Mountain West Wire Presents Its 2020 Preseason All-Mountain West Football Teams
Our staff has made its selections for the best of Mountain West football heading into the 2020 season.
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Who do we expect to be the conference’s best this fall?
The status of the 2020 college football season is still very much uncertain, but that didn’t stop our staff from putting its collective heads together to create our fourth annual preseason all-Mountain West football team. If you’re interested in seeing the first three iterations, click here for the 2017 preseason selections here for 2018, and here for 2019.
This time, our all-conference roster goes four deep. We have also continued our efforts to better reflect the variety we see week in and week out throughout the conference, too:
- We vote for a Defensive Flex player to better reflect that some units — like Boise State, San Diego State, and Wyoming — often operate with five defensive backs or a nickelback/linebacker hybrid in their 3-3-5 or 4-2-5.
- We split our linebacker selections into two, inside and outside, as we’d previously differentiated between centers, guards and tackles on the offensive lines and between interior lineman and edge rushers on defense.
- We vote for three wide receivers instead of two.
If you disagree with our choices, feel free to let us know what you’d have done differently on Twitter or Facebook.
This year’s voters: Jeremy Mauss, Collin Clovis (Boise State), Josh Fredlund (Colorado State), Matthew Kenerly (Fresno State), Brandon Blake (Nevada), Roger Holien (New Mexico), Trey Johnson (San Diego State), Logan Jones and Sam McConkie (Utah State), and Jesse Tachiquin (Wyoming).
First Team
Offense
QB – Hank Bachmeier, Boise State
RB – Xazavian Valladay, Wyoming
RB – George Holani, Boise State
WR – Warren Jackson, Colorado State
WR – Tre Walker, San Jose State
WR – Khalil Shakir, Boise State
TE – Trey McBride, Colorado State
C – Keegan Cryder, Wyoming
G – Nolan Laufenberg, Air Force
G – Solo Vaipulu, Hawaii
T – Parker Ferguson, Air Force
T – Ilm Manning, Hawaii
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, our staff originally voted Air Force quarterback Donald Hammond III as our first-selection at quarterback. Given his now-uncertain status for the upcoming season, however, we made the choice remove him.
Defense
DT – Dom Peterson, Nevada
DT – Cameron Thomas, San Diego State
DE – Keshawn Banks, San Diego State
DE – Solomon Byrd, Wyoming
OLB – Riley Whimpey, Boise State
OLB – Troy Lefeged Jr., Utah State
ILB – Demonte Meeks, Air Force
ILB – Justin Rice, Fresno State
CB – Darren Hall, San Diego State
CB – Jalen Walker, Boise State
S – Tariq Thompson, San Diego State
S – Shaq Bond, Utah State
FLEX – Kekaula Kaniho, Boise State
Special Teams
K – Brandon Talton, Nevada
P – Ryan Stonehouse, Colorado State
KR – Savon Scarver, Utah State
PR – Avery Williams, Boise State
Second Team
Offense
QB – Patrick O’Brien, Colorado State
RB – Charles Williams, UNLV
RB – Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State
WR – Jared Smart, Hawaii
WR – Dante Wright, Colorado State
WR – Savon Scarver, Utah State
TE – Marcus Williams, New Mexico
C – Taaga Tuulima, Hawaii
G – William Dunkle, San Diego State
G – Logan Harris, Wyoming
T – John Ojukwu, Boise State
T – Jack Snyder, San Jose State
Defense
DT – Scale Igiehon, Boise State
DT – Kevin Atkins, Fresno State
DE – Jordan Jackson, Air Force
DE – Manny Jones, Colorado State
OLB – Dequan Jackson, Colorado State
OLB – Jacobi Hearn, New Mexico
ILB – Chad Muma, Wyoming
ILB – Kyle Harmon, San Jose State
CB – Avery Williams, Boise State
CB – Cortez Davis, Hawaii
S – Tyson Williams, Nevada
S – Rome Weber, Wyoming
FLEX – Dwayne Johnson Jr., San Diego State
Special Teams
K – Matt Araiza, San Diego State
P – Tyson Dyer, New Mexico
KR – Elijah Lilly, New Mexico
PR – Dante Wright, Colorado State
Third Team
Offense
QB – Chevan Cordeiro, Hawaii
RB – Kadin Remsberg, Air Force
RB – Jaylen Warren, Utah State
WR – Elijah Cooks, Nevada
WR – Nate Craig-Myers, Colorado State
WR – Kobe Smith, San Diego State
TE – John Bates, Boise State
C – Kyle Stapley, New Mexico
G – Julio Garcia, UNLV
G – Eric Abojei, Wyoming
T – Teton Saltes, New Mexico
T – Alonzo Velazquez, Wyoming
Defense
DT – Ravontae Holt, Wyoming
DT – Ellison Hubbard, Colorado State
DE – Garrett Crall, Wyoming
DE – Jackson Cravens, Boise State
OLB – Demetri Washington, Boise State
OLB – Lakota Wills, Air Force
ILB – Ezekiel Noa, Boise State
ILB – Kevin Meitzenheimer, Utah State
CB – Rashad Ajayi, Colorado State
CB – Milton Bugg III, Air Force
S – Jay Lenard, San Jose State
S – Logan Stewart, Colorado State
FLEX – Keyon Blankenbaker, Wyoming
Special Teams
K – Matt Mercurio, San Jose State
P – Nick Null, Wyoming
KR – Jordan Byrd, San Diego State
PR – Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State
Fourth Team
Offense
QB – Carson Strong, Nevada
RB – Toa Taua, Nevada
RB – Miles Reed, Hawaii
WR – Gunner Gentry, Wyoming
WR – Tyleek Collins, UNLV
WR – Octavius Evans, Boise State
WR – Bailey Gaither, San Jose State
TE – Colin O’Brien, Wyoming
C – Nicholas Noyen, Air Force
G – Barry Wesley, Colorado State
G – Kyle Krepsz, Air Force
T – Zachary Thomas, San Diego State
T – Syrus Tuitele, Fresno State
Defense
DT – Blessman Ta’ala, Hawaii
DT – Mario Mora, Wyoming
DT – Kolo Uasike, UNLV
DE – Cade Hall, San Jose State
DE – Isaiah Johnson, Fresno State
OLB – Caden McDonald, San Diego State
OLB – Grant Donaldson, Air Force
ILB – Cam’ron Carter, Colorado State
ILB – Jeremiah Pritchard, Hawaii
CB – Donte Martin, New Mexico
CB – Tre White, San Jose State
S – Khoury Bethley, Hawaii
S – Jerrick Reed II, New Mexico
FLEX – Nico Bolden, New Mexico
Special Teams
K – Andrew Shelley, New Mexico
P – Joel Velazquez, Boise State
KR – Jalen Cropper, Fresno State; Lincoln Victor, Hawaii
PR – Jordan Byrd, San Diego State
Number of honors by team: Boise State (16), Wyoming (15), Colorado State (14), San Diego State (12), Air Force and Hawaii (11), New Mexico (10), San Jose State (8), Fresno State (7), Utah State (6), Nevada (5), UNLV (4)
