The Unofficial B/R All-Big Ten Team

'Tis the season for all-______ teams.

Last week the coaches and media announced their all-Big Ten teams, which got me thinking.  Bleacher Report doesn't have its own all-Big Ten team, so I figured I would take it upon myself to create the first, unofficial Bleacher Report all-Big Ten team.

Included are a first and second units for both offense and defense, including kick and return specialists. Each position group has a short explanation to let you know why I chose the way I did.  Also included is a short list of players who received honorable mention (i.e., I thought long and hard about them for first and second team, but they didn't make the cut.)

This list is sure to piss off just about everyone (because if you had your way the all-Big Ten team would consist solely of players from the team you root for—don't kid yourself) so leave any praise and/or incredulous reactions in the comments.

First-Team Offense

Quarterback: Russell Wilson, Wisconsin

Wilson is an easy choice for first team.  He was far and away the most efficient quarterback in the conference for the eventual conference champion.  This is an open and shut case.

Running Back: Montee Ball, Wisconsin

Running Back: Marcus Coker, Iowa

While there was more competition at running back this year, these two separated themselves through sheer production.  Ball was the conference's leading back in terms of yards, touchdowns and yards per carry, and it wasn't even close.  Coker, on the other hand, was second in the conference in yards per game and got the most carries of any back in the conference.

Receiver: Marvin McNutt, Iowa

Receiver: BJ Cunningham, Michigan State

Tight End: Drake Dunsmore, Northwestern

This one is a bit more complicated.  Marvin McNutt and Drake Dunsmore are shoo-ins.  McNutt leads the conference in yards per game and receiving touchdowns, and has an impressive 16.3 yards per catch average.  

Dunsmore was the most productive tight end in the conference as well.  Most other all-Big Ten squads included AJ Jenkins.  Instead, I decided to give the first-team spot to BJ Cunningham.  The Spartan receiver had more touchdowns and a better yards per catch average (by more than two yards) than Jenkins and was more consistently productive (Jenkins' totals are inflated by a couple great games against inferior competition.)

Center: David Molk, Michigan

Guard: Joel Foreman, Michigan State

Guard: Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin

Tackle: Josh Oglesby, Wisconsin

Tackle: Riley Reiff, Iowa

And so we enter the subjective world of offensive line postseason recognition.  There are no stats, and most players don't even have any sense of name recognition with casual fans.  Thus the criteria for making this list shifts.  Team success and award consensus become larger determining factors.  

Little surprise that the list includes David Molk, Kevin Zeitler and Josh Oglesby—linemen playing on two of the conference's best offenses.  Both Wisconsin players were honored by coaches and media, and Molk ended up winning offensive lineman of the year.  The other two, Joel Foreman and Riley Reiff, are both multiyear starters and established all conference performers. Both were also honored by the coaches and media as first team all-Big Ten.

Kicker: Brett Maher, Nebraska

Kick Returner: Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska

Nebraska's 9-3 record has a lot to do with special teams performance.  Maher was easily the best kicker in the conference, making 19 of his 22 field goals.  Meanwhile, Abdullah averaged nearly 30 yards per return and took one back for a touchdown.

First-Team Defense

Defensive End: Whitney Mercilus, Illinois

Defensive End: John Simon, Ohio State

Defensive Tackle: Devon Still, Penn State

Defensive Tackle: Kawann Short, Purdue

Defense line was another easy position to award.  John Simon and Whitney Mercilus were two of the most dominant defensive ends in the conference.  Mercilus in particular is in the top 10 nationally in numerous defensive categories.  

Both Devon Still and Kawann Short were the most productive defensive tackles in the conference, narrowly edging out Jerel Worthy and Mike Martin—both potential first teamers.

Linebacker: Lavonte David, Nebraska

Linebacker: Chris Borland, Wisconsin

Linebacker: Gerald Hodges, Penn State

Statistically all three of these linebackers are in the top 10 in the conference.  Lavonte David and Chris Borland both average more than 10 tackles a game, while Gerald Hodges averages eight.  Borland is fifth in the conference in tackles for loss while David and Hodges are tied for 15th.  

On top of that, all three players have had to step into larger roles in the absence of another defensive playmaker.  Hodges stepped up midway through the season when Michael Mauti went down with an injury, and David has not had the option of playing behind Jared Crick after he went down with an injury.  Borland returned to the field after an injury last year and had to immediately step in to pick up the slack in production when JJ Watt got drafted.

Cornerback: Shaun Prater, Iowa

Cornerback: Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska

Safety: Trenton Robinson, Michigan State

Safety: Nick Sukay, Penn State

The cornerbacks on the list are both two of the better shutdown corners in the conference, while the safeties on the list both come from the top-two pass efficiency defenses in the conference.  All four players gained first-team honors from either the coaches or the media.   

Punter: Brett Maher, Nebraska

Punt Returner: Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin

Again, Maher makes the list without any real debate.  Maher had the longest punt average of any punter in the conference and helped lead Nebraska to the best net punting average in the conference.  Abbrederis was similarly dominant in the return game.  He averaged more than four more yards per punt return than anyone else in the conference (and led the nation in the category as well) while returning one punt for a touchdown.

