College football’s Way-Too-Early 2023 All-America team
Talk of Georgia three-peating as national champion has become the topic du jour in college football.
Seems like just yesterday the Dawgs had gone four decades without a national title. Now they’ve won two in a row, and it’s never too early to look ahead in a sport that never sleeps.
We’ve already unveiled our Way-Too-Early Top 25, and up next is our Way-Too-Early All-America team. There are some recognizable names, as in USC Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, and then there are some names that might not be as recognizable — yet. Not that anyone should be surprised, but Georgia leads the way with four selections. Six of these players will be true sophomores in 2023.
OFFENSE
QB: Caleb Williams, USC
As disappointing as the end to the 2022 season was for USC, it doesn’t diminish the greatness of Williams. He accounted for 52 touchdowns (42 passing and 10 rushing) and was third nationally in total yards (4,919) to become the eighth player in USC history to win the Heisman Trophy. The Trojans still lost their last two games, to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game and to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, meaning the pressure to make the playoff will only ratchet up in Year 2 under Lincoln Riley. Having the best quarterback in the country returning helps combat that pressure.
The only thing that derailed Corum this past season was a torn meniscus and sprained MCL in his left knee, an injury he suffered against Illinois in the next-to-last regular-season game. Corum was right in the middle of the Heisman Trophy race when he was injured. His decision to return for the 2023 season was a huge coup for Michigan, which will again lean on Corum offensively. He rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns in 12 games and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
How good was Judkins a year ago? The only player in SEC history to rush for more yards as a freshman was Herschel Walker. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Judkins led the SEC with 1,567 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. He had eight 100-yard rushing games, including a pair of 200-yard performances, and ripped off 19 runs of 20 yards or longer in 2022. Lane Kiffin always has a potent running game, which means Judkins could be looking at 3,000 rushing yards before he reaches his junior season.
A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in college football last season, Harrison is what everybody is looking for at that position. He’s 6-4 and 205 pounds with the speed and skill to go up and get any pass in his vicinity. Harrison caught 77 passes last season, including 20 catches of 20 yards or longer. He’s hauled in 17 touchdown passes in his past 14 games, dating back to the final game of his freshman season, when he tied a Rose Bowl record with three touchdown catches.
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Michael Penix Jr. throws 48-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze
Michael Penix Jr. throws 48-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze
The good news just keeps rolling in for the Huskies. Not only is quarterback Michael Penix Jr. back after leading the country in passing yards per game (357), but his top receiving target is also back after putting off the NFL for another year. The 6-3, 200-pound Odunze blossomed into one of the Pac-12’s premier receivers and has the size and speed to be a nightmare for any defensive back. And with Jalen McMillan also returning at receiver, Odunze is going to have plenty of chances to build on his 75-catch, 1,145-yard breakout junior season.
Bowers was the best (and most versatile) tight end in college football each of the past two seasons. Why not a third? He catches everything, can line up just about anywhere on the field and gains yards after the catch like a running back. Go watch him block, too. He’s relentless and can block inside or on the edge to spring a big play. The 6-4, 230-pound Bowers has a long career ahead of him in the NFL, and he has one more year of college ball remaining after scoring a total of 24 touchdowns (20 receiving and four rushing) his first two seasons.
As a sophomore, Alt was one of the most dominant and consistent tackles in the country. According to Pro Football Focus, he didn’t allow any sacks and allowed only five pressures all season. The 6-8, 317-pound Alt is extremely agile after playing tight end in high school and is following in the footsteps of his father, John Alt, who earned multiple Pro Bowl selections in the NFL. Alt will also have a new quarterback to protect from his left tackle position in 2023 with Sam Hartman transferring in from Wake Forest.
Michigan’s offensive line has earned Joe Moore Award honors each of the past two years as the top offensive line in the country, and the 6-6, 315-pound Zinter has been a key cog in those units. He announced last week that he’s returning for his senior season at his right guard spot, where he earned All-Big Ten honors as both a sophomore and junior. Zinter was rated among the top three guards in the NFL draft had he come out. His return means the Wolverines will have three of their five starting offensive linemen back in 2023.
After starting his West Virginia career at guard and earning freshman All-America honors, the 6-3, 306-pound Frazier has transitioned into one of the top centers in the country. He enters the 2023 season with 34 career starts, including 25 consecutive starts at center. Pro Football Focus rated Frazier as the sixth-best center in the country last season, and four of the five centers with higher grades have declared for the NFL draft. Frazier was a four-year all-state wrestler in high school and plays center with that same intensity.
