Crimson Tide Places 13 on Preseason All-SEC Team
7/15/2016 3:54:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Alabama football team had a league-high 13 players selected to the 2016 Southeastern Conference Media Days All-SEC Team announced Friday by the conference office. The list of 13 Crimson Tide players includes a league-best seven first-team honorees, four second-team selections and two third-team members.
The seven first-team selections includes three players on both offense and defense and one specialist. Senior tight end O.J. Howard, sophomore receiver Calvin Ridley and junior offensive tackle Cam Robinson were selected on offense, while a trio of seniors – defensive end Jonathan Allen, linebacker Reuben Foster and safety Eddie Jackson – were named to the defensive first team. Junior punter JK Scott rounds out the first-team selections for the Tide. Allen was the leading vote-getter among all defenders while Ridley and Robinson received the third- and fourth-most votes, respectively, among all players.
Senior offensive guard Alphonse Taylor, senior linebacker Tim Williams, sophomore cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick and senior place-kicker Adam Griffith were named to the second team. Sophomore center Ross Pierschbacher and sophomore cornerback Marlon Humphrey were tabbed for the third team.
Howard and Ridley return to lead a deep Tide receiver corps in 2016. The duo combined for more than 1,600 receiving yards and nine touchdowns a year ago. Robinson, Taylor and Pierschbacher return from an offensive line that cleared the way for a Tide ground game that averaged nearly 200 yards per contest.
Allen will lead a defense that returns five starters from a year ago. The senior recorded 12 sacks in 2015. Foster, the team's leading returning tackler, and Williams lead a linebacker corps that includes five players who saw regular action last season. Jackson, Fitzpatrick and Humphrey combined for 11 interceptions and 21 pass break-ups a season ago to lead a deep and talented secondary in 2016. Scott and Griffith provide the Crimson Tide with one of the strongest special teams units in the country.
Alabama opens the 2016 season on Sept. 3 in Arlington, Texas, as the Crimson Tide takes on Southern California in the annual Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff on ABC.
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