Subscribe
Follow Us
The 2024 AP preseason All-American teams were announced on Monday afternoon, and as is the case with any list or collection of talent that is assembled in this manner, there are no shortage of avenues that one could take in order to nitpick each and every one of the choices, or to identify the ever-popular snubbed star who should've made the team, but didn't. For example:
Someone could point to Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and say, “Look, this kid is the most talented quarterback in the country and by next April, he might be a lock to be the 1st overall pick in the NFL Draft.” Frankly, there's not much I could say to that. Sanders may be the most talented quarterback in the country. He may also end up being the 1st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Am I skeptical of both of those possibilities? Tremendously, but I'm even more skeptical about the idea of putting a quarterback who will likely end the season with a losing record on a list of the most notable snubs from a preseason All-American team.
And there lies the issue with an exercise like this one. What we're looking at right now is purely speculation of what's to come, and that makes reaching a consensus nearly impossible because there are so many different possible outcomes for this season. Even by the end of the season, when all of the games have been played, there will be just as much hand-wringing over that decision because how people interpreted the season also varies.
So with that said, here are six players — seven if you want to include Shedeur — who I believe, A) Have a case at making the preseason All-American team, and B) Based on how the 2024 season could go, could have a case at season's end.
Jalen Milroe (Quarterback, Alabama)
2023 stats: 187-284, 2,834 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 531 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns
Milroe and Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II were the only two players who finished in the top ten of the Heisman Trophy voting last year who returned to college football in 2024. Gordon is rightfully a preseason 1st Team All-American after leading the country in rushing yards and finishing second in rushing touchdowns last year. If Oklahoma State wins the Big 12 and makes the College Football Playoff, it will likely be because Gordon had one of the best years a Cowboys running back has had since Barry Sanders ran away with the Heisman Trophy in 1988 after rushing for 2,678 yards and 37 touchdowns. I promise you, that's not a misprint.
Back to the topic at hand, given what he accomplished last year, it's reasonable to believe that Jalen Milroe should've been a preseason All-American this year, just like Gordon. After nearly being benched early in the season, Milroe continued to battle back and by the end of the season, he had not only delivered two iconic wins — an Iron Bowl win thanks to a 4th and goal Hail Mary completion to Isaiah Bond, and an SEC Championship Game victory over the top ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
Under new head coach Kalen DeBoer, it's possible that the Tide offense will be more dynamic in 2024 than they were under Saban in 2023. That could mean bigger numbers and more opportunities to shine for Jalen Milroe.
Quinshon Judkins (Running Back, Ohio State)
2023 stats (at Ole Miss): 271 carries, 1,158 rushing yards, 15 rushing touchdowns, 22 receptions, 149 receiving yards
Interestingly, the Ohio State Buckeyes' other running back, TreVeyon Henderson, was named a preseason 2nd Team AP All-American. Henderson rushed for over 1,200 yards and scored 19 total touchdowns in a record-setting freshman season, but since then, the talented back has endured two injury-plagued seasons that haven't been nearly as productive. Enter Quinshon Judkins, who transferred from Ole Miss to Ohio State to presumptively be the featured back, but Henderson opted to return to Columbus, and now the Buckeyes may have other plans.
Truth be told, assuming that both Henderson and Judkins remain healthy throughout the season, there might not be enough touches for either of them to warrant inclusion on a year-end All-American team. That's why at running back, there's a sleeper who will be getting the bulk of the carries in Coral Gables who I think belongs on the preseason All-American team.
Damien Martinez (Running Back, Miami FL)
2023 stats (at Oregon State): 194 carries, 1,185 rushing yards, 9 rushing touchdowns, 11 receptions, 126 receiving yards
Damien Martinez was a late-April addition to the Hurricanes, and a much-needed one for Mario Cristobal's squad. Miami made a big splash in the transfer portal, ponying up to bring in a pair of notable stars from Pac-12 holdovers — Martinez and former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward — to the 305 in order to re-establish the Hurricanes as a powerhouse in the ACC. Ward will sling the ball around the field plenty, but having a big, bruising back like Martinez to hand the ball of to is a nice security blanket.
In two seasons in Corvallis, Damien Martinez has rushed for over 2,000 yards on over six yards per carry, and his volume should remain the same, or even increase, in Miami. The Hurricanes return Mark Fletcher Jr., who rushed for 514 yards in a three-man backfield time share last season, but Fletcher isn't a huge threat to steal too many carries from the former Beaver.
The ACC is wide open, with somewhere between five and eight teams — Miami FL, Florida State, Clemson, NC State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, SMU, and maybe if you squint your eyes really hard and are really optimistic, Syracuse — believing that they could win the ACC title and clinch an automatic berth into the 12-team College Football Playoff. Miami may have more talent than any other team in the conference, now they'll just need to put it all together. Consistently giving the rock to Damien Martinez will help matters.
Article Continues Below
![Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin gives a thumbs up while walking off the field after the game of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Ole Miss defeated Duke 52-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]](https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lane-Kiffin-after-bowl-game-.jpg)
Princely Umanmielen (Edge, Ole Miss)
2023 stats (at Florida): 39 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 7 sacks
Princely Umanmielen was one of the biggest transfer portal prizes for self-proclaimed ‘portal king' Lane Kiffin, who has built something of a new-age SEC powerhouse at Ole Miss. Quarterback Jaxson Dart and the Rebels have boatloads of talent offensively to make this thing run, but transfer portal additions Umanmielen and Walter Nolen gives the Ole Miss defense a presence up front that they just haven't had during Kiffin's time in Oxford.
Umanmielen was named to the watchlist for the Bednarik Award, which is annually given to the best defensive player in football. Umanmielen may not have a ceiling quite that high, but the 22-year-old still has impressive burst, a high motor, tremendous length, and an arsenal of pass rushing moves that make him a headache for any offensive tackle to deal with.
Tacario Davis (Cornerback, Arizona)
2023 stats: 25 total tackles, 1 interception, 15 passes defended
The headlines out of Arizona will rightfully focus on the duo of quarterback Noah Fifita and preseason 1st Team All-America Tetairoa McMillan, former high school teammates who may be amognthe best quarterback/wide receiver tandems in the country, but on the other side of the ball, Tacario Davis' impact will prove to be equally important to the Wildcats' postseason hopes. The 6'4″ cornerback entered the transfer portal after the departure of former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch to Washington, but decided to come back to Tucson for another season to play for new Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan in the new-look Big 12.
The Big 12 is wide open, and you can consider Arizona one of the teams who could reach out and grab hold of it. Davis is a big reason why. The Wildcats bring in an entirely new defensive line and there's no telling if that group will be able to hold up throughout the season. If they can't, it puts immense pressure on the shoulders of Davis and the rest of the Arizona secondary.
Marlowe Wax (Linebacker, Syracuse)
2023 stats: 110 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 interception, 4 forced fumbles
A super sleeper on this list who may fall under the radar because even in a good season, Syracuse may only be the 8th-best team in the ACC. Marlowe Wax is one of the most talented linebackers in the college game, and he's slowly but surely closing in on a bit of impressive college football history. Ahead of the 2024 season, Wax is currently 19th in ACC history with 185 career solo tackles. That puts him 115 tackles shy of Luke Kuechly's career ACC record. With a season as productive as last year's, Wax will depart Syracuse and the ACC as the second-leading tackler in conference history.
Wax hasn't missed a game since stepping on campus — originally as a running back — back in 2020.