Already one of the top interior offensive linemen in college football, the 6-4, 322-pound Beebe is coming back for his fourth season as a starter for the defending Big 12 champion Wildcats. This will be Beebe’s fifth year on campus after redshirting his first season, and he’s proved he can be a difference-maker wherever he lines up. He was a right tackle his first season, then started 13 games at left tackle as a sophomore and moved to left guard last season on his way to earning Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year honors.
Penn State has a talented nucleus of returnees on offense, and the 6-6, 308-pound Fashanu will be back for his redshirt junior season at left tackle. He was in his first full season as a starter a year ago and blossomed as both a pass protector and as a run-blocker. There was some thought that Fashanu might turn pro, but he said he had unfinished business with the Nittany Lions. He gives quarterback Drew Allar much-needed comfort on his blind side as Allar takes over the starting quarterback duties.
Hunter was the nation’s No. 1 recruit coming out of high school and could have gone anywhere, but he followed Deion Sanders to Jackson State a year ago. He’s now following Sanders to Colorado with visions of being a rare two-way player in FBS football. Hunter has showed the skills to be a lockdown cornerback (just like his head coach) but is equally skilled when it comes to catching passes. Don’t be surprised if he scores on offense and defense in 2023.
DEFENSE
One of Mike Norvell’s most important recruits this offseason was Verse electing to return to Florida State for another season despite being projected as an NFL first-round pick. This will be Verse’s second season in FSU’s program after starting his career at Albany and playing two seasons there. The 6-4, 248-pound Verse had 16.5 tackles for loss, including nine sacks, last season for the Seminoles and should be even better in 2023 after being slowed by injuries in a few games last year.
Illinois led the country last season in scoring defense (12.8 points per game), and a big reason was the 6-2, 295-pound Newton and his disruptive presence in the middle of that defense. His decision to return for a fourth season along with fellow All-Big Ten defensive lineman Keith Randolph — “The Law Firm,” as coach Bret Bielema calls them — was big news for the Illini, who won eight games in 2022. Newton was second nationally among interior linemen in pressures (55) and also had 14 tackles for loss.
From the time Williams set foot on campus, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was raving about his work ethic. And, yes, his talent. Williams didn’t disappoint as a true freshman and is next in line to be the dynamic front-seven defender everybody is talking about at Georgia. The 6-5, 265-pound Williams was a freshman All-America selection and led the Dawgs with 4.5 sacks. He tied with Jalen Carter for the team lead in quarterback hurries (31) and will be terrorizing opposing SEC offenses for two more seasons.
As one of the nation’s top freshman defenders a year ago, the 6-2, 220-pound Perkins will be an even better version of himself in 2023. He can make plays sideline to sideline, and with a year’s worth of experience in the SEC and a whole year in the offseason strength and conditioning program, he’s braced to become one of the most feared pass-rushers in college football. Perkins led LSU in tackles for loss (13), sacks (7.5), quarterback hurries (14) and forced fumbles (4).
They have great linebackers at Georgia, and Dumas-Johnson is the next one. He’s a 6-1, 245-pound run-stuffer and can also fly around and pressure the passer. As a true sophomore last season, Dumas-Johnson led the Dawgs’ national championship defense with nine tackles for loss. He was second in overall tackles (70) and third in quarterback hurries (24). Some have compared him to former Georgia great Nakobe Dean, who won the Butkus Award as the country’s best linebacker in 2021.
Carter moved from the strongside linebacker spot to weakside linebacker late in the season and was a natural with his ability to do a little bit of everything. He’s versatile enough that he could probably play safety. The 6-1, 225-pound Carter returns for his junior season after playing a team-high 832 snaps a year ago and finishing with 10.5 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. He’s the ultimate big-play guy on defense and will team with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. to give Clemson two of its best linebackers in the Dabo Swinney era.
Playing opposite Will Anderson Jr. a year ago, Turner was primed for a big year. His numbers weren’t what he or anybody at Alabama expected, but there’s no denying his game-changing ability. The 6-4, 240-pound Turner has 18 tackles for loss in his first two seasons and is versatile enough to move around and wreak havoc no matter where he lines up. Entering his second season as a full-time starter, Turner has the kind of flexibility Nick Saban loves in his outside linebackers.
