Cole Van Lanen Receives AP Preseason All-America Honors

The preseason honors continue to roll up for Cole Van Lanen, even without playing football in the fall.

Van Lanen, Wisconsin's starting left tackle, claimed a second-team honors as part of the Associated Press's preseason All-America teams that were released on Tuesday.

The Green Bay, Wis., native has played in 40 career games heading into his final year of eligibility as a Badger. He started 13 contests in 2019 for a 10-4 Wisconsin program that opened holes for two-time Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor.

Van Lanen was also named as a second-team offensive tackle by Pro Football Focus last week. Earlier this summer, the Green Bay, Wis., native claimed preseason first-team All-American nods from the Walter Camp Football Foundation and USA TODAY.

He also was named to the 2020 Outland Trophy watch list. As mentioned in the award's press release, the award is presented "to the best interior lineman in college football."

Van Lanen joins five other Big Ten athletes to claim the second-team distinction by the AP. They include Ohio State's Justin Fields, Iowa's Tyler Linderbaum, Minnesota's Rashod Bateman, Northwestern's Paddy Fisher and Rutgers' Adam Korsak.

Six other conference standouts claimed first-team preseason honors: Ohio State's Wyatt Davis, Penn State's Pat Freiermuth, Purdue's Rondale Moore, Iowa's Keith Duncan, Penn State's Micah Parsons and Ohio State's Shaun Wade.

Why were Van Lanen and others not participating in fall football included? The AP explains it in the release:

The team was selected by 47 AP poll voters, who were asked to consider all Division I players — even those who had already opted out of the season or whose teams had postponed football.

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