By Charlie Campbell
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Heading into the 2018 college football season WalterFootball.com will debut our projections for the nation’s leaders during the fall. The All-American teams always have some surprises and the stars of next fall could be the headlining players next April in the 2019 NFL Draft.
First-Team Center: Elgton Jenkins, Mississippi State
Jenkins is a athletic and quick interior blocker who has been very impressive for the Bulldogs over the past two seasons. Sources who have done some advance work for 2019 say that Jenkins has impressed them and possesses early-round potential. He has good size to be a starting center in the NFL, and it will be interesting to see how he handles the change in offense under the new Mississippi State coaching staff. With a good quarterback behind him, Jenkins should not go under the radar.
Second-Team Center: Connor McGovern, Penn State
McGovern was a quality run blocker for Penn State in 2017, helping to open a lot of holes for Saquon Barkley. In pass protection, McGovern was generally a reliable protector for Trace McSorley. The 6-foot-5, 312-pound McGovern has good height and length to him. He should have a strong senior year opening holes in the ground game and should get noticed.
Third-Team Center: Sam Mustipher, Notre Dame
Mustipher (6-2, 305) would be rated higher as a NFL prospect if he were taller and had more length. As it stands, his size limits in how he will be graded. That being said, Mustipher played well and was an impressive blocker for Notre Dame in 2017. He opened a lot of holes in the ground game and was steady in pass protection. Even though Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey moved on to the NFL, the Fighting Irish have talent on the offensive line and Mustipher should impress All-American voters as a senior.
Honorable Mentions: Oregon’s Jake Hansen, Nevada’s Sean Krepsz, Florida State’s Alec Eberle, Florida’s T.J. McCoy, Ole Miss’ Sean Rawlings, Minnesota’s Jared Weyler and Marshall’s Levi Brown.
2018 Preseason All-American Projections:
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S | K/P
2018 Preseason Postseason Award Projections:
Thorpe Award | Lombardi Award | Biletnikoff Award | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Outland Trophy | Rimington Trophy | Mackey Award | Maxwell Award | Hendricks Award | O'Brien Award | Doak Walker Award | Bednarik Award | Nagurski Award | Hornung Award | Jet Award | Walter Camp Award | Ray Guy Award | Groza Award | Heisman Trophy |
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S | K/P
2018 Preseason Postseason Award Projections:
Thorpe Award | Lombardi Award | Biletnikoff Award | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Outland Trophy | Rimington Trophy | Mackey Award | Maxwell Award | Hendricks Award | O'Brien Award | Doak Walker Award | Bednarik Award | Nagurski Award | Hornung Award | Jet Award | Walter Camp Award | Ray Guy Award | Groza Award | Heisman Trophy |
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