From his first career start in the second game he ever played at Alabama, McKinstry has just gotten better and more seasoned, and now enters his junior season as one of college football’s best cornerbacks. The 6-1, 188-pound McKinstry had a team-high 15 pass breakups last season and provides the kind of skill and experience that Saban has had at cornerback on some of his more dominant defenses. McKinstry is also one of the more accomplished punt-return specialists in the country.
Morrison is fresh off a splendid freshman season. His six interceptions were the most for a Notre Dame player since Manti Te’o picked off seven passes during the 2012 season. The 6-foot, 180-pound Morrison started nine games a year ago, and all six of his interceptions came in the final five games. His 96-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 35-14 win over Clemson was one of the plays of the year for the Irish. Morrison turned in a three-interception game against the Boston College Eagles and picked off his final pass in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl win over the South Carolina Gamecocks.
It was a rough first season for Mario Cristobal at The U. The Hurricanes finished 5-7 and didn’t make a bowl game. But Kinchens was one of the bright spots. He tied for first among Power 5 players with six interceptions, returning one of those 99 yards for a touchdown against Georgia Tech. His size (205 pounds) and instincts make him one of the country’s more complete defensive backs returning in 2023. Kinchens also led Miami with 59 tackles last season.
0:40
Georgia pounces on Rattler’s throw for an INT
Malaki Starks makes a great play on the ball and returns the interception 42 yards for Georgia.
The young talent on Georgia’s 2022 national championship team was impossible to miss. The 6-1, 205-pound Starks played well beyond his years as a freshman. He led all Georgia defenders with 847 snaps played and finished third on the team with 68 total tackles while starting in all 15 games. His ability to do so many things on defense makes him a perfect fit for Smart’s system. He can play the deep safety position, come up and cover inside receivers/tight ends and can also blitz.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Karty will be in his third season as the Cardinal’s starter and was perfect a year ago in being named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award as the country’s top placekicker. He was 18-of-18 on field goal attempts, and not only is he accurate, but he also has a big leg. His 61-yarder against Cal was the second-longest field goal in Pac-12 history. He had field goals of 45, 43 and 43 yards in the 16-14 win over Notre Dame and a career-high five field goals in the 15-14 win over Arizona State. First-year coach Troy Taylor knows he has Mr. Automatic any time he needs three points.
One of the big mysteries last season was how Kroeger wasn’t even a finalist for the Ray Guy Award as the top punter in the country. Some in and around South Carolina’s program thought he was a strong candidate for team MVP. Kroeger averaged 46.1 yards per punt and had 29 punts downed inside the 20-yard line (four inside the 10 in a 31-30 win over Clemson). He’s also a threat to throw the ball and was 4-for-4, including two touchdowns, as a trick-play passer.
A knee injury slowed Gould toward the end of last season, but he was a big play waiting to happen in the first 10 games. Gould led the country in punt return average (18.6 yards) and is the only FBS player returning who had two punt returns for touchdowns. His role is likely to grow for the Beavers in 2023 as they try to build on their 10-3 season. This will be Gould’s fifth season on campus. In addition to his punt return duties, he was third on the team with 27 catches, including three touchdowns.
The American Athletic Conference will require each member except Army and Navy to provide athletes with at least $10 million in additional benefits over the next three years, making it the only league so far to set a minimum standard with revenue sharing expected to begin in Division I sports in July.
AAC presidents approved the plan last week after they reviewed a college sports consulting firm’s study of the conference’s financial wherewithal. The three-year plan will go into effect once a federal judge approves the $2.8 billion House vs. NCAA antitrust settlement, which is expected next month.
Commissioner Tim Pernetti said Wednesday that 13 of the 15 AAC schools would opt in to the House settlement, which, among other things, provides for payments to athletes of up to $20.5 million per school the first year. Army and Navy are excluded because they do not offer athletic scholarships and their athletes cannot accept name, image and likeness money.
“For the conference, stepping forward and saying we’re not only opting in but here’s what we’re going to do at a minimum signifies the serious nature and our commitment to not only delivering a great experience for student-athletes but to success,” Pernetti said.
Officials from the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern Conference told The Associated Press that each of their schools will be free to decide their level of revenue sharing. Power-conference schools generate the most television revenue and most are expected to fund the full $20.5 million or close to it.
