Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, May 23, 2012
When Phil Steele posts anything about college football, people read it and respect it. His 2012 Preaseason All-Big Ten Team is no exception. Steele released his Big Ten and SEC preseason teams Wednesday, and you can see them here. Two-time reigning Big Ten champ Wisconsin boasts the most first-team honorees (7), while Michigan State features the most overall honorees (16).
Here's Steele's preseason All-Big Ten First Team:
OFFENSE
QB: Denard Robinson, Michigan
RB: Montee Ball, Wisconsin
RB: Rex Burkhead, Nebraska
WR: Roy Roundtree, Michigan
WR: Keenan Davis, Iowa
WR: Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin
TE: Jake Stoneburner, Ohio State
C: Travis Frederick, Wisconsin
OG: Chris McDonald, Michigan State
OG: Spencer Long, Nebraska
OT: Ricky Wagner, Wisconsin
OT: Taylor Lewan, Michigan
DEFENSE
DE: John Simon, Ohio State
DT: Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State
DT: Kawann Short, Purdue
DE: William Gholston, Michigan State
LB: Mike Taylor, Wisconsin
LB: Gerald Hodges, Penn State
LB: Jonathan Brown, Illinois
LB: Chris Borland, Wisconsin
CB: Johnny Adams, Michigan State
CB: Micah Hyde, Iowa
S: Isaiah Lewis, Michigan State
S: CJ Barnett, Ohio State
SPECIAL TEAMS
K: Brett Maher, Nebraska
P: Brett Maher, Nebraska
KR: Raheem Mostert, Purdue
PR: Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin
See all four of Steele's preseason All-Big Ten teams
TEAM-BY-TEAM BREAKDOWN
Illinois: 7
Indiana: 4
Iowa: 7
Michigan: 13
Michigan State: 16
Minnesota: 2
Nebraska: 12
Northwestern: 6
Ohio State: 15
Penn State: 10
Purdue: 10
Wisconsin: 10
INSTANT REACTION
Biggest omission: James Vandenberg, QB, Iowa – It's hard to believe there are four quarterbacks better than Vandenberg, the conference's best pure QB. The senior should be throwing a lot, and he'll compile numbers worthy of All-Big Ten honors.
Honored, but not high enough: Le'Veon Bell, RB, Michigan State – Steele has him as a third-teamer, along with Ohio State's Jordan Hall, but he very well could be the Big Ten's best running back not named Montee Ball.
Dominant defense: We all know Michigan State's defense is going to be scary, but Steele has six Spartans on his first- or second-team defenses. That's an unbelievable number, and it includes a trio of second-team linebackers. It's going to be fun to watch this unit.
Another long season: Indiana and Minnesota struggled last year, no doubt about it, and it could be more of the same this year. Steele only has four Hoosiers on his four teams, the highest Kofi Hughes, a third-team wide receiver, and two Gophers, both being Troy Stoudermire, a fourth-team cornerback and kick returner.
Brent Yarina is a web editor and blogger for BTN.com. Find all of his work here and follow him on twitter at @BTNBrentYarina.