The Big Ten’s biggest stars will be in the spotlight this week as the conference holds its annual media days – this time under the bright lights of Las Vegas for the first time.
Unlike other conferences, the Big Ten doesn’t release a preseason all-conference team in conjunction with its media days. So as I have every year since I started here at Eleven Warriors, I’ve taken it upon myself to assemble my own preseason All-Big Ten team of who I think will be the best players in the conference at every position this season.
My preseason All-Big Ten team is intended to be a forward-looking prediction of who will make the postseason all-conference squad, not a career achievement award of what players have already done before this season. While players who earned all-conference honors last year drew strong consideration, it wasn’t a prerequisite for making this list.
Oregon leads the way with five projected all-conference selections, followed by Ohio State and Penn State with four each. Indiana and Iowa each land three players in this preseason All-Big Ten projection, while Michigan and Washington are the only other teams with multiple selections with two each.
After correctly predicting 14 first-team All-Big Ten selections in both 2022 and 2023, predicting who would earn first-team honors in the conference’s first year of 18 teams proved to be a tougher task, as I correctly predicted just seven first-teamers in 2024. Will I get back on track this year? Let me know in the comments what you think.
QB: Demond Williams Jr., Washington
We’ll start with the position that was by far the most difficult for me to pick.
Penn State’s Drew Allar is the popular choice for preseason All-Big Ten lists with good reason – he’s the conference’s leading returning passer – but his struggles in big games over the past two years gave me pause. Illinois’ Luke Altmyer rivals Allar for being the Big Ten’s best veteran quarterback, but his numbers would need to make a significant jump to become a first-team all-conference quarterback. UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava might be the biggest name among Big Ten quarterbacks, but he’ll need to find more consistency with less talent around him than he had at Tennessee.
That led me to consider several potential breakout stars at the position, including a quartet of five-star recruits in Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Michigan’s Bryce Underwood. Sayin might have the most upside among them to become a first-team All-Big Ten quarterback this season, considering all the talent he has at his disposal, but he still has to beat out Lincoln Kienholz to secure the starting job.
With all of that in mind, I’m making a dart throw and betting on a big breakout season from Williams, who completed 43 of 52 passes for 575 yards and five touchdowns with one interception and ran for 65 yards and a touchdown in two starts to end last season. Gifted as both a passer and a runner with a quality group of weapons around him, I’m banking on Williams putting up big numbers for a dynamic Washington offense this season and emerging as one of the Big Ten’s young stars.
RB: Nicholas Singleton, Penn State
RB: Jonah Coleman, Washington
Penn State has arguably the Big Ten’s two best running backs in Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who both chose to return to the Nittany Lions for their senior seasons even though they had firmly established themselves as NFL draft prospects. Either or both of them could be All-Big Ten first-teamers this year, but my money’s on Singleton – an explosive runner and receiver out of the backfield who led all returning Big Ten players in yards from scrimmage last season – being the Big Ten’s top RB and one of the best in the entire country.
Michigan’s Justice Haynes, Oregon’s Makhi Hughes and Minnesota’s Darius Taylor are among the other running backs I considered placing alongside Singleton on the All-Big Ten team, but I gave the final nod to Coleman, a bruising 228-pound back who already proved himself as one of the conference’s best runners with a 1,053-yard, 10-touchdown season in 2024.
WR: Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
WR: Trebor Pena, Penn State
As long as he stays healthy, Smith will be a first-team All-Big Ten wide receiver. He’s the best receiver in the country, let alone the conference. The reigning Big Ten Receiver of the Year is a clear favorite to win the award again.
That leaves one spot up for grabs – due to the antiquated structure of the All-Big Ten team having only two receiver spots – for the rest of the conference’s wideouts.
Carnell Tate is probably the Big Ten’s second-best receiver, but it’s rare for two receivers from one school to both make the All-Big Ten first team. Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt, Washington’s Denzel Boston and USC’s Makai Lemon rank alongside Tate as the Big Ten’s top returning receivers not named Jeremiah. But I’m going with Pena, a speedy slot receiver who earned second-team All-ACC honors last year at Syracuse, who should put up big numbers as he gives Penn State the dynamic weapon it’s sorely lacked at wide receiver in recent years.
TE: Max Klare, Ohio State
Klare earned third-team All-Big Ten honors despite playing on the Big Ten’s worst offense last season, and he would have been a strong first-team candidate if he wasn’t in the same conference as a pair of top-15 NFL draft picks (Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren). Now that Warren and Loveland are gone and Klare is playing on a far better offense with much more talent around him, he should be the best tight end in the Big Ten, if not the entire country.
The biggest thing that could hold Klare back is having to share targets with the likes of Smith, Tate and Brandon Inniss, but Cade Stover’s first-team All-Big Ten season two years ago showed that a tight end can put up big numbers in an offense led by Ryan Day and Brian Hartline. Klare is the best receiving tight end Day’s Buckeyes have ever had, and I expect him to be featured prominently in the offense as a result.
OT: Isaiah World, Oregon
OT: Gennings Dunker, Iowa
World was ranked as the best offensive tackle in the transfer portal this offseason for a reason. The 6-foot-8, 312-pound Nevada transfer has all the tools to be one of the best offensive tackles in college football, and will anchor the offensive line for one of the Big Ten’s top offenses, making him a strong first-team all-conference candidate.
