‘Who doesn’t want to be part of Yankees history?’: Before Juan Soto hits free agency, there’s work to do
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — This year’s Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, which doubled as a 2009 championship team reunion, offered a glimpse into a possible future for Juan Soto — one in which he commits to a career in pinstripes, becomes a Yankees legend and returns to the Bronx a hero long after his playing days are over.
More than 30 former New York Yankees mingled with current players, roaming from the clubhouse and dugout to the bowels of the stadium. Soto chatted with Derek Jeter, Alex Rodríguez, CC Sabathia and Jorge Posada, among others who flourished as Yankees, won World Series titles, and finished their playing days here. He eagerly picked their brains. He intently listened to their messages, calling those conversations “great for me and my career.”
In turn, those stars gushed about the 25-year-old superstar.
“It’s been a match made in heaven,” Sabathia said.
Said Posada: “He looks great in pinstripes. I would love to see him here for a long time.”
Soto has thrived in his first year in New York. He became an instant fan favorite and is on track to post the best season of his career, slugging alongside Aaron Judge on a nightly basis. It has, so far, been a rousing success. But even as October and a chance to win a pennant approaches, Soto’s impending free agency continues to hover over it all. This offseason, Soto will face the most important decision of his life: Will he be in attendance for the next Old-Timers’ Day or be one-and-done in the Bronx?
In May, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said he would be open to signing Soto to a contract extension during the season, adding that he wants to see Soto in pinstripes “for the rest of his career.” But that was always unlikely — Scott Boras, Soto’s agent, strongly prefers having his players reach free agency.
Soto’s fusion of talent, durability and age — reaching free agency at 26 is a money-making anomaly — is expected to spark a bidding war starting at $500 million. Several big league clubs are likely to engage, perhaps none more aggressively than the crosstown Mets.
“We’ll be on the lookout for the Yankees in the offseason, and we’ll listen to all their offers,” Soto said in Spanish earlier this summer. “And we’ll see what happens.”
In other words: Soto will shop around. But the Yankees can afford to give him the second-richest contract in history behind Shohei Ohtani‘s deal with the Dodgers — and the richest based on present-day value.
The Yankees have at least $65 million coming off the books this offseason, and keeping Soto is atop their to-do list. Their approach to the trade deadline hinted at that. New York ended up adding two players with contracts under team control for the next two seasons: Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Mark Leiter Jr. A day after the deadline, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman noted that the club took future payroll into account when considering possible acquisitions. Saving money for Soto was left unsaid, but every conversation about their star right fielder revolves around wanting him in New York for the rest of his career.
“Of course I want it to be forever,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But you just try and appreciate it.”
THE BLEACHER CREATURE chants, now a semi-regular occurrence at Yankee Stadium, materialized the day after Old-Timers’ Day, on a steamy August afternoon.
“Re-sign Soto! Re-sign Soto!”
Soto was standing in right field. Judge, his partner in mashing, was stationed in center. The pair playfully acknowledged the serenade. Judge tapped his glove to the rhythm. He cupped his ear for more noise. Soto, smiling, looked over at him, and gestured as if to say, “What can I do?”
In the previous half-inning, Soto and Judge had collaborated on one of the most electrifying sequences in their historic but potentially brief partnership: back-to-back-to-back home runs against the Colorado Rockies. Soto ignited the barrage. Judge went second. Veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton delivered the final bang.
It was the 12th time Soto and Judge homered in the same game this season. They’ve been the most dominant tandem in baseball. But they embarked on their union with a bit of a conundrum.
The pair started the season with a standard, leaping forearm-bash home run celebration, which to them wasn’t good enough. They wanted a personalized handshake to commemorate their longballs. In May, shortstop Anthony Volpe came up with an idea.
“He said we were ‘The Kings of New York,'” Soto said. “So, we did something with that.”
After a few fixes and some practice, Soto and Judge unveiled the final product: Up top and down low three times and a Superman imitation before placing crowns on their heads. No home run celebration has been used more since.
The duo has combined for 90 homers, 14 more than any other pair of teammates in baseball. Judge has a league-leading 51, giving him an outside shot of matching his own American League record of 62. Soto’s 38 are fourth in the majors and a career high.
“He just finds a way to impact the game every single day,” Judge said. “He’s always focused on the team, which is something I always love. Like, he’s here for us and that can be tough when it’s your third team and you’re about to be a free agent.