The AAC plan, first reported by Yahoo Sports, would allow each school to set its own pace to hit the $10 million total by 2027-28. For example, a school could share $2 million the first year, $3 million the second and $5 million the third.
The AAC considers new scholarships, payments for academic-related expenses and direct payments as added benefits. Each school, with some limits, generally can apportion those as it sees fit.
“We wanted to provide flexibility for everyone to get to the number however it makes the most sense to them,” Pernetti said. “What I expect is it’ll be a variety of different approaches. I’m pretty certain many of the institutions are going to exceed [$10 million] in year one.”
Failure to reach $10 million over three years could jeopardize a school’s membership, but Pernetti said there will be annual reviews of the policy.
“All our universities made the decision a long time ago to deliver athletics and this experience at the highest level,” Pernetti said. “To me, this isn’t about revisiting that. This is about making sure we’re setting ourselves up for success in the future.”
Sports
‘I wasn’t trying to build anything in a lab’: How Jacob deGrom is learning to throw smarter, not harder
SURPRISE, Ariz. — When Jacob deGrom stepped on the mound for his first live batting practice this spring, a voice in his head told him: “All right, I want to strike everybody out.” That instinct had guided deGrom to unimaginable heights, with awards and money and acclaim. It is also who he can no longer be. So deGrom took a breath and reminded himself: “Let’s not do that.”
Nobody in the world has ever thrown a baseball like deGrom at his apex. His combination of fastball velocity, swing-and-miss stuff and pinpoint command led to one of the greatest 90-start stretches in baseball. From the beginning of 2018 to the middle of 2021, he was peak Pedro Martinez with a couple of extra mph — Nolan Ryan’s fastball, Steve Carlton’s slider, Greg Maddux’s precision.
Then his arm could not hold up anymore, and for more than three years, deGrom healed and got hurt, healed and needed Tommy John surgery in June 2023 to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, then healed once more. That delivers him to this moment, in camp with the Texas Rangers, ready to conquer a 162-game season for the first time since 2019 — and reminding himself when to hold back.
The instinct to be all he can be never will go away. But instead, as his efforts at learning to throttle down manifest themselves daily and were particularly evident in those early live ABs, deGrom induced ground balls on early contact and ended his day with a flyout on the second pitch of the at-bat.
DeGrom had blown out his elbow once before, as a minor leaguer in October 2010, and this time he understands his mandate. He is now 36, and nobody has returned to have any sort of substantive career after a third Tommy John, so keeping his arm healthy as he comes back from his second is imperative. This is the last phase of deGrom’s career, and to maximize it, he must change. It does not need to be a wholesale reinvention. For deGrom, it is more an evolution, one to which he accustomed himself by watching video of his past self.
DeGrom at his best simply overwhelmed hitters. At-bats turned into lost causes. He was the best pitcher in the world in 2018, when he threw 217 innings of 1.70 ERA ball and struck out 269 with just 46 walks and 10 home runs allowed. The following year, he dedicated himself to being even more, winning his second Cy Young and proving he was no one-season fluke. DeGrom routinely blew away one hitter, then made the next look like he’d never seen a slider. He painted the plate with the meticulousness of a ceramic artist.
“I look at the best — ’18,” deGrom said of his first Cy Young season. “There were times where I hit 100 or close to it, but I think I sat around 96.”
He did. Ninety-six mph on the dot for his high-spin four-seam fastball. It jumped to 96.9 in 2019, 98.6 in 2020 and 99.2 in 2021. In the 11 games deGrom pitched toward the end of 2022, it was still 98.9 — and then 98.7 before he blew out again.
“I have to look at it like, hey, I can pitch at that velocity [from 2018],” deGrom said. “It is less stress on your body. You get out there and you’re throwing pitches at 100 miles an hour for however many pitches it is — it’s a lot of stress. It’s something that I’m going to look into — using it when I need it, backing off and just trusting that I can locate the ball.”
He had not yet adopted that attitude in 2022, when those 11 starts convinced deGrom to opt out of his contract with the New York Mets, who had drafted him in the ninth round in 2010. Immediately, the Texas Rangers began their pursuit. General manager Chris Young pitched for 13 years in the major leagues and knows how hard it is to be truly great. He grunted to hit 90 with his fastball. Someone who could sit 99 with 248 strikeouts against 19 walks in 156⅓ innings (as deGrom did in the combined pieces of his 2021 and 2022 seasons) and make it look easy is one of a kind. Injury risk be damned, Texas gave deGrom $185 million over five years.
