Inside Texas' 2022 All-Big 12 team

On3 imageby:Ian Boyd12/01/22

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Normally I’d like to see the Big 12 Championship Game before making final determinations on All-Big 12 players but that’s not how it works with these awards. As it happens, this year I don’t think it should make a big difference. For instance, the choice at quarterback where winning really matters, is frankly very easy.

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I’ll use the actual ballot style this year, meaning just naming the best overall players in the league without worrying about having a sensible starting lineup. A lot of the selections would have been pretty shocking in the preseason but, such is the way of things in college football and the Big 12 in particular. Lesser known guys emerge to do well and hyped players prove to have little substance.

Here were the official choices. There’s a sense amongst Texas fans that the Longhorns were robbed on several selections. Probably every fan base feels that way most of the time when their team wins more than they lose. I think there were a few Texas players who got a raw deal, it’ll be clear who as I go down my own selections.

I’m only including a first team and we’ll be starting with defense in vain hopes of convincing someone to pay attention to the less glorious side who wouldn’t otherwise. We all know who QB1 is anyways.

All-Big 12: Defense

Defensive line: Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech

Defensive line: Siaki Ika, Baylor

Defensive line: Keondre Coburn, Texas

Defensive line: Dante Stills, West Virginia

Defensive line: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State

So here’s the thing, as far as Texas goes. The Longhorns probably had four D-linemen who were close to being good enough for consideration here. Their heavy rotations meant the best players didn’t always get as many snaps to inflict extra damage. It also made the unit really strong overall without any particular standouts.

Ultimately I decided to include Coburn, partially because he was excellent (second best nose in the league I think), and partially because he’s quietly been quite good for three years and has anchored two good run defenses now. Will McDonald got bumped out for King Felix and Tyree Wilson but he was still quite good this season, he just had less help around him. Moro Ojomo has a similar role as Dante Stills and is less explosive in it, so he misses out. T’Vondre Sweat has a chance next year, as does Barryn Sorrell.

Linebacker: Dee Winters, TCU

Linebacker: Dillon Doyle, Baylor

Linebacker: Jaylan Ford, Texas

I don’t think Jaylan Ford is shoo-in for DPOY in the Big 12 but he’s a worthy recipient in part because his statistics were a reflection of Texas’ overall strength up front. A lot of guys probably missed second team mention on D-line but did work which showed up in Ford’s statistics. Those four interceptions though, that was largely him.

Dee Winters blended playing space-backer on the edge with boosting the Frogs’ pass-rush, inflicting 10.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks.

Dillon Doyle over some other good linebackers like Mason Cobb of OSU or Austin Moore of Kansas State is tough, I’m rewarding him because he also played fullback in their short-yardage sets and made those virtually automatic.

Defensive back: Ryan Watts, Texas

Defensive back: Jahdae Barron, Texas

Defensive back: Jason Taylor II, Oklahoma State

Defensive back: Bud Clark, TCU

Defensive back: Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU

There were a lot of good options here. Both Texas and TCU had three or four defensive backs apiece who were quite good this season, I nearly had Jabbar Muhammad and Kendal Daniels of OSU in the mix, and Josh Hayes from Kansas State got some consideration as well.

Ryan Watts was worlds better than most realized. He mixed playing some trap coverage, playing back almost as a safety, playing press-man, and blitzing off the edge. His versatility in the boundary while making teams frequently ignore their short-side targets was really impressive. The media often choose defensive backs based on stats but the real Gs at cornerback often move in silence, like lasagna.

Jahdae Barron played nickel better than most of the guys you’ve seen play the position in the Big 12 over the last few years. He had the darting quickness and overall physicality to inflict 11 tackles for loss, swallowing up screen passes and diving into the backfield on blitzes but also played a lot of man coverage and allowed the Longhorns to leave Jerrin Thompson on the weak side in the box.

Jason Taylor (second of that name) destroyed Texas and a few other teams as well. Six interceptions isn’t an accident when a man also has seven pass break-ups. It means he knew how to get around the ball and wreck things. Add in his 87 tackles and you have an exceptional all-around player.

Bud Clark was the main cover guy for TCU in their safety room. Both of their cornerbacks were really good and could have been mentioned on this list. Josh Newton was more their Watts-type, physical corner and he was great. If you want a less balanced secondary consider him over Clark, but Clark was their main cover safety while the other dudes drew easier assignments in run support. Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson has been good for a while now but he put it together this season in some new ways blending deep zone coverage with his normal man techniques.

