Five Sooners Earn Preseason All-America Honors

It’s preseason football magazine time again, and that means the accolades are pouring in for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Star quarterback Spencer Rattler and rush linebacker Nik Bonitto were both named to Athlon Sports’ Pre-Season All-American First Team.

Rattler enters the 2021 season with sky-high expectations.

Improving throughout his first year as a starter in 2020, Rattler shook off a slow start to throw for 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns in 11 games of action. Rattler completed 67.5 percent of his passes and only threw seven interceptions, including just two interceptions for the rest of the season after getting benched in the first half agains the Texas Longhorns.

Bonitto’s emergence was one of the surprises of last season on the defensive side of the ball. Even though he finished seventh on the team with 32 total tackles, Bonitto quickly proved to be one of the elite pass rushers in the nation. He led the team with 8.5 sacks, including a massive pair of sacks in the Cotton Bowl to help hold off the Longhorns in a four-overtime thriller.

The Sooners also had a trio of standouts named pre-season Third-Team All-Americans by Athlon.

Wide receiver Marvin Mims earned third-team honors after he reeled in a team-high 37 catches for 610 yards and nine touchdowns. The rising sophomore is determined to build on last year’s success, and the addition of a healthy Jadon Haselwood should prevent defenses from keying in on just one of OU’s talented pass catchers.

Isaiah Thomas was also named to the All-America third team after logging eight sacks in his 2020 campaign. Versatile enough to impact the game on both the edge and on the interior of the defensive line, Thomas elected to return to OU for his senior season instead of heading to the NFL Draft after defensive coordinator Alex Grinch campaigned for Thomas to be named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

Placekicker Gabe Brkic rounds out OU’s appearances on the All-America third team.

The sophomore missed his first field goal kick of his career last season, showing just how ridiculous his first year as the kicker was in Norman. Brkic still converted 20-of-26 attempts last season, nailing a career long 54-yard attempt. Incredibly, Brkic was 4-of-6 on field goal attempts beyond 50 yards. He also converted every single extra point last season, finishing a perfect 49-for-49.