Preview 2021: Previewing and looking ahead to the Big Ten season with the College Football News Preseason All-Big Ten Team & Top 30 players.
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2021 Big Ten Team Previews
East Indiana | Maryland | Michigan
Mich St | Ohio St | Penn St | Rutgers
West Illinois | Iowa | Minnesota
Nebraska | NWestern | Purdue | Wisconsin
2021 CFN Preseason All-Big Ten Team
2021 CFN Big Ten Top 30 Players
2021 Preseason CFN Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year
RB Mohamed Ibrahim, Sr. Minnesota
There isn’t a ton of flash, and he might not be at the hype level of a star quarterback, but Ibrahim is a tough, steady producer going into his fourth season as one of the nation’s best running backs.
Minnesota didn’t have the passing game of the 2019 team, and there wasn’t the running back rotation of the 2018 version, but Ibrahim still battled with 20 or more carries in every game. He ran the ball over 200 times in the seven game season for 1,076 yards and 15 scores. He’ll once again be a 100-yard machine.
Keeping with the theme of steady-over-sensational for the Big Ten preseason top players …
2021 Preseason CFN Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
LB Olakunie Fatukasi, Sr. Rutgers
Who’s Olakunie Fatukasi? No, he’s not an elite NFL prospect like some of the other Big Ten defensive talents, and he doesn’t play for Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin or Penn State. Also, Tyshon Fogg might be the longtime main man for the Rutgers defense, but the 6-1, 234-pound senior is a tough all-around defender. All he did was lead the Big Ten in tackles in 2020.
He wasn’t new to the mix. A bit smaller but still tough, he came up with 85 tackles as a junior, but under the new coaching staff he followed it up by doing just about everything with 101 stops with three sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
2021 CFN Preseason All-Big Ten Team
2021 CFN Big Ten Top 30 Players
NEXT: CFN 2021 Preseason All-Big Ten Team
College Football News 2021 Preseason All-Big Ten Team: Offense
QB – Graham Mertz, Soph. Wisconsin
RB – Tyler Goodson, Jr. Iowa
RB – Mohamed Ibrahim, Sr. Minnesota
WR – Ty Fryfogle, Sr. Indiana
WR – Chris Olave, Sr. Ohio State
TE – Jake Ferguson, Sr. Wisconsin
OT – Thayer Munford, Sr. Ohio State
OT/OG – Logan Bruss, Sr. Wisconsin
C – Tyler Linderbaum, Jr. Iowa
OG – Mike Miranda, Sr. Penn State
OT – Peter Skoronski, Soph. Northwestern
Related
CFN College Football Preview 2021: All 130 Team Previews, Schedules, Rankings
College Football News 2021 Preseason All-Big Ten Team: Defense
DE – Zach Harrison, Jr. Ohio State
DT – Keanu Benton, Jr. Wisconsin
DT – Haskell Garrett, Sr. Ohio State
DE – George Karlaftis, Jr. Purdue
LB – Olakunie Fatukasi, Sr. Rutgers
LB – Micah McFadden, Jr. Indiana
LB – Josh Ross, Sr. Michigan
CB – Sevyn Banks, Sr. Ohio State
S – Jaquan Brisker, Sr. Penn State
S – Brandon Joseph, Soph. Northwestern
CB – Tiawan Mullen, Soph. Indiana
College Football News 2021 Preseason All-Big Ten Team: Special Teams
PK – Charles Campbell, Soph. Indiana
P – Tory Taylor, Soph. Iowa
KR – Aron Cruickshank, Jr. Rutgers
PR – Charlie Jones, Sr. Iowa
NEXT: CFN 2021 Preseason Top 30 Big Ten Players
College Football News 2021 Preseason Top 30 Big Ten Players
30. LB Tyshon Fogg, Sr. Rutgers
29. LB Jack Sanborn, Sr. Wisconsin
28. LB JoJo Domann, Sr. Nebraska
27. CB Jaylin Williams, Jr. Indiana
26. TE Jake Ferguson, Sr. Wisconsin
25. OT Rasheed Walker, Jr. Penn State
24. OT Logan Bruss, Sr. Wisconsin
23. OT Thayer Munford, Sr. Ohio State
22. CB Tiawan Mullen, Soph. Indiana
21. WR Garrett Wilson, Sr. Ohio State
20. LB Jake Hansen, Sr. Illinois
19. QB Michael Penix, Jr., Soph. Indiana
18. DE Aidan Hutchinson, Sr. Michigan
17. CB Sevyn Banks, Sr. Ohio State
16. DE Zach VanValkenburg, Sr. Iowa
15. DE Tyreke Smith, Sr. Ohio State
14. WR Jahan Dotson, Sr. Penn State
13. DE Zach Harrison, Jr. Ohio State
12. S Jaquan Brisker, Sr. Penn State
11. QB Graham Mertz, Soph. Wisconsin
10. WR David Bell, Jr. Purdue
9. S Brandon Joseph, Soph. Northwestern
8. LB Josh Ross, Sr. Michigan
7. DE George Karlaftis, Jr. Purdue
6. WR Ty Fryfogle, Sr. Indiana
5. DT Haskell Garrett, Sr. Ohio State
4. LB Micah McFadden, Jr. Indiana
3. LB Olakunie Fatukasi, Sr. Rutgers
2. WR Chris Olave, Sr. Ohio State
1. RB Mohamed Ibrahim, Sr. Minnesota
2021 Big Ten Team Previews
East Indiana | Maryland | Michigan
Mich St | Ohio St | Penn St | Rutgers
West Illinois | Iowa | Minnesota
Nebraska | NWestern | Purdue | Wisconsin