2011 AP All-American Team: Which Players Should Be On, Which Ones Should Be Off

The AP All-American team, which is one of the most respected out of any of the numerous different postseason All-American lists, was released this week.

All of the big names you would expect to see on the list, like Heisman-winning Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, Alabama RB Trent Richardson and LSU CB Tyrann Mathieu, all made the cut. But as I looked over the list of the first, second and third teams, I have to say that there were a few selections that did leave me scratching my head a bit.

There were also a few players that weren’t included, who I think have a reason to be angry.

Here’s a look at a few deserving players that didn’t make the cut, who have a legitimate reason to complain, as well as a look at a few players that did make it, who I didn’t think did enough this season to deserve such a high honor.

QB Case Keenum, Houston

The three quarterbacks that made the AP’s list—Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, Stanford’s Andrew Luck and USC’s Matt Barkley—were all certainly deserving of the honor, but it’s a shame that Case Keenum couldn’t join the party as well. 

All Keenum did this year was lead the country with over 5,000 passing yards, throw 45 touchdown strikes and break basically every major collegiate passing record.

Not too shabby, eh?

Yes, he benefited from playing in a pass-heavy offense. But still, any time you can put up those types of numbers and lead a team like Houston all the way to the No. 6 ranking in the country you’ve got to be doing something right.

The fact is, though, that loss to Southern Miss in the Conference-USA championship game really hurt Keenum’s national credibility and it likely cost him a spot on the AP’s All-American team, as well as an invitation to New York City for the Heisman ceremony.

QB Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State

Another quarterback that has an argument to be included is Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden. 

This year, Weeden was the fulcrum of Oklahoma State’s explosive offensive attack as he completed 72 percent of his passes, threw for 4,328 yards and hit 34 touchdown passes.

The senior slinger brought the Cowboys to the brink of the national championship game, but that ugly loss to Iowa State really hurt him and probably cost him a spot on the All-American team.

RB Bernard Pierce, Temple

It's hard to get a ton of national attention when you play in a conference like the MAC, and when you play for a school that draws about 20 fans for a home game. But just because Temple's Bernard Pierce didn't receive that much national publicity this year, that doesn't mean that he wasn't one of the premier performers in the country. 

Pierce ranked sixth nationally with 125 rushing yards per game, and he was a true workhorse back for the Temple offense, as he racked up 1,381 yards on the ground and scored 25 touchdowns. 

The 6'0'', 215-pound junior will likely play his last game in a Temple uniform on Saturday, when he goes up against Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl, before he heads off to the greener pastures of the NFL. 

WR Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers

It’s not unheard of for a Rutgers receiver to make the AP All-American team. 

Kenny Britt made the third team back in 2008, and it’s hard to say that his successor, Mohamed Sanu, didn’t deserve the same honor this year.

Sanu was a true offensive force in 2011, as he hauled in 109 passes for 1,144 yards and scored seven touchdowns.

It’s impossible to tell just how productive the 6’2’’, 215-pound junior could have been if he didn’t have an inexperienced and inconsistent freshman throwing him the ball for most of the season.

The bottom line is, there weren't many other players in the country who were as important to their teams as Sanu was to Rutgers this year.

OT Riley Reiff, Iowa

Before the season started, many people thought that Iowa offensive tackle Riley Reiff had the chance to be the Big Ten’s next great franchise tackle prospect, and Reiff managed to live up to that hype this season. 

The 6’6’’, 300-pound junior stonewalled almost every pass-rusher that tried to test him and he also opened up plenty of lanes for RB Marcus Coker, who ended up rushing for 1,384 yards.

Reiff may have missed out on making the AP All-American team, but don’t feel too bad for him, he’s got a nice paycheck waiting for him in the NFL.

DE Nick Perry, USC

When people think of USC, the first two players that obviously come to mind are QB Matt Barkley and WR Robert Woods, but the Trojans also had a bona fide star on the defensive side of the ball in DE Nick Perry. 

This year, Perry was one of the top edge-rushers in the country, as he racked up 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, and he was the key player on USC’s talented defense.

He abused All-American OT Jonathan Martin in the USC-Stanford game, but Martin wasn’t the only offensive tackle who felt Perry’s wrath this year.

The 6’3’’, 250-pound junior made a living in opponent’s backfields this season, and he definitely did enough to deserve All-American consideration.