Second-Team Offense

Quarterback: *Kirk Cousins, Michigan State

*Denard Robinson, Michigan

This was the toughest choice and is the only tie awarded.  Kirk Cousins was third in the conference in pass efficiency and led his team to seven conference wins and a trip to Indianapolis.  

Denard Robinson was much more erratic in the passing game (14 interceptions and a 56 percent completion rate) but more than made up for that on the ground with the fifth most rushing yards of any back in the conference.  Both quarterbacks deserve the honor.

Running Back: Rex Burkhead, Nebraska

Running Back: Silas Redd, Penn State

The No. 3 and No. 4 running backs in the conference both played for nine win teams, went for more than 1,000 yards on the season and spent large stretches of game time as their team's best offensive weapon, thanks to shaky quarterback play.  The next closest challenger was Fitzgerald Toussaint, but he wasn't as consistently used as the other two backs.

Receiver: AJ Jenkins, Illinois

Receiver: Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern

Tight End: Jacob Pedersen, Wisconsin

Jenkins won't slip past second team.  The season he had was incredible considering he was responsible for more than 60 percent of Nathan Scheelhaase's passing yards despite everyone knowing that Scheelhaase would throw to Jenkins on more than half of his passes.

Center: Peter Konz, Wisconsin

Guard: Travis Frederick, Wisconsin

Guard: Adam Gettis, Iowa

Tackle: Mike Adams, Ohio State

Tackle: Taylor Lewan, Michigan

Both Wisconsin players deserve to be here based simply on how good the Wisconsin offense was able to perform.  Adam Gettis and Taylor Lewan helped pave the way for similarly strong offenses, and Mike Adams return to Ohio State's sideline after suspension coincided with a drastic increase in performance (some of which is attributable to the return of Dan Herron and the continued maturation of Braxton Miller, but give the big guy some love).

Kicker: Drew Basil, Ohio State

Kick Returner: Raheem Mostert, Purdue

Drew Basil makes the team despite being left off both the coaches and media selection, and Basil is here because he was the second best kicker behind Maher when you look at both field goals made and his field-goal average.  Raheem Mostert makes it because he averaged more than 31 yards per return.

Second-Team Defense

Defensive End: Michael Buchanan, Illinois

Defensive End: Ryan Van Bergen, Michigan

Defensive Tackle: Jerel Worthy, Michigan State

Defensive Tackle: Mike Martin, Michigan

Both Jerel Worthy and Mike Martin were close contestants for first-team honors but were held back for various reasons.  Worthy was a strong presence in the MSU interior line but failed to make the kind of statistical impact that Still or Short were able to.  

Martin had a slow start to the season and didn't make the kind of impact necessary for first-team all-conference until after the bye week.  At the ends, Michael Buchanan was nearly as productive as Mercilus, while Ryan Van Bergen was quietly in the top 10 in sacks and tackles for loss.

Linebacker: Mike Taylor, Wisconsin

Linebacker: Johnathan Brown, Illinois

Linebacker: Denicos Allen, Michigan State

Mike Taylor was the right-hand man to Chris Borland within the Wisconsin defense and actually led the conference in tackles per game.  Johnathan Brown and Denicos Allen were both disruptive pass rushers in the top 10 in sacks and tackles for loss.

Cornerback: Antonio Fenelus, Wisconsin

Cornerback: Johnny Adams, Michigan State

Safety: Isaiah Lewis, Michigan State

Safety: Jordan Kovacs, Michigan

Two more shutdown corners, this time paired up with a couple hard-hitting safeties that were equally effective in pass and run situations.

Punter: Cody Webster, Purdue

Punt Returner: Keshawn Martin, Michigan State

Webster was second in the conference in yards per punt and helped Purdue get to a close third place in the conference in net punting.  Martin was second in the conference in yards per punt return while having the only other punt return touchdown.

Honorable Mention

And, here are the rest.  Notice that some teams are underrepresented.  This either means the team is already heavily rewarded in the first and second teams or was just really, really bad this year and doesn't deserve much recognition (ahem, Indiana).  

Also, offensive linemen are severely underrepresented on this list.  This is because I am just one man, and despite immersing myself in Big Ten football for the past few months, I would have a hard time doing much more than reproducing the coach/media lists verbatim, and that ain't cool.  

So, it's first and second team only for the big hog-mollies.  Don't worry, they're used to being underappreciated.

Illinois: Jeff Allen

Indiana: Stephen Houston, Jeff Thomas

Iowa: Micah Hyde, James Vandenberg, James Morris, Mike Daniels, Broderick Binns, James Ferentz

Michigan: Kevin Koger, Junior Hemingway, Fitzgerald Toussaint, JT Floyd

Michigan State: Brian Linthicum, Le'Veon Bell, William Gholston, Max Bullough

Minnesota: Da'Jon McKnight, Kim Royston

Nebraska: Taylor Martinez, Cameron Meredith

Northwestern: Brian Peters, Dan Persa, Jeremy Ebert, Kain Colter

Ohio State: Dan Herron, Johnathan Hankins, Jake Stoneburner

Penn State: Derek Moye, Jack Crawford

Purdue: Justin Siller, Ralph Bolden, Joe Holland

Wisconsin: Nick Toon