Six Hoosiers Named to Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big Ten Team

Six members of the Indiana football team were named to the Athlon Sports preseason All-Big Ten team. Athlon created four teams, honoring a total of 152 Big Ten football players.

Cornerback Tiawan Mullen was named to the second team, safety Devon Matthews made the third team and linebacker Cam Jones, punt returner D.J. Matthews, kicker Charles Campbell and offensive lineman Matthew Bedford were all fourth-team selections. Michigan led the conference with 17 selections, while Indiana, Rutgers and Northwestern tied for last with six.

Mullen is back for his senior season at Indiana after an injury-riddled 2021 season. The cornerback from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. appeared in seven games but made just four starts last year due to injury. Mullen was named to the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, Jim Thorpe Award and Bronco Nagurski Trophy before the season, but injuries limited his ability to perform at the level that made him a first-team All-American in 2020.

Indiana CB Tiawan Mullen forced an incompletion on 30% of targets in 2019.

2nd highest rate in college football.pic.twitter.com/Yg10ltvVCb
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 31, 2020

Devon "Monster" Matthews took advantage of the bonus covid year from the NCAA to play his fifth collegiate season at Indiana. Like Mullen, Matthews missed three games due to injury last season. He managed to start nine games at strong safety where he made 55 tackles, four tackles for loss, one interception and four pass breakups. Matthews was a third-team All-Big Ten selection after the 2020 season, and also took home Indiana's Ted Verlihay Mental Attitude Award.

Like Matthews, Jones is using the extra covid year to play his fifth season of college football for the Hoosiers. A team captain for Indiana during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Jones has appeared in 42 games during his career. Jones has played Indiana's stinger position, which is the weak-side linebacker. He formed a strong duo with Micah McFadden in the middle of Indiana's defense, but McFadden was drafted by the New York Giants this offseason.

Jones was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2020, and he received Indiana's Howard Brown "Dedication to IU Football" Award in 2021. He forced and recovered a fumble in Indiana's season opener at Iowa, and finished last season with 64 tackles.

BIG hit by senior Indiana LB Cam Jones on Cincinnati RB Jerome Ford. pic.twitter.com/THuZRVXwuO
— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) September 18, 2021

D.J. Matthews transferred to Indiana before the 2021 season after playing three seasons at Florida State. Matthews played three games for Indiana last season as a wide receiver and return specialist before tearing his ACL in week four at Western Kentucky.

He hauled in 120 of his 165 yards against Cincinnati and ran back an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown against Idaho. Matthews was one of, if not the fastest player on Indiana last season, also scoring a rushing touchdown against Cincinnati. Matthews was named preseason All-Big Ten as a punt returner, but with the loss of Ty Fryfogle, Miles Marshall, having a healthy Matthews will be crucial for the Indiana offense in 2022.

Campbell is back for his fifth season at Indiana as a redshirt senior after sitting out his freshman year in 2018. The Indiana kicker first made a name for himself when he drilled a 41-yard field goal during Indiana's victory at Purdue in 2019. He led the Big Ten in field goal percentage in 2020 when he connected on 10-of-11 attempts, including a perfect 25-for-25 mark on extra points. This led to Campbell's selection as a first and second-team All-Big Ten player as a sophomore.

Last season, Campbell made 13-of-18 field goal attempts and all 20 extra points, and was named to the Lou Groza Award Watch List. Across his Indiana career, Campbell has made 80.6 percent of field goal attempts and has never missed an extra point, which makes him 10th on Indiana's all-time field goal list. He is 4-for-5 from beyond 50 yards, which is second in Indiana history behind Pete Stoyanovich with six.

Chuck don't miss. 🎯@IndianaFootball's Charles Campbell (@chuck_campbell3) is the B1G Special Teams Player of the Week after his perfect kicking day (3/3 FG, 4/4 XP)! pic.twitter.com/hRbkdI9KC9
— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) November 2, 2020

Bedford rounds out Indiana's preseason All-Big Ten selections by Athlon Sports, as he enters his senior year in Bloomington. The 6-foot-6, 308-pound offensive lineman from Cordova, Tenn. has started 27 games for Indiana over the last three years at right guard, left guard, right tackle and left tackle.

When Indiana set a program record with 3,931 passing yards in 2019, Bedford was named Indiana's Offensive Newcomer of the Year. He was named Offensive Player of the Week in Indiana's win over Michigan in 2020, and he received an All-Big Ten honorable mention after the 2021 season.

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