DT Kawann Short, Purdue

Penn State’s Devon Still and Michigan State’s Jerel Worthy get most of the attention when it comes to Big Ten defensive tackles, and that’s why both of them ended up as first team All-Americans. However, you can make a case that Purdue’s Kawann Short had just as good of a season as either of those two, and it’s an injustice that he didn’t receive any All-American honors from the AP. 

Short may just be the most underrated defensive player in the country.

This year, the 6’3’’, 310-pound junior stepped out of the shadow of former star teammate Ryan Kerrigan and really put together a dominant campaign.

Short racked up 17.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, and he was a nightmare for opposing offensive linemen to match up with.

The AP may not have given him his due, but you can bet that the NFL scouts took notice of his performance, and if Short decides to enter the 2012 NFL draft, he should be right in the conversation with Still and Worthy as one of the top defensive tackles available.

LB Danny Trevathan, Kentucky

For the second year in a row, Kentucky LB Danny Trevathan led the SEC in tackles, as he totaled a whopping 143 stops. 

Trevathan was once again the heart and soul of Kentucky’s defense, and he made the type of individual impact that is definitely deserving of All-American honors.

The fact that Kentucky finished just 5-7 prevented Trevathan from receiving more national exposure, though.

S Eric Reid, LSU

Although he was overshadowed by his more heralded secondary mates, cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Mo Claiborne, Eric Reid still managed to make a huge impact for the LSU defense this year. 

You can argue that Reid made the single biggest play of the 2011 season, when he ripped the ball out of the hands of Alabama TE Michael Williams on the goal line in the second half of the “Game of the Century.”

The 6’2’’, 205-pound sophomore was a key playmaker for the talented Tigers defense, and he ended up finishing third on the team with 65 tackles.

Reid is a tremendous physical specimen, and he’ll likely enter next season as the top-rated eligible safety prospect for the 2013 NFL draft, and he's got the look of a future Top-15 pick.

K Andre Heidari, USC

Usually, if you have to rely on a freshman kicker, your fingernails are probably going to be pretty short by the time the season ends, but USC fans didn't have to worry about Andre Heidari this year. 

Heidari knocked through 15 of his 17 field goal attempts in 2011, with four of those kicks coming from over 40 yards, and he was also a perfect 50 out of 50 on extra point attempts. 

Heidari is going to be a valuable special teams weapon for the Trojans for the next few seasons and even though he's just a freshman, he definitely performed at an All-American level this season.

Other Players That Deserved Consideration

QB Kellen Moore, Boise State

WR Michael Floyd, Notre Dame

WR Keenan Allen, California

WR Eric Page, Toledo

WR Marquess Wilson, Washington State

TE Orson Charles, Georgia

DE Trevardo Williams, Connecticut

DE Barkevious Mingo, LSU

DT Roosevelt Nix, Kent State

LB Sean Spence, Miami

LB Sean Porter, Texas A&M

LB Chris Borland Wisconsin

LB Zach Brown, North Carolina

S Winston Guy Jr., Kentucky

S Phillip Thomas, Syracuse

Who Didn't Deserve to Make It?

Here's a look at the players who I was surprised to see on the list.

RB Bobby Rainey, Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky RB Bobby Rainey finished second in the country with 1,695 rushing yards this season, and there’s no questioning how valuable he was to the Hilltoppers this year. 

Still, all you have to do is look at the type of defenses he was going up against in the Sun Belt to see that he didn’t face nearly the same level of competition that some of the nation’s other top backs did.

The one respectable defense he faced this season, LSU, completely shut him down.

Rainey may have been one of the most productive backs of 2011, but remember, he also carried the ball the most times, as he averaged over 30 touches per game.

If you get the ball that much, obviously you’re going to put up a good chunk of yardage, especially when you’re going up against the type of weak defenses that Rainey faced.

WR Patrick Edwards, Houston

Houston WR Patrick Edwards put up some of the best stats out of any receiver this year, as he hauled in 79 passes for 1,524 yards and scored 19 total touchdowns. 

But those numbers are obviously a little skewed, considering the Cougars threw the ball 613 times this year, by far the most out of any team in college football.

When you’re the top target on a team that throws the ball that much, obviously you’re going to put up great looking stats. But as far as making a true impact goes, there are a number of other more talented receivers out there who had comparable seasons statistically, who I would have put ahead of Edwards.

