Michigan football lands 3 on preseason AP All-America first team

Defending national champion Michigan football has placed three players on the preseason Associated Press All-America football team, as announced on Monday. This ties them with top-ranked Georgia for the second-most first-team selections, while second-ranked Ohio State leads with four.

Michigan football’s representatives are tight end Colston Loveland, defensive tackle Mason Graham, and cornerback Will Johnson, who hails from Grosse Pointe South. Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, a high-profile transfer and former second-team All-American from Alabama, is joined on the list by guard Donovan Jackson, receiver Emeka Egbuka, and cornerback Denzel Burke. The Buckeyes also have running back TreVeyon Henderson and defensive lineman Tyleik Williams on the second team, giving them the highest total of six selections.

Georgia’s first-team picks include quarterback Carson Beck, guard Tate Ratledge, and defensive back Malaki Starks, who was a first-team All-American last year.

In addition to Michigan football and Georgia, No. 5 Alabama features two transfers on the first team: center Parker Brailsford from Washington and kicker Graham Nicholson from Miami (Ohio). No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 13 LSU each have two first-team selections as well. Notre Dame’s picks are defensive tackle Howard Cross III and safety Xavier Watts, while LSU’s selections are tackle Will Campbell and linebacker Harold Perkins Jr.

No. 3 Oregon has three players on the second team, including quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a sixth-year transfer from Oklahoma who started his career at UCF.