All-Big 12: Offense

Quarterback: Max Duggan, TCU

Really easy choice. Last season was hard, it ended up being Spencer Sanders by default even though he had some games where the pressure was too much and he gave the game away, like the Big 12 Championship. Sanders was really good and gritty again, with some fresh meltdowns, but Duggan was nails all year.

Running back: Bijan Robinson, Texas

Running back: Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State

They let you list two so I went with thunder and lightning. Kendre Miller was great too, just a tough year to stand out with these two. The league continues to be a little more dominated at the top by great running backs than wide receivers, an interesting quirk of the last three years. More sophisticated and conservative coverages executed by increasingly portal-boosted units are forcing teams to grind out wins with a run game.

TE: Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas

FB: Ben Sinnott, Kansas State

Sanders is one of the best tight ends the Big 12 has seen in a long while. He’s closer to some of the dudes who dominated in the 2000s than what we saw in the 2010s. Ben Sinnott is actually shockingly good, especially considering he came in as a walk-on. He’s a solid blocker and can look like Gronk at times as a receiver either posting up defenders or running through tacklers. I wish I could name Jared Rus of Iowa State, blocker extraordinaire, but they weren’t able to make much of his talent for hammering defenses this season.

WR: Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State

WR: Marvin Mims, Oklahoma

WR: Xavier Worthy, Texas

Xavier Hutchinson caught 107 balls this year for 1,171 yards and six touchdowns. If he were a little faster he’d be a shoo in to be drafted high. His consistency is something the other Big 12 receivers can only look up to. Quentin Johnston was arguably the most destructive force in the league but his storms were actually very infrequent. Marvin Mims was a force every week Dillon Gabriel was healthy and on the field.

Xavier Worthy put in a disappointing season and still lead the league with nine touchdown catches and was untouchable in the red zone on quick breaks out of his routes. Only one team all year refused to pay respect to his potential (TCU), although they were rewarded when Texas couldn’t find him deep.

OL: Kelvin Banks, Texas

OL: Anton Harrison, Oklahoma

OL: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State

OL: Connor Galvin, Baylor

OL: Jacob Gall, Baylor

I broke my normal rules to include a third tackle in Galvin. The other choice would have been Steve Avila of TCU, their powerful left guard. K-State could almost get more guys into the mix, they had a physical bunch, but they were a bit one-dimensional (not so great in pass protection).

Kelvin Banks was a revelation this year, I don’t think anyone near Texas would dared have hoped he’d be this good. It was even better than Connor Williams’ first year. Beebe is the best guard in the league after K-State finally felt okay enough about their tackles to move him from the blindside this season. Anton Harrison may be one of the highest draft picks in the upcoming draft although I’m not sure he’s even better than Banks now, much less what Banks will be when he’s been in the game as long as Harrison.

Some honorable mentions should include Hadley Panzer of K-State, Mike Novitsky of Kansas, Alan Ali of TCU, and Christian Jones of Texas.

Offensive player of the year: Bijan Robinson, Texas

Defensive player of the year: Jaylan Ford, Texas

Offensive newcomer of the year: Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma

Defensive newcomer of the year: Ryan Watts, Texas

Offensive freshman of the year: Richard Reese, Baylor

Defensive freshman of the year: Kendal Daniels, Ok State

Offensive lineman of the year: Anton Harrison, Oklahoma

Defensive lineman of the year: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State

Coach of the year: Sonny Dykes, TCU

Gotta be Bijan and Ford on the first two categories. I know it’s weird to have so much Texas given their 8-4 finish and just missing the Big 12 Championship Game but K-State and TCU had better quarterback play and serious depth of veteran play across their teams, hence the victories. The star power for TCU and K-State was a little less than at Texas.

Ryan Watts losing defensive newcomer of the year is silly but the actual winner Johnny Hodges was great and so was his teammate Josh Newton, hence their 12-0 season.

Sonny Dykes did an amazing job hiring a great staff, adding terrific players in the portal, and quickly weaponizing what he found in the cupboard. The real test will be the encore and how far they slip after the exodus which will occur when this season ends. I bet they have staying power though, Dykes is a tremendous modern coach with a knack for delegating in an increasingly complicated game.

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