Dunker is the Big Ten’s top returning offensive tackle from last season, when he earned second-team all-conference honors and received the top Pro Football Focus grade (90.2) among all Big Ten OTs. Kirk Ferentz’s squad commonly produces All-Big Ten offensive linemen, and Dunker is a top candidate to keep that going for Iowa this year.
G: Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State
G: Rocco Spindler, Nebraska
A second-team All-Big Ten selection last year, Ioane enters his redshirt junior season as the conference’s top guard. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound LG was a big reason why Penn State had the nation’s No. 17 rushing offense last season, and having Singleton and Allen running the ball behind him again this year will allow him to continue putting his blocking talents on display.
Spindler transferred to Nebraska this offseason after playing a leading role for Notre Dame’s offensive line as its starting right guard last season. He was an asset for the Fighting Irish in their run to the national championship game, allowing zero sacks in 2024, and that experience sets him up well to be one of the Big Ten’s best guards for the Cornhuskers.
C: Logan Jones, Iowa
Jones split first-team All-Big Ten honors last season with Ohio State’s Seth McLaughlin; Jones was the media’s first-team selection, while the coaches gave the first-team nod to McLaughlin. Considering McLaughlin also won the Rimington Trophy as college football’s best center, that speaks to how good Jones was manning the middle of Iowa’s offensive line in 2024, when he received the highest PFF grade for the season (83.6) among all centers from Power 4 schools.
Other centers to watch around the conference include Oregon’s Iapani Laloulu, Indiana’s Pat Coogan (another starter from Notre Dame’s offensive line last season) and Ohio State’s Carson Hinzman if he can build off his strong finish to last year. But Jones will be the man to beat in the All-Big Ten race.
DL: Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon
DL: Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
DL: Mikail Kamara, Indiana
DL: Rayshaun Benny, Michigan
Uiagalelei and Kamara are the Big Ten’s top two returning defensive ends, with both recording double-digit sacks and earning first-team All-Big Ten honors a season ago. Dennis-Sutton was also among the Big Ten’s most productive edge rushers in 2024 and will now look to put up even bigger numbers as a senior as he becomes Penn State’s top defensive end now that Abdul Carter is in the NFL.
Benny was disruptive off the bench last season as Michigan’s top backup defensive tackle behind top-15 NFL draft picks Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. Now that Graham and Grant are gone, I expect Benny to take the mantle from them and become the Big Ten’s top run-stopping defensive tackle as a fifth-year senior.
Matayo Uiagalelei projects to be one of the Big Ten’s top defensive stars in 2025. (Photo: Troy Wayrynen – Imagn Images)
LB: Sonny Styles, Ohio State
LB: Bryce Boettcher, Oregon
LB: Aiden Fisher, Indiana
A second-team All-Big Ten selection in his first year playing the position, Styles looks poised to be one of the best linebackers in the country in 2025. Expected to be Ohio State’s top leader this season, Styles got better and better throughout the 2025 campaign and has all the tools to be a star now that he has a full year of linebacker experience under his belt.
Boettcher is another strong candidate for Big Ten Linebacker of the Year honors after a breakout 2024 season in which he led Oregon’s defense with 94 tackles. Fisher is the Big Ten’s leading returning tackler and looks to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors for a second straight year after recording 118 tackles a year ago.
DB: Caleb Downs, Ohio State
DB: Koi Perich, Minnesota
DB: Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
DB: D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana
Like Jeremiah Smith, Downs is a virtual first-team All-Big Ten lock barring injury. The best safety and defensive player in all of college football, Downs is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and could even have more playmaking opportunities this year as the centerpiece of a less experienced defense.
Perich also ranks as one of college football’s top safeties after a spectacular freshman season in which he led the Big Ten with five interceptions and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. Thieneman, like Klare, was already one of the Big Ten’s best players at Purdue and now has a great chance to establish himself as one of the nation’s best safeties as he moves to a much better team.
Leaving just one spot for a cornerback, the last position player on my All-Big Ten team was a tough choice between Ponds, Penn State’s A.J. Harris and Ohio State’s Jermaine Mathews Jr., who looks primed to be one of the Big Ten’s best cornerbacks as a first-year starter if this spring was any indication. In the end, I sided with Ponds – a former high school teammate of Jeremiah Smith – as he’s already proven himself to be one of the Big Ten’s best cornerbacks with a first-team all-conference season in 2024 in which he allowed just 32 catches for 263 yards and one touchdown on 60 targets with three interceptions and nine pass breakups.
K: Dominic Zvada, Michigan
A unanimous All-Big Ten selection a year ago, Zvada is the easy choice to be the Big Ten’s best kicker after he made 21 of 22 field goals in his first season at Michigan, including a nation-best seven field goals of 50-plus yards on seven attempts.
P: Ryan Eckley, Michigan State
Eckley has earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in back-to-back seasons and led the conference with an average of 47.9 yards per punt in 2024. If he can keep that up this year, he’ll have a great chance to move up the ladder to the first team in 2025.
RET: Kaden Wetjen, Iowa
A true return specialist, Wetjen ranked in the top 11 nationally in both kickoff and punt return average in 2024, returning one of each for a touchdown. His excellence in both return phases makes him a clear favorite to repeat as the first-team All-Big Ten return specialist in 2025.
LS: Luke Basso, Oregon
This is the first time I’ve picked a preseason All-Big Ten long snapper, as last year was the first time the position was included on the All-Big Ten team, and I’d be lying if I said I actually knew who the conference’s best long snapper is. So I’m going with the obvious choice by picking Basso, who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last year.