Scoring 19 touchdowns is great, but when your team’s beating everybody by 30 or 40 points on a regular basis, how much of a difference are you really making?

DT Jerel Worthy, Michigan State

Jerel Worthy has every single trait you're looking for in an upper-echelon NFL defensive tackle prospect. He's huge, powerful, overwhelmingly strong and he happens to be surprisingly quick and agile for his size.

While Worthy may be destined to be a first-round pick in next year's NFL draft, I don't think he played up to his enormous potential on a consistent enough basis to be considered an All-American this year. 

In fact, there were times when I watched Michigan State and thought that he wasn't even the best defensive linemen on the field, as DE William Gholston was just as consistently disruptive as Worthy was this year. 

I thought Purdue's Kawann Short had the better overall season and was more deserving of postseason honors and accolades, but because Short didn't have the same type of defensive pieces around him that Worthy had this year, he didn't receive the same type of attention, because the Boilermakers were so pedestrian on the defensive side of the ball. 

LB Tank Carder, TCU

After watching his performance against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, and hearing all of the talk about him during the summer, I was excited to see what TCU LB Tank Carder had to offer this season, as he took on the leadership role of the Horned Frogs defense.

I was disappointed with what I saw from him on opening weekend, though, as Carder had a lousy game against Baylor (To be fair, the whole TCU defense got toasted by Robert Griffin III and Kendall Wright).

The fact that he finished second on his own team in tackles behind fellow linebacker Kenny Cain with just 66 total stops also makes me wonder how much he truly deserves to be an All-American.

OT Nate Potter, Boise State

Nate Potter received a ton of love in the preseason, as he entered 2011 rated as one of the top offensive tackles in the country. 

There’s a lot to like about Potter as far as being an NFL prospect is concerned. He’s got the size, footwork and overall athleticism that you’re looking for, but when I watched Boise State this year and zeroed in on Potter, I didn’t see the type of dominant offensive tackle that I thought would.

Potter may have had a solid season, and he’s got a bright future in the pros, but from what I personally saw from him, I just didn’t think he was an elite All-American caliber lineman.

Let's just say that all of his preseason hype definitely helped Potter earn a spot on the team. 

CB Brodrick Brown, Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State CB Brodrick Brown may have led the country in passes defended this year, but there’s a reason for that—opposing teams loved to test him on a routine basis. The fact that Brown got so many passes thrown his way shows a lack of respect by opponents. 

I watched a lot of Oklahoma State games this year, and while Brown did perform well overall, there were times when I thought that he was the third best player in his own secondary, behind safety Markelle Martin and fellow corner Justin Gilbert.

It didn’t help that Brown had one of the worst games of his season in Oklahoma State’s pivotal loss to Iowa State, which cost the team a chance at a national championship.

CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama

I can see why a lot of people really like Dre Kirkpatrick as a pro prospect. He’s big, fast and fearless, and I agree with the consensus that he will be a first-round pick if he decides to come out after this season, but as far as impact goes, I just didn’t see an All-American type of player when I watched Kirkpatrick this year. 

It’s true, teams shied away from testing Kirkpatrick a lot this year, but there just weren’t enough standout plays that I saw from him to consider him an All-American.

I also still have that opening touchdown pass he gave up against Florida, when Andre Debose burnt him to a crisp, still etched in my mind.

S George Iloka, Boise State

I’ll start by saying that I think George Iloka has a bright future in the NFL, and as far as pure talent goes, yes, he is one of the best safeties in America, but still, that doesn’t mean that I thought he had an All-American type of season. 

The TCU game alone, in which Josh Boyce and Brandon Carter absolutely embarrassed the Boise State secondary, should have been enough to knock Iloka out of consideration, but the fact that he finished with a total of zero interceptions this season isn’t all that impressive either.  

S Bacarri Rambo

Flabbergasted would be a good word to describe how I felt when I saw that Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo had made the first team of the AP All-American team. 

Rambo is a solid safety, and yes, he has one of the coolest names in all of college football, but to say that he was one of the two best safeties in college football this year is definitely a big-time stretch

Rambo finished 50th in his own conference with just 52 tackles, and while he did have seven interceptions this season, he wasn’t the true defensive difference-maker that other top SEC safeties like Kentucky’s Winston Guy Jr. and LSU’s Eric Reid were.

The fact that he got himself suspended for the season-opener against Boise State, one of his team’s biggest games of the year, also doesn’t help his case.