Beathard and King earn Big Ten pre-season honors

[Blair Sanderson]

ROSEMONT, Ill. – An outstanding mix of veteran talent and rising stars make up the sixth annual Big Ten Conference football preseason honors list that was announced Monday in conjunction with the start of Big Ten Media Days at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. A select media panel chose this year’s 10-member preseason list, including five representatives each from the East and West divisions.

Ohio State had two standouts selected to represent the East Division, with junior quarterback J.T. Barrett and junior linebacker Raekwon McMillan earning preseason honors. Penn State sophomore running back Saquon Barkley, Michigan State junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell and Michigan junior linebacker/defensive back Jabrill Peppers rounded out the East Division lineup. All five players garnered Big Ten football preseason honors for the first time in their careers.

Iowa and Northwestern each fielded a pair of honorees on the West Division roster. The Hawkeyes were represented by senior quarterback C.J. Beathard and senior defensive backDesmond King, while the Wildcats saw junior running back Justin Jackson and junior linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. make the list. Wisconsin senior running back Corey Clement completed the West Division honorees, joining Jackson as the only standouts to earn Big Ten football preseason honors for the second consecutive season.

King headlines this year’s preseason honors list after the consensus first-team All-American took home the Jim Thorpe and Jack Tatum awards as the nation’s top defensive back in 2015 and was a finalist for the Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year award last season. Peppers and Walker also were All-America selections last season, while Barkley and Peppers nabbed freshman All-America accolades a year ago.

The 2016 Big Ten preseason honors list features the reigning Big Ten Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year in King and the returning Big Ten Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year in Peppers, who are among eight All-Big Ten selections on the squad. King, Peppers and Walker were first-team picks last year (King being chosen unanimously), while McMillan was a first-team choice by the media and a second-team selection by the coaches. Other second-team All-Conference honorees last year who made this year’s preseason honors list include Barkley, Beathard, Jackson and McDowell.

The full list of Big Ten football preseason honorees is as follows:

EAST DIVISION
Jabrill Peppers, Jr., LB/DB, Michigan
Malik McDowell, Jr., DL, Michigan State
J.T. Barrett, Jr., QB, Ohio State
Raekwon McMillan, Jr., LB, Ohio State
Saquon Barkley, So., RB, Penn State

WEST DIVISION
C.J. Beathard, Sr., QB, Iowa
Desmond King, Sr., DB, Iowa
Justin Jackson, Jr., RB, Northwestern
Anthony Walker Jr., Jr., LB, Northwestern
Corey Clement, Sr., RB, Wisconsin

 

[J_Heater]

Nice words from Jourdan Lewis about Desmond King. Really nice words.

Michigan star cornerback Jourdan Lewis says Iowa's Desmond King "is the best defensive back in the Big Ten."

CHICAGO – When it comes to scouting Iowa’s star cornerback Desmond King, nobody knows King’s game better than Michigan's Jourdan Lewis.

Why? Well, because they grew up together in Detroit, played in the same little league (Detroit PAL), competing against each other in high school, even playing on the same 7v7 travel team, so, yeah, Lewis knows King’s game all too well.

And it just so happened that they both became All-American's as juniors in 2015.

Lewis would set Michigan’s single season record with 20 pass break ups, finishing as a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe award, given annually to the nations top defensive back. King’s season was just a little better, he would finish second in the nation with eight interceptions, and would go on to win the Jim Thorpe award, solidifying his stature as the nations top DB.

Both, ironically, chose to stay in school for their senior seasons. Which sets up a big year for both to prove they can do it again.

And yet, right now, Lewis says King deserves the be called “the best defensive back in the Big Ten" due to last year’s success.

“I know (Desmond) personally, we grew up together. He’s always been that type of playmaker. So for him I can personally say that he is, he is what he was last year – he is the best defensive back in the Big Ten,” Lewis said of King at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on Monday.

“Because as you saw he was a ball hawk,” Lewis continued. “You couldn’t throw it his way. It was evident. It was no debate about it. He was the best last year. He’s trying to claim that this year -- as many of us are”

Lewis, who had two interceptions of his own in 2015, including interception return for a touchdown, admits he hasn’t really watched any other cornerbacks in the Big Ten besides King, and really just focuses on beating his opponent -- the other teams top wide receiver -- for the week.

“As a competitor you always do (want to be the best),” Lewis said. “You don’t compare yourself to nobody else. Honestly just me my roots, I always want to be better than my competition, and that’s the receivers. And that’s just preparing myself to be the best at what I do, that’s what I want, because basically competing with my teammates and myself, and that’s what I do every single day try to get better.”

Michigan opens its season with Hawaii on Sept. 3.