Welcome to Kickoff Week here at MWCConnection! The official all-MWC team will be released later at MWC Media Days, but we are getting involved in the fun by releasing our own pre-season content anyway.

Members of our team submitted their list of votes and we took the top vote-getters at each position to form our two teams. Since offensive formations are so different, we put 2 RBs and 2 WRs on the team, plus a FLEX, which can be either a RB or WR. Defensively, we just use a traditional 4-3 for its positions, with a FLEX added as well. For special teams, we have a kicker, a punter, a long-snapper, and a returner. Between the two teams, there are a total of 56 players recognized. For reference, here was our post-season 2020 team from December.

Disclaimer: There are a lot of great players in the conference and only so many spots. Arguments can be made for many guys to be mentioned or to be on a higher team. There will always be snubs. Always. The goal is that every player on this list is deserving, even if not every deserving player ended up making the list.

With that being said, here are the 2020 Mountain West Connection All-MWC Preseason First and Second Teams:

First Team:

Quarterback

• Carson Strong (Nevada)

Running Back

• Xazavian Valladay (Wyoming)
• Ronnie Rivers (Fresno State)

Wide Receivers

• Khalil Shakir (Boise State)
• Romeo Doubs (Nevada)

Flex

• Calvin Turner Jr (Hawaii)

Tight End

• Trey McBride (Colorado State)

Offensive Line

• Jack Snyder (San Jose State)
• Aaron Frost (Nevada)
• Keegan Cryder (Wyoming)
• John Ojukwu (Boise State)
• Jake Stetz (Boise State)

Defensive Line

• Cade Hall (San Jose State)
• Scott Patchan (Colorado State)
• Dom Peterson (Nevada)
• Cameron Thomas (San Diego State)

Linebackers

• Kyle Harmon (San Jose State)
• Darius Muasau (Hawaii)
• Chad Muma (Wyoming)

Defensive Backs

• Shaq Bond (Utah State)
• Cortez Davis (Hawaii)
• Jerrick Reed (New Mexico)
• Tre Jenkins (San Jose State)

Flex

• Kekaula Kaniho (Boise State)

Kicker

• Brandon Talton (Nevada)

Punter

• Ryan Stonehouse (Colorado State)

Long Snapper

• Austin Ortega (Nevada)

Returner

• Savon Scarver (Utah State)

Second Team:

Quarterback

• Nick Starkel (San Jose State)

Running Back

• Greg Bell (San Diego State)
• George Holani (Boise State)

Wide Receivers

• Jalen Cropper (Fresno State)
• Dante Wright (Colorado State)

Flex

• Brad Roberts (Air Force)

Tight End

• Derrick Deese Jr. (San Jose State)

Offensive Line

• Zach Thomas (San Diego State)
• Barry Wesley (Colorado State)
• Kekaniokoa Holamalia-Gonzalez (Boise State)
• Logan Harris (Wyoming)
• Frank Crum (Wyoming)

Defensive Line

• Viliami Fehoko (San Jose State)
• Scott Matlock (Boise State)
• Sam Hammond (Nevada)
• Keshawn Banks (San Diego State)

Linebackers

• Justin Rice (Utah State)
• Riley Whimpey (Boise State)
• Demonte Meeks (Air Force)

Defensive Backs

• Wylan Free (Fresno State)
• Bralyn Lux (Fresno State)
• JL Skinner (Boise State)
• Berdale Robins (Nevada)

Flex

• Markel Reed (Boise State)

Kicker

• John Hoyland (Wyoming)

Punter

• Stephen Kotsanlee (Utah State)

Long Snapper

• Ryan Wintermeyer (San Diego State)

Returner

• Calvin Turner Jr (Hawaii)

Breakdown by team (1st team in parenthesis):

• Boise State 10 (4)
• Nevada 8 (6)
• San Jose State 7 (4)
• Wyoming 6 (3)
• Colorado State 5 (3)
• Fresno State 4 (1)
• San Diego State 5 (1)
• Hawaii 4 (3)
• Utah State 4 (2)
• Air Force 2 (0)
• New Mexico 1 (1)
• UNLV 0 (0)

Notes:

• There were 11 unanimous selections: Khalil Shakir, Romeo Doub, Calvin Turner Jr, Trey McBride, Jack Snyder, Aaron Frost, Cade Hall, Shaq Bond, Kekaula Kaniho, Ryan Stonehouse, and Savon Scarver. A few others were one vote away from achieving that status.
• The top three teams from last year (who are also expected to be the top three teams this year) had the most players between the two teams. While Boise State had the most players overall, Nevada had the most players on the first-team.
• The number of players from each team doesn’t vary much from the December list. San Diego State dropped a bit and Wyoming saw a slight increase. Colorado State had the exact same number of total and first-team players as last year.
• Teams like Hawaii, Utah State, and New Mexico may have not had many players appear, but they made the most of it with the majority of their players making the first-team.
• The divide between the first and second-team players in terms of votes was pretty clear. The only other positions with little separation between the last first team member and first second-team player were linebacker and defensive back.
• There were a few tough battles for second-team spots. Specifically, the offensive line, defensive line, and linebacker all had some tough calls, and arguments could have been made for a few others to appear on our lists.

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 your feedback in the comments section.

Coming tomorrow: Our picks for Mountain West Conference awards.