Five Alabama players were named to the Associated Press 2018 preseason All-America teams. Two offensive linemen made the first team in junior left tackle Jonah Williams and redshirt senior center Ross Pierschbacher, while senior running back Damien Harris, junior defensive end Raekwon Davis and junior inside linebacker Mack Wilson were on the second team. Earlier on Tuesday, Williams and Pierschbacher were named to ESPN’s preseason All-America team. The Crimson Tide’s five picks tied with Wisconsin for the most by one school on this year’s preseason AP All-America teams. Clemson and Stanford were next with four apiece, while Washington and Notre Dame each had three players chosen. The Southeastern Conference led all leagues with 13 players honored. The Pac-12 was second with 12. Last season, Williams finished with 22 knockdown blocks and an average grade of 86.7 percent in 14 games, per UA Athletics, after making the move from right to left tackle between his true freshman and sophomore seasons. He surrendered just 2.5 sacks and eight pressures in 831 offensive snaps while committing just two mental errors and only missing 10 assignments. Coming off a first-team All-SEC season at left guard, Pierschbacher played 762 snaps last year and is the 10th-best returning player for the 2018 Crimson Tide team, in terms of season-long Pro Football Focus grades at 77.6. Pierschbacher, a four-year starter, made the move to center, where he will play in 2018 and has been recognized all preseason, during the spring. The Tide’s top rusher for a second consecutive season, Harris finished with 1,000 yards on only 135 carries, after tallying a team-high 1,037 yards in 2016. He collected three 100-yard rushing performances as a junior and averaged 7.4 yards per rush with a team-high 11 touchdowns. He also added 12 receptions for 91 yards in the passing game, while his yards per carry average ranked second all-time in Alabama history for a single season by backs with at least 100 carries. Davis ranked third on the team with 69 tackles, 10 of which went for a loss to rank second on the Tide defense in that category. He also contributed a team-high 8.5 sacks to finish fifth in the SEC. A first-team All-SEC selection by the league coaches, he added a pair of quarterback hurries, recovered one fumble and picked off his first career pass in his sophomore campaign. Last season, Wilson suffered a foot injury against LSU that kept him out of two games but still managed to see time in 12 contests with two starts. He led the team with four interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and finished fifth in the SEC in picks. Wilson totaled 40 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups last year. Williams, Davis and Wilson (along with sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa) were also named to Sporting News' preseason All-America teams. The AP and Sporting News are two of the five outlets that determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans each year. AP’s 2018 Preseason All-America First Team OFFENSE Quarterback -- Will Grier, West Virginia Running backs -- Bryce Love, Stanford; Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin Tackles -- Jonah Williams, Alabama; Mitch Hyatt, Clemson Guards -- Beau Benzschawel, Wisconsin; Nate Herbig, Stanford Center -- Ross Pierschbacher, Alabama Tight end -- Noah Fant, junior, Iowa Receivers -- A.J. Brown, Ole Miss; David Sills V, West Virginia All-purpose player -- Myles Gaskin, Washington Kicker -- Matt Gay, Utah DEFENSE Ends -- Nick Bosa, Ohio State; Clelin Ferrell, Clemson Tackles -- Ed Oliver, junior, Houston; Christian Wilkins, Senior, Clemson Linebackers -- Devin White, LSU; Devin Bush, Michigan; T.J. Edwards, Wisconsin Cornerbacks -- Greedy Williams, LSU; Deandre Baker, Georgia Safeties -- Jaquan Johnson, Miami; Taylor Rapp, Washington Punter -- Mitch Wishnowsky, Utah To see all of AP’s 2018 preseason All-America team, including the second team, CLICK HERE. Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter). *** Don't miss a VIP update with our FREE trial of BamaOnLine. Sign up HERE ***<doc-sep>Michael Conroy/Associated Press The Associated Press released its preseason All-America team on Tuesday, with West Virginia quarterback Will Grier, Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa, Stanford running back Bryce Love and all-purpose Washington standout Myles Gaskin highlighting the first-team list. Clemson led the way with three first-team selections: offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt, defensive end Clelin Ferrell and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was a second-team selection. Grier is looking to build upon a strong 2017 season that saw him throw for 3,490 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 64.4 percent of his passes. If he can build upon that success, he'll be in the Heisman conversation. Both first-team running backs—Love and Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor—are likely to be in that conversation as well. All Love did last year was run for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns, while Taylor managed 1,977 yards on the ground and 13 scores. Bosa, meanwhile, is already in the conversation as next year's top overall pick in the NFL draft. He was dominant in 2017, registering nine sacks and 15 tackles for loss. And Gaskin did a little bit of everything for Washington, registering 1,612 yards from scrimmage and 24 total touchdowns. As for the rest of the selections, the full All-America selections are as follows: Video Play Button Videos