“Every other day you got another fan yelling from the outfield, ‘Sign a contract, stay here!’ You got other teams, whenever we go play somewhere else — we play in Philly, we play the Mets — you got people saying stuff. Man, it’s a treat. It’s a treat just to see that.”
Soto and Judge have gone back and forth this summer calling each other the greatest hitter in the world. The title firmly belongs to Judge in 2024, but Soto’s résumé, when adjusted for age, is unmatched among current players.
He is a World Series champion, four-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger. He’s won a batting title and a Home Run Derby. His 35.7 fWAR since debuting in May 2018 ranks fourth in the majors behind Judge, Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor. He is on a first-ballot Hall of Fame trajectory with what is universally considered the best plate discipline in baseball.
This year, Soto, who started in the All-Star Game for the first time, is third in the majors in fWAR — behind Judge and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Only Judge has a better on-base percentage and wRC+. Only Judge has accumulated more walks.
Soto has a 1.029 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .954 OPS against lefties. He is in the 98th percentile or better across the majors in exit velocity, barrel percentage, hard-hit percentage, chase rate and walk rate, among other categories that make front offices salivate. He’s hit three home runs in a game. His four bunt hits this season are as many or more than five teams have in total. His defense, dismal last season as a left fielder in San Diego, has vastly improved with his return to right field.
Soto has excelled despite playing through forearm and hand injuries, missing just four games this season after playing in all 162 for the Padres in 2023.
“He’s just like a metronome,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. “It’s the same look every day. It’s pretty rare. It’s really hard to do. But it’s a trait that a lot of great players, most great players, have. I think he takes it up to maybe another level. Puts his own kind of flair on it within the game. But he’s just so disciplined off the field.”
A week after the Bleacher Creatures’ debut of their “Re-sign Soto” chant, they made another round of pleas during a win over the St. Louis Cardinals. And again, Soto and Judge looked at each other and smiled. Soto turned and acknowledged them, to thunderous cheers. But when asked about the cheers after the first rendition, Soto redirected the request.
“They have to talk to Cashman,” Soto said with a laugh.
CASHMAN, OF COURSE, is the one responsible for acquiring Soto in a seven-player trade with the San Diego Padres last December knowing Soto was one year from free agency. The Yankees were willing to take the risk because they believed he was an ideal fit for a lineup desperate for a strong left-handed-hitting presence. That he would be a Dominican superstar in the city with the largest Dominican population in the United States was icing on the cake. So far, it’s been a seamless fit.
Soto’s family often visits from the Dominican Republic; his father (also Juan José) is a frequent presence on the field at Yankee Stadium before games, usually accompanied by friends or relatives. He sometimes carries a camera to snap pictures. Soto also has a personal content creator — hired by his camp — who occasionally travels here from Santo Domingo.
He has an aunt in Manhattan and an uncle in the Bronx. He attended Knicks and Rangers playoff games with teammates in the spring. He went to an Aventura concert and recently appeared at the US Open in Flushing. But Soto resides in a suburb about 40 minutes from Yankee Stadium and said the grind of the season has not allowed for much exploration.
“I’ve enjoyed the area where I live,” Soto said. “I’ve gone around a bit and done some things and seen how everything is. But, to be honest, the city itself, I haven’t enjoyed it too much because I haven’t come down much.”
That hasn’t been necessary to make Yankee Stadium feel like home. Soto’s penchant for the stage has resonated with the franchise’s notoriously unforgiving fans, whose adoration is exhibited before every home game, when Soto jogs out to right field, gestures a hug to the Bleacher Creatures, bows and points to his chest. More often than not, a Dominican flag can be spotted. Every single time there’s a roar.
“It’s a fan base that’s a little different,” Soto said. “I think it’s a fanbase that wants to win, that is very proud. I would say it’s fun, but it’s also a challenge. You have to produce on the field. If not, you know what’s coming.”
Soto has produced, but he has also infused the Yankees with a unique blend of swagger, maturity and craftsmanship that has been embraced in the Bronx.
He rankles pitchers with intense stares and his trademark Soto Shuffle, an exaggerated reaction to pitches out of the strike zone he birthed in the minor leagues to inspire confidence. He playfully trash-talks catchers. He is the kind of player you love to have on your side and loathe to face. Tim Hill knows.
