Ohio State nabs four ESPN preseason All-Americans, eight on All-Big Ten team

In less than two weeks, the 2015 college football season will begin. On Monday, ESPN announced their preseason All-American list, as well as their preseason All-Big Ten selections. The unanimous AP No. 1 team in the country, the Ohio State Buckeyes led both lists, landing four players on the preseason All-American list and eight on the All-Big Ten team.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott, defensive end Joey Bosa, offensive guard Pat Elflein, and safety Vonn Bell were named to both preseason teams, while wide receiver Michael Thomas, offensive tackle Taylor Decker, and linebackers Darron Lee and Joshua Perry made the All-Big Ten list.

Leading the way in the both the country and conference on both lists, Ohio State is filled with playmakers, both on offense and defense.

Why didn’t an Ohio State quarterback make either of the lists, you may ask? With the quarterback competition underway, the voters chose to leave both Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett off the list, with Michigan State’s Connor Cook getting the nod instead. The Big Ten voters, however, acknowledged that whomever is named the Buckeye starter would be a preseason All-Big Ten selection if they were to re-vote. (TCU’s Trevon Boykin was given the quarterback spot for the All-America team.)

Cook might have a hard time holding off whomever wins the Ohio State starting job. But since we don’t yet know which Buckeye will take the most snaps, it’s hard to go wrong with the guy who’s 23-3 as a starter.

With eight All-Big Ten players and four All-Americans, the Buckeyes are stacked in 2015. They will look to not only win the conference, but replicate their strong performance from 2014 and win back-to-back (and both of the first two) College Football Playoffs.