Penn State puts six on Pro Football Focus' preseason All-Big Ten team

Penn State football is well represented on Pro Football Focus’ preseason All-Big Ten team. The outlet calls Nittany Lions senior quarterback Drew Allar the conference’s best passer and made him its sole pick at the position. Classmate Nick Singleton has the same honor at running back. The other Penn State players on the list are guard Vega Ioane, defensive tackle Zane Durant, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, and cornerback AJ Harris. The Lions tied Ohio State with six players on the team. No other programs had more than four.

The group above represents the core of a Nittany Lion team that is one of the most talented and experienced in the country entering the 2025 season. That’s because, aside from Harris, the other five players spurned the chance to leave school early for the NFL to instead return for one final season in State College.

“For me, it was never a money decision or financial decision; it was a strictly football decision,” Allar told On3’s Pete Nakos last week. “And then, I’m close to graduating, so an academic decision. We were trying to make my decision as fast as possible. We were looking at adding to the portal, but making my decision as fast as possible was important so we could start recruiting some guys that we were interested in.

“Especially after everything ended the way it did, just knowing, like, ‘All right, I’m going to have one more go at it.’”

Penn State opens the 2025 season on Aug. 30 when it takes on Nevada. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.

Who made the PFF preseason All-Big Ten team besides the Penn State players?

You can see the full list below. Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs were the outlet’s offensive and defensive preseason players of the year, respectively.

QB: Drew Allar, Penn State
RB: Nicholas Singleton, Penn State
WR: Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
WR: Elijah Sarratt, Indiana
WR: Makai Lemon, USC
TE: Max Klare, Ohio State
LT: Carter Smith, Indiana
LG: Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State
C: Iapani Laloulu, Oregon
RG: Rocco Spindler, Nebraska
RT: Gennings Dunker, Iowa
DI: Zane Durant, Penn State
DI: Aaron Graves, Iowa
EDGE: Mikail Kamara, Indiana
EDGE: Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
LB: Sonny Styles, Ohio State
LB: Bryce Boettcher, Oregon
CB: D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana
CB: A.J. Harris, Penn State
S: Caleb Downs, Ohio State
S: Koi Perich, Minnesota
Flex-D: Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
K: Dominic Zvada, Michigan
P: Rhys Dakin, Iowa
RS: Makai Lemon, USC
LS: Luke Basso, Oregon