you might like First-Team Offense Quarterback: Will Grier, senior, West Virginia. Running backs: Bryce Love, senior, Stanford; Jonathan Taylor, sophomore, Wisconsin. Tackles: Jonah Williams, junior, Alabama; Mitch Hyatt, senior, Clemson. Guards: Beau Benzschawel, senior, Wisconsin; Nate Herbig, junior, Stanford. Center: Ross Pierschbacher, senior, Alabama. Tight end: Noah Fant, junior, Iowa. Receivers: A.J. Brown, junior, Mississippi; David Sills V, senior, West Virginia. All-purpose player: Myles Gaskin, senior, Washington. Kicker: Matt Gay, senior, Utah. First-Team Defense Ends: Nick Bosa, junior, Ohio State; Clelin Ferrell, junior, Clemson. Tackles: Ed Oliver, junior, Houston; Christian Wilkins, Senior, Clemson. Linebackers: Devin White, junior, LSU; Devin Bush, junior, Michigan; T.J. Edwards, senior, Wisconsin. Cornerbacks: Greedy Williams, sophomore, LSU; Deandre Baker, senior, Georgia. Safeties: Jaquan Johnson, senior, Miami; Taylor Rapp, junior, Washington. Punter: Mitch Wishnowsky, senior, Utah. Second-Team Offense Quarterback: Trace McSorley, senior, Penn State. Running backs: A.J. Dillon, sophomore, Boston College; Damien Harris, junior, Alabama. Tackles: David Edwards, junior, Wisconsin; Greg Little, junior, Mississippi. Guards: Alex Bars, senior, Notre Dame; Michael Dieter, senior, Wisconsin. Center: Sam Mustipher, senior, Notre Dame. Tight end: Kaden Smith, junior, Stanford. Receivers: K'Neal Harry, junior, Arizona State; Anthony Johnson, senior, Buffalo. All-purpose player: Deebo Samuel. senior, South Carolina. Kicker: Rodrigo Blankenship, junior, Georgia. Second-Team Defense Ends: Rashan Gary, junior, Michigan; Raekwon Davis, junior, Alabama. Tackles: Dexter Lawrence, junior, Clemson; Jeffrey Simmons, junior, Mississippi State. Linebackers: Cameron Smith, senior, Southern California; Troy Dye, junior, Oregon; Mack Wilson, sophomore, Alabama. Cornerbacks: Byron Murphy, sophomore, Washington; Julian Love, junior, Notre Dame. Safeties: Lukas Dennis, senior, Boston College; Andrew Wingard, senior, Wyoming. Punter: Jake Bailey, senior, Stanford.<doc-sep>
It's that time of year, folks. Last week, CBS Sports released its Preseason All-America Team with Stanford running back Bryce Love, West Virginia quarterback Will Grier and Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver highlighting the first-team selections. Voters for the AP Preseason All-America Team apparently felt the same way. Grier, along with his wide receiver David Sills V, were named first-team selections. Love and Wisconsin running back Jonatahan Taylor were the AP's first-team running backs. Oliver was joined by a pair of Clemson's defensive linemen -- Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins -- and Ohio State's Nick Bosa for the first-team defensive line. In all, Clemson and Wisconsin led the way with three first-team picks with Alabama, LSU, Stanford, Utah, Washington and West Virginia each notching two picks. Highlighting the second team was Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley, Michigan defensive lineman Rashan Gary and another Clemson defensive lineman, Dexter Lawrence. The SEC leads all conferences with 13 selections between the two teams with the Pac-12 (12) and Big Ten (10) coming in second and third. The ACC had seven selections and the Big 12 had two. Notre Dame had three second-team selections. Oliver was the lone AAC selection. The full AP All-America teams can bee viewed below. Preseason AP All-America First Team Offense Quarterback -- Will Grier, senior, West Virginia. Running backs -- Bryce Love, senior, Stanford; Jonathan Taylor, sophomore, Wisconsin. Tackles -- Jonah Williams, junior, Alabama; Mitch Hyatt, senior, Clemson. Guards -- Beau Benzschawel, senior, Wisconsin; Nate Herbig, junior, Stanford. Center -- Ross Pierschbacher, senior, Alabama. Tight end -- Noah Fant, junior, Iowa. Receivers -- A.J. Brown, junior, Mississippi; David Sills V, senior, West Virginia. All-purpose player -- Myles Gaskin, senior, Washington. Kicker -- Matt Gay, senior, Utah. Defense Ends -- Nick Bosa, junior, Ohio State; Clelin Ferrell, junior, Clemson. Tackles -- Ed Oliver, junior, Houston; Christian Wilkins, Senior, Clemson. Linebackers -- Devin White, junior, LSU; Devin Bush, junior, Michigan; T.J. Edwards, senior, Wisconsin. Cornerbacks -- Greedy Williams, sophomore, LSU; Deandre Baker, senior, Georgia. Safeties -- Jaquan Johnson, senior, Miami; Taylor Rapp, junior, Washington. Punter -- Mitch Wishnowsky, senior, Utah. Preseason AP All-America Second Team Offense Quarterback -- Trace McSorley, senior, Penn State. Running backs -- A.J. Dillon, sophomore, Boston College; Damien Harris, junior, Alabama. Tackles -- David Edwards, junior, Wisconsin; Greg Little, junior, Mississippi. Guards -- Alex Bars, senior, Notre Dame; Michael Dieter, senior, Wisconsin. Center -- Sam Mustipher, senior, Notre Dame. Tight end -- Kaden Smith, junior, Stanford. Receivers -- N'Keal Harry, junior, Arizona State; Anthony Johnson, senior, Buffalo. All-purpose player -- Deebo Samuel. senior, South Carolina. Kicker -- Rodrigo Blankenship, junior, Georgia. Defense Ends -- Rashan Gary, junior, Michigan; Raekwon Davis, junior, Alabama. Tackles -- Dexter Lawrence, junior, Clemson; Jeffrey Simmons, junior, Mississippi State. Linebackers -- Cameron Smith, senior, Southern California; Troy Dye, junior, Oregon; Mack Wilson, sophomore, Alabama. Cornerbacks -- Byron Murphy, sophomore, Washington; Julian Love, junior, Notre Dame. Safeties -- Lukas Dennis, senior, Boston College; Andrew Wingard, senior, Wyoming. Punter -- Jake Bailey, senior, Stanford.