Street & Smith's and Athlon's preseason college football magazines have officially hit store shelves, and each outlet had plenty of praise for several individual Michigan Wolverines players.
The accolades were limited from a national standpoint, but numerous Maize and Blue athletes landed on each magazine's all-conference lists.
No U-M players landed on Street & Smith's All-American team, but three defensive Wolverines found themselves on the outlet's first-team All-Big Ten squad in senior defensive end Kwity Paye, senior cornerback Ambry Thomas and sophomore safety Daxton Hill.
Street & Smith's praise for Paye continued when the publication tabbed him as U-M's 'top NFL prospect.'
"An NFL prospect a year ago, Paye chose another year at Michigan over the draft," they wrote of the senior defensive end. "He’s a disruptive defensive end with athleticism despite his 6-4, 277-pound frame.
"Paye’s 12.5 tackles for loss led the team as a junior, and he could be in the All-America conversation with a big senior season.”
The outlet had a somewhat negative take on Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, however, referring to him as having the 'hottest seat' in the Big Ten.
“For all the hype, Harbaugh is 0-5 against Ohio State and has yet to get Michigan to the Big Ten championship game," they noted.
Athlon, meanwhile, had the highest individual praise for junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, pegging him as a third-team All-American and a first-team all-conference player.
Paye, Thomas and Hill also landed on the Big Ten's first-team all-defense, while redshirt sophomore right tackle Jalen Mayfield and redshirt sophomore linebacker Cam McGrone found themselves on the league's all-second team.
Four more Wolverine players were placed on Athlon's third-team All-Big Ten crew, in sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet, senior wideout Nico Collins, fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp and sophomore kick returner Giles Jackson.
Athlon also tabbed McGrone as their 'rising star' of Michigan's team.
“Linebacker Cameron McGrone made the most of his starting opportunity and never relinquished his role as one of the Wolverines’ most dependable linebackers," they wrote.
"He finished with 65 total tackles, nine tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Those numbers are expected to increase.”
Athlon concluded its Big Ten writeup by singling out 12 'games to watch' in the league this fall, and the Maize and Blue landed on five of them — Michigan at Washington, Wisconsin at Michigan, Penn State at Michigan, Michigan at Michigan State and Michigan at Ohio State.
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