the Rams is wide receiver Keenan Allen. Herbert was reunited with one of his favorite targets when Allen returned to the Chargers for his second stint last week.
“He’s such a smart ballplayer. He’s able to go out there and learn a completely new offense but not miss anything,” Herbert said. “We call a route and he’s going to find a way to make it work. There’s a level of comfort throwing to him just knowing that he’s got such a great feel.”
On defense, Khalil Mack and Derwin James Jr. won't play as Harbaugh indicated they don't need the reps.
“I know they’re ready,” he said. “I remember when K Mack got traded to the Bears and didn’t practice at all and then pick-6 and a couple sacks. I know they’re good and ready to go.”
The Chargers, who are 2-0 in the preseason, canceled their joint practice with the Rams on Wednesday, citing a rash of injuries.
“We felt it was more prudent to reconfigure," Harbaugh said, "and that’s what we did.”
The Chargers have signed cornerback Harrison Hand and waived injured wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick.
Hand was on injured reserve last season with Atlanta. He has two starts in 27 career games with Minnesota and Chicago. He also spent time with the New York Giants after being a fifth-round pick of the Vikings in 2020.
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