The official MWC media team will be released at Media Days this week. However, we are getting ahead of the game by debuting our preseason All-MWC team today. Members of our team submitted a list and we took the top vote getters at each position to form our team. Since offensive formations are so different, we put 2 RBs and 2 WRs on the team, plus a FLEX, which can either a RB or WR. Defensively, we just use a traditional 4-3 for positions. Also important to note, we don’t distinguish between spots along the OL, DL, LB, or DB. So in theory, 4 cornerbacks could make the list or defensive ends. For special teams, we have a kicker, punter, and returner. For reference, here was our pre-season 2018 team from July.
Disclaimer: There are lots of great players in the conference and only so many spots. Arguments can be made for many guys to be mentioned or on a higher team. There will always be snubs. Always. Try to treat this list as a group of guys who are for the most part deserving but it’s not as inclusive as it should be. There are other deserving players as well, but everyone who made it is deserving.
With that being said, here is the 2018 Mountain West Connection All-MWC Postseason Team:
First Team:
Quarterback
- Brett Rypien (Boise State)
Running Back
- Alexander Mattison (Boise State)
- Nico Evans (Wyoming)
Wide Receivers
- John Ursua (Hawaii)
- KeeSean Johnson (Fresno State)
Flex
- WR Preston Williams (Colorado State)
Tight End
- Josh Oliver (SJSU)
Offensive Line
- Ezra Cleveland (Boise State)
- Micah St. Andrew (Fresno State)
- Logan Hughes (Fresno State)
- Roman Andrus (Utah State)
- John Molchon (Boise State)
Defensive Line
- Curtis Weaver (Boise State)
- Jordan Jackson (Air Force)
- Jabril Frazier (Boise State)
- Korey Rush (Nevada)
Linebackers
- Jeffrey Allison (Fresno State)
- Kyahva Tezino (SDSU)
- David Woodward (Utah State)
Defensive Backs
- Tyler Horton (Boise State)
- Juju Hughes (Fresno State)
- Jontrell Roquemore (Utah State)
- Andrew Wingard (Wyoming)
Kicker
- Cooper Rothe (Wyoming)
Punter
- Ryan Stonehouse (Colorado State)
Returner
- Savon Scarver (Utah State)
Second Team:
Quarterback
- Jordan Love (Utah State)
Running Back
- Darwin Thompson (Utah State)
- Lexington Thomas (UNLV)
Wide Receivers
- McLane Mannix (Nevada)
- Sean Modster (Boise State)
Flex
- Cedric Byrd (Hawaii)
Tight End
- Jared Rice (Fresno State)
Offensive Line
- Antony Palomares (Nevada)
- Tyler Roemer (SDSU)
- Aaron Jenkins (New Mexico)
- Sean Krepsz, (Nevada)
- Colby Meeks (Colorado State)
Defensive Line
- Devon Anderson (Utah State)
- Chibu Onyeukwu (SDSU)
- Carl Granderson (Wyoming)
- Kaimana Padello (Hawaii)
Linebackers
- LB Malik Reed (Nevada)
- Jahlani Tavai (Hawaii)
- Josh Watson (Colorado State)
Defensive Backs
- Dakari Monroe (SJSU)
- Mike Bell (Fresno State)
- Anthoula Kelly (Fresno State)
- Marcus Epps (Wyoming)
Kicker
- Dominik Eberle (Utah State)
Punter
- Tyson Dyer (New Mexico)
Returner
- Thai Cottrell (SJSU)
Breakdown by team:
- Utah State: 9
- Fresno State: 8
- Boise State: 8
- Nevada: 5
- Wyoming: 4
- Hawaii: 4
- Colorado State: 4
- San Diego State: 3
- San Jose State: 3
- New Mexico: 2
- UNLV: 1
- Air Force: 1
Notes:
- There are tough decisions as always. In particular, the linebackers seem to be one of the deepest positions in the conference.
- Quarterback was a runaway with Rypien for the first team and Love emerged as the second team over McMaryion by one vote. It’s a shame as all 3 QBs probably deserved to be on the list.
- RB was close as the first and second team players were separated by two votes.
- Ursua was the leading vote getting in the WR group. Preston Williams appeared on the first team for every voter in either the WR or FLEX spots. It was clear through the votes that those two, along with Johnson were the top three receivers this year.
- First and second team TE were separated by just one vote.
- Offensive line had the most players receiving votes with a whopping 14 players receiving votes. Thankfully, five players emerged out of that pack to get enough votes for a clear first team (with Cleveland and St. Andrews leading the way). The second team was much harder to distinguish, with as many as four other players receiving votes who didn’t end up make the team.
- Similarly, there was a clear divide on the first and second team defensive lines. Weaver and Jackson were unanimous selections as well. This position also represented one of the most diverse groups as far as teams listed.
- Linebacker had players at or near unanimous (Allison, Tezino) and then 6 other players that were difficult to separate. Like the preseason team, there were some difficult choices.
- Defensive back was by far the most difficult position, as six players were tied in votes and created quite a log jam. A few players on the second team could just as easily have been on the first team.
- Special teams was pretty straight forward. It was difficult leaving Baron II off the list, as he had a great season. Stonehouse and Scarver were near unanimous selections.
- As the breakdown by team shows, the amount of players from each team is pretty proportional to their record. It was no surprise to see Utah State, Fresno State and Boise State top the breakdown by team as they are playing for the MWC championship. Although the Aggies leading the way with 9 players may be a bit due to their surprise season has more people thinking about them, they certainly have enough quality players and ended up having the biggest gain from our preseason list. SDSU had the biggest drop from the preseason list to this one.
There it is. So let’s hear it. Who did we snub? Who did we put on here that shouldn’t be? Let’s hear you feedback in the comments section.
Coming tomorrow: Our postseason content continues with final grades for all MWC teams.