It's the dead period of summer, so The Ralphie Report decided to spice things up a bit. They've looked far and wide around the Big 12 blogosphere and picked out a representative for each Big 12 school that they could find. Each individual blogger was then asked to pick a given number of representatives at each position.
Defensive Back (3): S James Smith, CB Chris Singleton, CB Allen Bell
The position that has most of the the standout talent is the defensive backfield. Bell, Singleton and Smith are all potential gamebreakers. Both Singleton and Bell forced turnovers last year, and I still hold on to an undying belief that James Smith is gonna be big.
Defensive Line (3): DE Rashawn Parker, DE Kurtis Taylor, DT Bailey Johnson
Parker and Taylor were the two obvious choices. Parker adjusted quickly as a freshman, late hit at Texas notwithstanding, while Taylor will be the leader on the line. Johnson was the returning lineman who made the biggest impact last year.
Kicker (1): Grant Mahoney
Mahoney seems to be the more accurate of he and Guyer. I suppose I didn't have to pick someone.
Linebacker (2) Jesse Smith, Josh Raven
Jesse Smith was the obvious choice. Raven is my sleeper pick out of the linebacking corps, simple as that.
Offensive Line (3): Ben Lammak, Doug Dedrick, Kelechi Osemele
Lamaak was a revelation on a much improved offensive line last year, while Dedrick anchored the line at left tackle. K.O. is a big boy that should step into the starting lineup and could be a four year starter.
Punter (1): Mike Brandtner
One badass punter.
Quarterback (1): Austen Arnaud
I think he'll be the starter (or at least get the most playing time) this year.
Runningback (2): Alexander Robinson, JJ Bass
I expected Robinson to be the commander-in-chief of a runningback corps by committee. He came out of nowhere to become a big play threat. Bass may very well be the most talented of the group.
Tight End (1): Derrick Catlett
Will need to overcome a knee injury in the spring, but rapidly developed the blocking part of his game last year. Still room to improve.
Wide Reciever (2): RJ Sumrall, Marquis Hamilton
These two will lead the experienced and talented corps. Both have real big play ability - Marquis had my favorite play of the year, triple juking Aqib Talib for a big gain.
I don't expect any of our players to make the first team, simply put, but I suppose someone could surprise me....