The left-handed middle reliever with the funky delivery has been Soto’s teammate the past three seasons — first with the Padres and now with the Yankees. Before that, in 2021, he faced Soto three times. Soto struck out in each at-bat. The one-on-one battles resonated.
“He swings and you flinch,” Hill said with a laugh. “It’s just a cat-and-mouse game that I happen to come out on top of. He gets his A-swing off every single time. Even in two-strike counts. Like I would throw the four-seam up and he swings through it, but I swear I could feel the frickin’ wind from the swing. I’m exaggerating a little bit, obviously, but you feel it.
“I remember his shuffle. He shuffled on me ball one and it pissed me off a little bit. I actually love the way he plays mind tricks with the pitcher because I remember it worked against me. It made me mad. And I was like, ‘Ugh!’ I wanted to get him. And I happened to. But also I think he baits guys, in a way getting in a pissing contest with him. Like, ‘All right, you want this?’ And then they’ll throw it, and he frickin’ whacks it out of the yard.”
The gamesmanship has evolved to include catchers. Conversations between hitters and catchers, especially familiar foes, are common. But Soto takes the interactions to another level.
“He’ll say, ‘What are you going to call now? If the pitch is there again, I’m going to hit it out,'” Mets backup catcher Luis Torrens said in Spanish. “If he doesn’t agree with a called strike, he’ll say, ‘No, that pitch was a ball.’ And he’ll go, ‘It’s OK, I’ll give it to him, I’ll give it to the pitcher.’ His confidence is unbelievable. His mentality is he’s going to talk and deliver.”
Torrens spent spring training this season with the Yankees and got to know Soto. He learned the banter comes from a competitive place. So he wasn’t surprised when in July, Soto crushed a 443-foot home run off Mets left-hander Sean Manaea and instantaneously turned around to smile at Francisco Álvarez before beginning his trot.
“It’s part of my game,” Soto said. “In the end, I say that at home plate you have to play it like a game of chess. Always have your strategy, try to see what they have in mind and work from there. I don’t know if they’re scared, but it’s part of me managing my confidence at the plate. Moving my pieces. Trying to see what is the weak spot to attack.”
Boone was in his first season at the helm when Soto made his Yankee Stadium debut in June 2018, as a 19-year-old rookie on a veteran Washington Nationals team with World Series aspirations. He had heard about Soto from his father, Bob, who had been with the Nationals front office since 2005.
“I remember him always saying, ‘Juan Soto is the guy and he’s ready now,'” Boone said. “He was in like A-ball, Double-A. He said, ‘This guy is different.'”
Soto, who had zoomed from A-ball to the majors before the end of May, arrived for his first Bronx experience as a platoon player. He wasn’t in the lineup in the series opener because Sabathia, a left-hander, started on the mound for the Yankees. Soto watched the Nationals lose 3-0.
The next night, Soto batted seventh and played left field. He walked in his first at-bat against right-hander Sonny Gray. Two innings later, he sliced a go-ahead three-run moonshot home run down the left-field line. Three innings after that, he annihilated a fastball from left-hander Chasen Shreve, 436 feet over the Yankees’ bullpen for a go-ahead solo homer.
“That was a freakin’ bomb to right-center,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez recalled earlier this summer. “I was like, ‘Wow.’ I’ll tell you what impressed me most: Nothing seems to faze him no matter where he’s at.”
With the blasts, Soto became the youngest player since Ken Griffey Jr. to hit two home runs at Yankee Stadium. It was obvious he thrived in that setting — so obvious, teammate Gio Gonzalez, a veteran starting pitcher, made a prediction that night.
“Gio told me, ‘Enjoy it because you’re going to be a Yankee one day,'” Soto said. “‘This is going to be your house.'”
SOON, SOTO WILL decide if 2024 was a temporary stay.
Two years ago, he turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer — without deferrals — from the Nationals, prompting the team to trade him to the Padres for a haul of prospects that summer. Now, he and Boras will be looking for far more.
“I let him do his thing in his area, and I do it in mine,” Soto said of Boras. “I think that’s the best way to do it. I’m intelligent in my playing field, in everything I do. And he’s intelligent in his area. So I think that’s how we’ve done it and we’ve felt very comfortable with how we’ve done it.”
The Mets loom as the Yankees’ strongest competition, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Mets owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets and burning desire to win could upend the bidding war.
The Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are among the other clubs that could make calls. The Nationals would love a reunion, according to people with knowledge of the situation, but it would take ownership allocating more money for Soto than they were previously willing to offer.