He played the part in his first five starts for Texas. Then he left the sixth with elbow pain. Done for the year. Surgery on June 12 — 11 days after the birth of his third child, Nolan. He carried Nolan around with his left arm while his right was in a brace that would click a degree or two more every day to eventually reteach deGrom to straighten his arm.
He taught himself how to throw again, too, under the watchful eyes of Texas’ training staff and Keith Meister, the noted Tommy John surgeon who is also the Rangers’ team doctor. They wanted to build back the deGrom who scythed lineups — but this time, with decision-making processes guided by proper arm care.
Part of that showed in deGrom’s September cameo last year. His fastball averaged 97.3 mph, and he still managed to look like himself: 1.69 ERA, 14 strikeouts against one walk with one home run allowed in 10⅔ innings. Rather than rush back, deGrom put himself in a position to tackle the offseason. Those innings were enough to psychologically move past the rehabilitative stage and reenter achievement mode. He trained with the same intensity he did in past seasons. The stuff would still be there. While peers were spending the winter immersed in pitch design, deGrom was seeking the version of himself that could marry his inherent deGromness with the sturdiness he embodied the first six years of his career.
“I wasn’t trying to build anything in a lab,” deGrom said. “My arm got a little long a few years ago, so trying to shorten up the arm path a little bit and sync up my mechanics really well is what I’ve been trying to do.”
Rather than jump out in the first start of the spring to prove that heartiness, deGrom took his time. It is a long season. He wants to be there in the end. His goal for this year is straightforward: “Make as many starts as I can.” If that means throwing live at-bats a little longer than his teammates, that’s what he’ll do. Ultimately, deGrom is the one who defines his comfort, and he went so long without it that its priority is notable.
So if that means shorter starts early in the season, it won’t surprise anyone. There is no official innings limit on deGrom. The Rangers, though, are going to monitor his usage, and he doesn’t plan to use those limited outings to amp up his velocity. This is about being smart and considering more than raw pitch counts or innings totals.
“I think it’s going to be a monitor of stressful innings versus not,” deGrom said. “You have those games where you go five innings, you have 75 pitches, but you’ve got runners all over the place, so those are stressful. Whereas you cruise and you end up throwing 100 pitches and you had one or two runners. It’s like, OK, those don’t seem to be as stressful. So I think it’s monitoring all of that and just playing it by ear how the season goes.”
That approach carried into deGrom’s spring debut Saturday against the Kansas City Royals. He averaged 97 mph on his fastball, topping out at 98. His slider remained near its previous levels at 90. He flipped in a pair of curveballs for strikes, too, just as a reminder that he’s liable to buckle your knees at any given moment. On 31 pitches, deGrom threw 21 strikes, didn’t allow a baserunner and punched out three, including reigning MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. on a vicious 91.5-mph slider.
On his last batter of the day, deGrom started with a slider well off the plate inducing a swing-and-miss from Tyler Gentry, then followed with a low-and-not-quite-as-outside slider Gentry spit on. When a curveball that was well off the plate was called a strike, deGrom saw an opportunity. This is the art of pitching — of weighing the count, what a hitter has seen, how to take advantage of an umpire’s zone. He dotted a 97.3-mph fastball on the exact horizontal plane as the curveball and elevated it to the top of the strike zone, a nasty bit of sorcery that only a handful of pitchers on the planet can execute at deGrom’s level. Gentry stared at it, plate umpire Pete Talkington punched him out and deGrom strode off the mound, beta test complete.
“It’s always a thing of trusting your stuff,” deGrom said. “It’s one of the hardest things to do in this game, and part of it’s the fear of failure. You throw a pitch at 93 when you could have thrown it at 98 and it’s a homer, you’re like, ‘Why did I do that?’ So that’s the part that gets tough. You still have to go out there and trust your stuff, know that you can locate and change speeds, and still get outs not full tilt the whole time.”
Day by day, deGrom inches closer to that. He’ll get a little extra time, with the likelihood the Rangers will hold him back until the season’s fifth game, just to build in rest before the grind of a new season. He’s ready. It has been too long since he has been on the field regularly, contributing, searching for the best version of himself. It might look a little different. And if it does, that’s a good thing.
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