Although the college football is still over 90 days away, preseason All-America and All-Conference teams are beginning to be revealed.
Athlon Sports recently unveiled its All-Big Ten team and Michigan was well represented on the list. Five Wolverines were named to the first team including junior Donovan Peoples-Jones who was selected as both a wide receiver and a punt returner. U-M has 15 players on the all-conference list, the most by any program
Peoples-Jones has started in 16 games in his Michigan career with 1,475 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns. He was an All-Big Ten selection both as a wide receiver and a punt returner in 2018.
The wide receiver is joined on the first team by senior quarterback Shea Patterson. Starting in every game last season for the Wolverines, he passed for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns. He was third-team All-Big Ten as selected by the coaches.
Senior left guard Ben Bredeson is also on the first team after starting in 33 games in his U-M career. He was second-team All-Big Ten by the media, coaches and the Associated Press in both 2017 and 2018.
Senior cornerback Lavert Hill and senior safety Josh Metellus both were named to the first team. In 2018, Hill started in all 13 games and tallied 14 solo tackles and one interception. He was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection. Metellus started in 12 games last season and totaled 48 tackles and three interceptions. He was first-team All-Big Ten by the AP and second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media.
U-M had three players earn preseason second-team All-Big Ten honors from Athlon. Junior center Cesar Ruiz, fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. and senior punter Will Hart earned the nod for the second team.
Ruiz has started in 18 games in his Michigan career and was third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches in 2018. Runyan has started in 15 games in his career, including all 13 last season at left tackle. In his first season starting full-time in 2018, he was a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and the AP, while earning second-team nods from the media. Hart was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award and was the Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year in 2018. He averaged 47.0 yards per punt last season with 19 punts of 50 yards or more.
Senior offensive lineman Michael Onwenu, junior defensive end Kwity Paye, senior linebacker Khaleke Hudson and sophomore kicker Jake Moody all were on the third team. Onwenu has started in 21 games and was third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches. Paye has started in four games for the Wolverines and has tallied 34 tackles and six tackles for loss in his career. Hudson. Hudson appeared in all 13 games in 2018 and racked up 44 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. Moody made 10-of-11 field goal attempts in 2018 along with handling kickoff duties.
Junior wide receiver Nico Collins and senior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour were both named to the fourth team. Dwumfour has played in 23 games in his Michigan career and has totaled 27 tackles and six tackles for loss. Collins started in 11 games in 2018 and had 38 receptions for 632 yards and six touchdowns.
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