Two years ago, Judge faced a similar decision: Remain a Yankee for life, or play elsewhere. Like Soto, Judge had a career season with the Yankees heading into free agency, surpassing Roger Maris’ mark of 61 home runs established in 1961. Knowing the weight on Soto’s shoulders, Judge said he has been mindful of avoiding discussing free agency since the spring.
“I just kind of talked to him early on and said, ‘Hey, just do your thing. There’s going to be a lot of noise, but you play your game, you do what you can. All that stuff’s going to work out at the end,'” Judge said. “And we kind of just left it at that because I know how it was when I was going through it. I didn’t want somebody bringing it up every single day. I didn’t want somebody to bring it up every month. After a good month bringing it up, after a bad month bringing it up. It’s just, ‘Go do your thing.'”
In the meantime, Soto and Judge have at least the rest of this month of baseball together — and they hope to make a run in October. It’s been five years since Soto’s Fall Classic debut, and this year he’d like to bring Judge along with him.
In 2019, Soto’s World Series began with a strikeout against Cole, then a Houston Astro, in the first inning. Three innings later, he blasted a 96-mph fastball up and away to the railroad track beyond the wall in left-center field at Minute Maid Park.
“I thought, ‘Well, that’s never happened before,'” Cole said. “I don’t think anyone has hit a pitch like that.”
In Game 6, in response to Alex Bregman homering and carrying his bat all the way to first base, Soto carried his bat to first base after smashing a fastball from Justin Verlander to the second deck. It was both petty and heady. His talent, and brashness, were on full display. His shuffle captivated the national audience every night. The Nationals won the series in seven games.
“It’s a guy that’s been there, done that,” Judge said. “He’s played in big moments, played in big games. And I think that’s what it really comes down to. You see a lot of these teams over the years that have won, they got guys that have been in big moments.
“Look at the Rangers last year, you add a guy like Corey Seager, he wins his second World Series MVP and he’s been in those big moments. You gotta have those guys that are cool, calm and collected in those big moments and he’s definitely one of those guys.”
Now Soto and Judge are looking to create their own chapter with a championship ending. It might be their only chance.
“Who doesn’t want to be part of Yankees history?” Soto said. “I think the only way to be part of Yankees history is being a champion.”
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
With schools playing as many as 16 games this season in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff format, we waited a little longer than usual to unveil our 2024 ESPN All-America team.
Postseason performances should matter, especially when you’re talking about up to four games.
Headlining the team is Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who turned in All-America performances at three spots. (We limited him to one position on our list.) The receiver/cornerback was the cornerstone of a Colorado team that won nine games in 2024 after suffering through seven straight losing seasons.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts are the only repeat selections from last season. Ohio State and Texas each have three first-team selections to lead the way, and Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith is the only true freshman on the team.
OFFENSE
Ward made the most of his one season at Miami after transferring from Washington State. A Heisman Trophy finalist, he tied for the FBS lead by accounting for 44 touchdowns (39 passing, 4 rushing and 1 receiving) on the ACC’s No. 1 offense and threw just seven interceptions in 454 pass attempts. Ward, who started his career in the FCS ranks at Incarnate Word, had 10 games with at least 300 passing yards and set a Miami record with 4,313 passing yards.
Second team: Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
The mere fact that Jeanty made a run at Barry Sanders’ hallowed NCAA rushing record of 2,628 yards tells you everything you need to know about Jeanty’s 2024 season. He led the country with 2,601 rushing yards and scored 30 touchdowns. Jeanty was the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Hunter, and defenses aligned to stop him all season. Even so, he entered the Fiesta Bowl with 1,882 yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus, which was more than any other FBS player had in total rushing yards.
Second team: Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
Everybody in and around Arizona State’s program already knew Skattebo was an elite running back, but he showed the rest of the country in his two postseason outings. Skattebo finished second to Jeanty with 1,711 rushing yards and had 21 touchdowns. He also caught 45 passes, and in the Big 12 championship game win over Iowa State and playoff loss to Texas, he rolled up 450 all-purpose yards and accounted for six touchdowns, one a 42-yard pass in the Sun Devils’ double-overtime loss to Texas.
