Thoughts on Phil Steele's All-Pac-12 selections
Phil Steele has one of the most famed pre-season magazines in college football.
The first edition was published in 1995 and he has carried that tradition for 25 years.
In his season preview, he gives out pre-season awards including All-Conference teams and six Colorado Buffaloes made the list this season.
First team All-Pac-12: Nate Landman
BuffsCountry thoughts: This one is an obvious one. He was All-Pac-12 last season and he will likely do it again this season. In his senior season, he should be the best player on the team and he is just going to continue to get better and better.
Second team All-Pac-12: No Buffs
Third team All-Pac-12: Brady Russell and Alex Fontenot
BuffsCountry thoughts: It's good to see Russell get some pre-season praise as he is clearly deserving of some praise. The junior tight end started every game last season and is dominant in the run game and just keeps on getting better in the passing game. He is a very important part of the offense.
Fontenot, although I feel is tremendously underrated by CU fans, is probably a little overrated by Phil Steele. It's not that I believe he doesn't possess the capability of becoming an All-Pac-12 caliber player but that running back room is packed now and I don't believe he will be featured enough to have the production to that level.
Fourth team All-Pac-12: Jalen Sami, Mustafa Johnson and William Sherman
BuffsCountry thoughts: Having Mustafa Johnson this far down on All-Pac-12 is an abomination. I don't know what kind of oversight this entails, he's one of the best defensive linemen in the country and he barely cracks the top ten by Phil Steele in the Pac-12. This is the only one I vehemently disagree with.
Sherman is another one that I definitely believe could have a better season than fourth team All-Pac-12. He has been honorable mention the last two years and he's expected to get better and better. He does switch back to left tackle this year but that shouldn't hurt him too much.
It's good to see Sami get some praise and I believe this is a very good spot for him.
Key snubs: Derrion Rakestraw, Colby Pursell and KD Nixon.
