SI's 2017 Midseason All-America Team

We’ve reached the midpoint of the season, and Sports Illustrated’s writers and editors are recognizing the nation’s most outstanding players at each position with our 2017 Midseason All-America Teams. The Big 12 and Big Ten dominate most of the offensive skill positions, but our first team features stars from every Power 5 league, as well as standouts from the Mountain West and independent Notre Dame. Who will hold onto their top spot through the season’s second half? An asterisk(*) next to a player’s name denotes that he was a unanimous selection.

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Oct 17, 2017

SI's 2017 Midseason All-America Team

QB: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma

The national leader in completion percentage (72.7%) and passing efficiency (207.3), Mayfield seems destined for a return trip to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. The Sooners are still in the mix for a Big 12 title, but their suspect defense might force Mayfield to throw them back into playoff contention.

RB: Bryce Love, Stanford*

Love has been the most unstoppable force in college football through seven weeks, averaging 198.1 rushing yards per game and outgaining the nation’s No. 2 rusher (Hawaii’s Diocemy Saint Juste) by nearly 300 yards.

RB: Saquon Barkley, Penn State

Everyone knows the Nittany Lions are getting Barkley the ball, and many of them still can’t contain him for 60 minutes. He’s averaging 32.3 yards per kick return, too (tied for fifth nationally), which helped him earn second-team midseason All-America honors as an all-purpose player.

WR: David Sills V, West Virginia

You probably know all too well by now that Sills committed to play quarterback for Lane Kiffin and USC at age 13 before finding his calling out wide in Morgantown. Broadcasters have relayed that story during most of his 12 touchdown catches this season, three more than any other player in the country, and they should have plenty more opportunities to tell it.

WR: James Washington, Oklahoma State

It’s no small feat to be quarterback Mason Rudolph’s favorite target within a Cowboys offense loaded with super-talented skill players. With 882 yards and six touchdowns through six games, Washington is on the way to smashing his 2016 numbers.

TE: Mike Gesicki, Penn State

Gesicki burst out of the gate with a pair of multi-touchdown games in blowout wins over Akron and Pittsburgh. His performance down the stretch of last season indicates he’ll be there when the Nittany Lions need him most as their Big Ten tests stiffen.

OT: Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame

Quietly, Irish running back Josh Adams has found his way into the nation’s top 10 leading rushers (while playing one fewer game than many of the names directly above him). McGlinchey and left guard Quenton Nelson (see below) have dominated their side of the line and led the way for Adams to wear defenses down.

G: Braden Smith, Auburn

Smith’s raw strength at right guard sets the tone for an Auburn offense committed to running early and often—the Tigers have 19 rushing touchdowns and average 222.4 yards per game on the ground.

C: Bradley Bozeman, Alabama

Bozeman has been a steady pivot man in his second year starting on a line that helped the Crimson Tide set a Nick Saban–era record in September with 496 rushing yards in a win over Vanderbilt.

G: Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame

Nelson was a unanimous first-team selection in the preseason and has been as good as advertised as Notre Dame has jumped out to a 5–1 start.

OT: Orlando Brown, Oklahoma

Brown will play a vital role in keeping Mayfield clean down the stretch, protecting the Heisman candidate’s blind side and helping pave the way for breakout freshman running back Trey Sermon. He should be rewarded with a first-round pick next spring if he leaves Norman.

DL: Bradley Chubb, NC State*

The Wolfpack’s ACC hopes rest on Chubb and the rest of their talented, tenacious defensive line. Chubb sits tied for sixth nationally with 6.5 sacks, and his 14 tackles for loss are second only to Northern Illinois’s Sutton Smith.

DL: Austin Bryant, Clemson

Bryant entered this season as something of a forgotten man along a defensive line that also includes Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins. Five sacks, 11 tackles for loss and one acrobatic interception later, no one underestimates the havoc Bryant can wreak in the backfield anymore.

DL: Hercules Mata’afa, Washington State

Mata’afa’s 12 tackles for loss (the most in the Pac-12) are a big reason why the Cougars’ defense has turned a corner in its third year under coordinator Alex Grinch. Even in Washington State’s stunning blowout loss to Cal to drop from the ranks of the unbeaten, the redshirt junior finished with two sacks and was all over the field.