Second team: Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who has been a head coach at the NFL and collegiate levels, said he has never had a receiver like Smith, with his blend of size, speed and ability to track the ball in tight coverage. A true freshman, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Smith was uncoverable in the Buckeyes’ first two playoff games, with four touchdown catches and 290 receiving yards. He’s tied for third nationally with 14 touchdown receptions and averages 17.3 yards per catch.
Second team: Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
Nash is the first San José State player to be named a consensus All-American. The 6-3, 195-pound redshirt senior became the fourth player in FBS history to earn the receiving triple crown in the regular season with 104 catches, 1,382 receiving yards and 16 touchdown catches. Nash had 39 catches of 15 yards or longer, according to Pro Football Focus, and 71 catches resulting in a first down, leading the nation in both categories. He also threw two touchdown passes this season.
Second team: Xavier Restrepo, Miami
Warren came to Penn State as a quarterback, and that athleticism was on full display in his sensational redshirt senior season. He caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards and 13 combined touchdowns (8receiving, 4 rushing and 1 passing). The 6-6, 261-pound Warren became the first tight end in Big Ten history to catch 100 passes in a season and won the John Mackey Award as the top tight end in college football.
Second team: Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
Despite a left ankle injury that sidelined him for the SEC championship game, Banks was the centerpiece of a Texas offensive line that paved the way for one of the most balanced offenses in the country. The Longhorns were one of six FBS teams to average more than 275 passing yards and 160 rushing yards per game. The 6-4, 320-pound junior won the Lombardi Award this season as the nation’s best collegiate lineman and has been a starter at left tackle since his true freshman season.
Second team: Wyatt Milum, West Virginia
Jackson’s versatility has been a huge part of Ohio State’s run to the national championship game. He returned for his senior season after earning All-Big Ten honors at left guard each of the previous two seasons. He continued his stellar play at guard through the first half of this season but moved to left tackle after Josh Simmons suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Second team: Willie Lampkin, North Carolina
Florida’s offensive line improved steadily in the latter part of the 2024 season, when the Gators won their last four games, and Slaughter’s play was a big reason. A redshirt junior who has announced he will return for the 2025 season, Slaughter allowed just one sack and one quarterback hit in 728 snaps in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus.
Second team: Cooper Mays, Tennessee
Booker was a powerful blocker in the run game during all three of his seasons at Alabama and was a two-year starter at left guard. He also started one game this season at left tackle. Booker recorded a team-high 87 knockdown blocks and didn’t allow a sack in 715 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He declared for the NFL draft following the Crimson Tide’s bowl game.
Second team: Bill Katsigiannis, Army
From the time he stepped foot on campus, Campbell was a fixture on LSU’s offensive line at left tackle, and this season, he played every offensive snap (866) in 11 of LSU’s 12 games. Campbell shared the Jacobs Trophy as the SEC’s top blocker with Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. Campbell is headed to the NFL after three seasons in Baton Rouge and is rated as the No. 2 tackle in the draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper.
Second team: Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon
It might be a while before college football sees another iron man like Hunter, who played a staggering 1,440 snaps this season. In addition to playing more than 650 snaps on both offense and defense, he even played some on special teams — talk about an all-purpose player! Hunter tied for fourth nationally with 96 catches and ranked second with 15 touchdown receptions in winning the Biletnikoff Award as the country’s top receiver and led Colorado on defense with four interceptions and 11 pass breakups.
Second team: Desmond Reid, Pittsburgh
DEFENSE
Carter played through a painful shoulder injury in Penn State’s playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame and still managed a sack. He led all FBS players with 23.5 tackles for loss, including 12 sacks. The 6-3, 252-pound junior moved from linebacker to edge rusher this season and established himself as one of the most dynamic defenders in the country. He had four games with multiple sacks and is projected to be one of the top defenders taken in the 2025 NFL draft.
Second team: Kyle Kennard, South Carolina
The defensive front was Michigan’s strength, and it was dominant in the upset win over Ohio State in the regular-season finale. Graham was the rock of that unit and a disrupter in the interior against both the run and pass. He had 7.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and 26 pressures and is headed to the NFL, where he’s projected by ESPN’s Mel Kiper to be the top defensive tackle taken in the 2025 draft.
Second team: Rylie Mills, Notre Dame
After transferring from Texas A&M, Nolen had his best season at Ole Miss. He’s big (6-3, 305 pounds) and has great burst. Nolen led all SEC defenders with 12 tackles for loss in league games and is the kind of interior pass rusher all defenses covet. And as a run stopper, he was ranked second among all interior defensive linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.
