K-State Dominates On Phil Steele’s All-American Team

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

For a program that can’t recruit and a team that’s expected to finish in the middle of the Big 12, Kansas State appears to have about as much upper echelon talent as any other team in the nation this year. That’s right – not just the Big 12, but the nation. At least according to Phil Steele’s 2013 All-American Team, which hits news stands on June 18th.

Steele’s list of preseason All-Americans is dominated by the SEC, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. They recorded 27 players, followed by 20 from the Pac-12. Third was the ACC (19), followed by the Big 12 (16), Big 10 (15), AAC (5), MAC (5), Independents (5), Mountain West (3), CUSA (3) and finally Sun Belt (2). And of the 120 total players, four don K-State purple every Saturday. Here are the Wildcats making the list:

First Team:

• Center BJ Finney
• Kick Returner Tyler Lockett

Second Team:

• Safety Ty Zimmerman
• Punt Returner Tramaine Thompson

As a fan, it’s fun to say that your team can play with anyone, but that’s not always the case. Yet Bill Snyder is working with a player considered the best center in the nation and one of the four best safeties. In addition, this team should feature hands down the most dangerous return unit in the nation with Lockett handling kicks and Thompson punts (they’re not a half-bad receiving combo either). Also, just for fun, I tallied up the total number of players from every Big 12 school that made the list, just for comparison’s sake: Baylor (2), Oklahoma (3), Oklahoma State (2), TCU (2), and Texas (2). It’s also worth noting that not only did K-State land the most players on the list, but it also had the highest quality with two on the first team and two on the second. For perspective, none of Oklahoma’s three players made the first team.

So congrats to Finney, Lockett, Zimmerman, and Thompson. I know we’re probably in for another year of listening to how Texas holds such a decided recruiting advantage there’s no way K-State can run with the Longhorns this seasons, but I’m looking forward to extending the record against Texas to 6 straight wins.