ESPN Announces College Football’s 2026 Preseason All-America Honorees

The Longhorns pace every program with five first-team spots, but there's a notable snub of two top SEC quarterbacks.

ESPN shined a spotlight on college football's best players with the announcement of its 2026 All-America team. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ESPN unveiled its 2026 college football preseason All-America team on Wednesday, two weeks before North Carolina and TCU open the season in Dublin.

College football analysts Eli Lederman and Max Olson made the picks. Texas leads all programs with five first-team selections, and that count does not include quarterback Arch Manning.

Three players carried over from ESPN's 2025 postseason team. Those are Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore, Indiana offensive tackle Carter Smith and Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith.

The choices reward last year's production and a few of them break sharply from every other major list.

Julian Sayin, Kewan Lacy and Colin Simmons lead ESPN's first team

ESPN gave the top quarterback spot to Ohio State's Julian Sayin. Sayin threw for 3,610 yards and 42 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. Notre Dame's CJ Carr was named to the second team.

Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy earned first-team backfield honors next to Florida's Jadan Baugh. Lacy ran for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns and led the FBS with 109 forced missed tackles.

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin (10) and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) both earned spots on ESPN's first-team All-American teams | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Jeremiah Smith and Texas transfer Cam Coleman took the receiver spots. Smith has 2,258 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns since the start of 2024. Miami sophomore Malachi Toney landed at all-purpose after a 1,211-yard debut.

Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons headlines the defense. He leads all active FBS players with 21 career sacks. South Carolina's Dylan Stewart joins him on the edge. Notre Dame's Leonard Moore returns as the top cornerback after a unanimous All-American 2025 season.

ESPN snubs Arch Manning, Trinidad Chambliss

The Walter Camp Foundation released its own preseason team in June. That list, the oldest All-America honor in the sport, made two calls that ESPN did not.

Walter Camp put Arch Manning at quarterback. ESPN left the Texas junior off the first team in favor of Sayin. The Sporting News also went with Manning. Manning threw for 3,562 total yards and 36 touchdowns to close out 2025. Ranking Sayin ahead of him is a defensible read of last season. It is not the consensus read.

The larger miss may be Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. He is nowhere on ESPN's list. He finished eighth in Heisman voting in 2025 after passing for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Sporting News named him its first-team preseason quarterback last week.

Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (6) speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ESPN's own Kirk Herbstreit went further on the Pat McAfee Show this month. "I think Trinidad Chambliss could be the face of College Football heading into the season," Herbstreit said. "He's so refreshing to be around, and he has a great personality."

An outlet cannot have its lead analyst call a player the face of the sport and then leave him off its All-America team.

The tight end spot splits three ways. ESPN took Texas Tech's Terrance Carter Jr. Walter Camp and Athlon Sports both went with LSU's Trey'Dez Green. Green is the better bet given his size and target share in Baton Rouge.

At running back, ESPN pushed Missouri's Ahmad Hardy to the second team behind Lacy and Baugh. Walter Camp gave Hardy first-team status, and Hardy was a Walter Camp first-team All-American in 2025. Bumping a returning first-team honoree to the second unit needs a stronger case than ESPN offers.