Second team: Derrick Harmon, Oregon
Ezeiruaku blossomed as a senior and leaves BC as one of the top defensive players in school history. At 6-2 and 247 pounds, Ezeiruaka was a pass-rushing dynamo with 16.5 sacks to rank second among FBS players. He was third nationally with 20.5 tackles for loss en route to winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors and the Ted Hendricks Award as college football’s top defensive end.
Second team: Jack Sawyer, Ohio State
The Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker, Walker is the third Georgia player to win the award since 2017. He’s a fierce tackler wherever he lines up and led the Bulldogs with 10.5 tackles for loss. Walker played more snaps at inside linebacker than he did rushing the passer, but he still finished with 34 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Second team: Jihaad Campbell, Alabama
One of the best stories in college football, Dolac started his career at Buffalo as a walk-on, then missed most of last season because of a shoulder injury before transferring to Utah State for a semester and going through spring practice. But he knew he belonged closer to home and returned to Buffalo to have a huge senior season. He led the nation with 168 total tackles and led all linebackers with 18.5 tackles for loss to go along with five interceptions.
Second team: Jay Higgins, Iowa
The epitome of a do-it-all linebacker, Hill went from being one of the best true freshmen in 2023 to one of the best defenders in the country this season. And, yes, he has another season remaining at Texas. The 6-3, 235-pound sophomore led the Longhorns with 113 total tackles and tied for fourth among FBS linebackers with 16.5 tackles for loss. He also had four forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.
Second team: Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
Barron was already widely viewed as one of the top cornerbacks in college football but only raised his stock in helping limit Ohio State star receiver Jeremiah Smith to one catch for 3 yards in the Longhorns’ playoff semifinal loss at the Cotton Bowl. Barron, a 5-11, 200-pound redshirt senior, was the Thorpe Award winner as the best defensive back in college football and tied for the team lead in a talented secondary with five interceptions.
Second team: Jermod McCoy, Tennessee
In his second season at Cal after transferring from UNLV, Williams led all FBS players with seven interceptions and tied for third with 16 passes defended. He finished his college career with 14 interceptions and scored touchdowns this season on an 80-yard kickoff return in the opener against UC Davis and a 40-yard interception return against Cam Ward and Miami in a 39-38 loss to the Hurricanes.
Second team: D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana
Watts has been everything you could ask for in the back end of the Notre Dame defense. He erases mistakes, makes big plays in big moments and raises the game of everybody around him. The 6-foot, 203-pound redshirt senior leads all FBS safeties with six interceptions and is second on his team with 74 total tackles. He has 13 interceptions over his past two seasons and will go down as one of the best safeties in Notre Dame history.
Second team: Malaki Starks, Georgia
There’s no shortage of talent on the Ohio State defense, and adding Downs in the transfer portal helped spur the Buckeyes to the national championship game. He has uncanny instincts and is a force against both the run and pass. The 6-foot, 205-pound sophomore was a Thorpe Award finalist after earning Shaun Alexander Award honors as the national freshman of the year in his first season at Alabama. Downs ranks third on his team with 76 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, and has two interceptions.
Second team: Michael Taaffe, Texas
SPECIAL TEAMS
Zvada came to Ann Arbor by way of Arkansas State and kicked his way into Michigan history in just one season. His winning 21-yard field goal in the final minute gave the Wolverines their fourth straight victory over rival Ohio State, and he was money all season for the Maize and Blue. Zvada was 21-of-22 on field goal attempts and made all seven of his tries from 50 yards or longer.
Second team: Kenneth Almendares, Louisiana
The Trojans led the country in net punting, and Czaplicki’s ability to keep opposing offenses backed up against their own goal line was a big part of USC’s improvement on defense. Czaplicki, the Ray Guy award winner as the nation’s best punter, averaged 47.8 yards per punt, and opponents returned only 13 of his kicks. He had just one touchback all season, and 25 of his 43 punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Second team: Alex Mastromanno, Florida State
Shanks did a little bit of everything for UAB. The redshirt freshman led the nation in punt return yards (329) and punt return average (20.6), and he returned two punts for touchdowns, including a 58-yarder against Tulsa; he accounted for 311 all-purpose yards and four TDs in the game. Shanks also tied for the team lead with 62 catches and racked up 656 receiving yards to go with six touchdown receptions.
Second team: Rayshawn Pleasant, Tulane
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