LB: Roquan Smith, Georgia

The Bulldogs’ defense has been one of the breakout stories of the first half, giving up just 4.18 yards per play (seventh in the country) and elevating Georgia to playoff contention in Kirby Smart’s second season in charge. Smith is the heartbeat of that fearsome unit, with no fewer than six tackles in each game so far.

LB: Josey Jewell, Iowa

Jewell is a tackling machine at the center of Iowa’s stingy defense, with 70 total tackles through six games, plus a forced fumble and an interception.

LB: Devin Bush, Michigan

The Wolverines are once again on their way to finishing in the top five of several defensive metrics, and in his first year as a starter Bush has blossomed more than any other underclassman asked to take on more within a unit that lost a ton of talent. The sophomore has six tackles for loss, five sacks and six pass breakups through six games.

LB: Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Oklahoma

Okoronkwo has at least a half sack in every game this season (six in total) and has hit a different gear in the Sooners’ two highest-profile wins of the year against Ohio State and Texas.

CB: Carlton Davis, Auburn

Davis had an up-and-down night in Auburn’s early-September loss to Clemson, making 11 tackles but allowing some critical completions. Since then, he has delivered time and again for the Tigers, who are allowing just 15 points per game, behind only Alabama and Georgia in the SEC.

CB: Jalen Davis, Utah State

Davis logged five interceptions in September alone, returning two of his three picks for touchdowns in the Aggies’ win over BYU. He has six additional pass breakups that put him among the top 15 in the nation in passes defended.

S: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama

Fitzpatrick has done a little bit of everything as the leader of the Crimson Tide defense: 32 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, an interception, a fumble and even a blocked kick. He has passed second-team selection Derwin James as this season’s best hope for a Heisman winner on the defensive side of the ball.

S: DeShon Elliott, Texas

Elliott became the first Longhorn with an interception in three straight games since Earl Thomas in 2009 when he posted five over a stretch that started with September’s double-overtime loss to USC. He’s a big-play threat on a defense that Texas needs to step up to keep pace in the Big 12.

K: Matt Gay, Utah

Gay has 16 makes through six games, two more than the next-closest kicker, and he’s one of nine players with two 50-plus-yard field goals on the year.

P: Johnny Townsend, Florida

Townsend is the most reliable part of most Gators offensive possessions, averaging a career-best 48.5 yards per punt so far this year. He has a punt of at least 59 yards in all six games.

All-Purpose: Jaylen Samuels, NC State

You’ll notice that Samuels made SI’s second-team offense as a tight end, but his contributions to the Wolfpack’s unconventional offense can’t be described with just one position. The senior has 10 total touchdowns already (three receiving, seven rushing) and accounts for nearly a third of his team’s receptions so far.

Return Man: Dante Pettis, Washington

Opponents have figured out that Pettis needs to be avoided at all costs. He opened the season with a punt return touchdown in three straight games, bringing him into a tie with the all-time NCAA career record of eight.

Second-Team Offense

Denis Poroy/AP; Sue Ogrocki/AP; AP/Shutterstock

QB: Luke Falk, Washington State; RB: Josh Adams, Notre Dame; RB: Rashaad Penny, San Diego State; WR: Cam Phillips, Virginia Tech; WR: Anthony Miller, Memphis; TE: Jaylen Samuels, NC State; OT: David Edwards, Wisconsin; OT: Mitch Hyatt, Clemson; G: Cody O’Connell, Washington State; G: Will Hernandez, UTEP; C: Frank Ragnow, Arkansas.

Second-Team Defense

Don Juan Moore/Getty Images; Charlie Riedel/AP; AP/Shutterstock

DL: Nick Bosa, Ohio State; DL: Ed Oliver, Houston; DL: Da’Ron Payne, Alabama; LB: Dorian O’Daniel, Clemson; LB: Micah Kiser, Virginia; LB: Joe Dineen Jr., Kansas; LB: Josh Allen, Kentucky; CB: Levi Wallace, Alabama; CB: Josiah Scott, Michigan State; S: Derwin James, Florida State; S: Quin Blanding, Virginia.