The best teams usually have the best players, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that the four teams involved in this year's College Football Playoff make up almost 16 percent of the College Football Focus 2020 All-America teams.
Top-ranked Alabama placed eight players on the four-deep units, Clemson and Notre Dame netted four each and Ohio State contributed three. Leading the way for Alabama is its dynamic offensive duo of quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris and receiver DeVonta Smith, all of whom made the first team. Smith was tabbed as CFB Focus' offensive player of the year for his exploits, which also include being a lethal return specialist. Offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood and center Landon Dickerson were the other offensive representatives for the Tide, which placed cornerback Patrick Surtain II, defensive tackle Christian Barmore on the defensive honor roll.
Clemson's own veteran terrific trio of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and receiver Amari Rodgers were tabbed to one of the reserve offensive units, while linbacker Mike Jones Jr was honored on defense.
Notre Dame has been physical up front all season, so it's no wonder that three members of its offensive line made All-America -- guards Aaron Banks and Tommy Kraemer and tackle Robert Hainsey. Butkus Award winning linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah made the defensive squad.
Ohio State likely would have had more standouts had it played a longer season, but as it is the Buckeyes placed guard Wyatt Davis and receiver Garrett Wilson on the offensive ledger and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett on the defensive side. Garrett's story is an amazing one, as he was shot in the face attempting to break up an altercation shortly before fall camp opened, and there were questions about whether he would even be able to play. Not only did he play, he helped the Buckeyes defensive front lead the nation in pressure percentage in 2020.
In what has to be a triumph for the little guy, Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins won our Defensive Player of the Year award, after winning the Bednarik Award earlier in December. Collins did it all for the Hurricane, which fell a field goal short to Cincinnati in the American Conference championship game.
There were a ton of worthy candidates for national coach of the year -- Cincinati's Luke Fickell, Indiana's Tom Allen and San Jose State's Brent Brennan to name just a few. But the guy taking home the hardward is Coastal Carolina's Jamey Chadwell, who led the Chanticleers to an 11-1 record in just their fourth season in the FBS ranks.
A breakdown by conference of the All-America selections is as follows:
ACC: 23
Big 10: 12
Big 12: 12
Pac-12: 8
SEC: 22
AAC: 5
CUSA: 5
MAC: 3
MWC: 4
Sun Belt: 9
Independent: 5
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL FOCUS 2020 ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
OFFENSE
1ST
TEAM 2ND TEAM
QB Mac
Jones/Alabama QB Kyle Trask/Florida
RB Najee
Harris/Alabama
RB Jaret Patterson/Buffalo
RB Breece
Hall/Iowa State RB Javonte Williams/N Carolina
WR
DeVonta Smith/Alabama WR Jonathan Adams Jr/Arkansas State
WR Elijah
Moore/Ole Miss WR Dyami Brown/N Carolina
WR Jaelon
Darden/North Texas WR Kadarius Toney/Florida
TE Kyle
Pitts/Florida TE Hunter Long/Boston College
OT Brady
Christiansen/BYU OT Sam Cosmi/Texas
OT Christian
Darrisaw/Virginia Tech OT Robert Hainsey/Notre Dame
OG Aaron
Banks/Notre Dame OG Cain Madden/Marshall
OG Trey
Smith/Tennessee OG Wyatt Davis/Ohio State
C Tyler Linderbaum/Iowa C Drake Jackson/Kentucky
3RD
TEAM 4TH TEAM
QB Zach
Wilson/BYU QB Trevor Lawrence/Clemson
RB Travis
Etienne/Clemson RB Michael Carter/N Carolina
RB Mo
Ibrahim/Minnesota RB CJ Marable/Coastal Carolina
WR Marlon
Williams/UCF WR Amari Rodgers/Clemson
WR Amon-Ra
St. Brown/USC WR Garrett Wilson/Ohio State
WR Calvin
Austin III/Memphis WR Dax Milne/BYU
TE Kenny
Yeboah/Ole Miss TE Isaiah Likely/Coastal Carolina
OT Kayode
Awosika/Buffalo OT Alex Leatherwood/Alabama
OT Darian
Kinnard/Kentucky OT Parker Ferguson/Air Force
OG Kenyon
Green/Texas A&M OG Tommy Kraemer/Notre Dame
OG Jack Anderson/Texas
Tech OG Mike Johnson/Army
C Landon
Dickerson/Alabama C Mike Novitsky/Buffalo
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: DeVonta Smith
DEFENSE
1ST
TEAM 2ND
TEAM
DE Rashad
Weaver/Pittsburgh DE
Jaelen Phillips/Miami Fla
DT Daviyon
Nixon/Iowa DT Christian Barmore/Alabama
DT Alim
McNeil/NC State DT Haskell Garrett/Ohio State
DE Tarron
Jackson/Coastal Carolina DE
Kayvon Thibodeaux/Oregon
LB Zaven
Collins/Tulsa
LB Nik Bonitto/Oklahoma
LB Joseph
Ossai/Texas LB Paddy Fisher/Northwestern
LB Jeremiah
Owusu-Koramoah/Notre Dame LB Nick Bolton/Missouri
LB Grant
Morgan/Arkansas LB Nate Landman/Colorado
CB
Patrick Surtain II/Alabama CB
Ahmad Gardner/Cincinnati
CB Shemar
Jean-Charles/Appalachian State CB Rodarius Williams/Oklahoma
State
S James Wiggins/Cincinnati S Keith Gallmon/S Alabama
S Talanoa Hufanga/USC S
Brandon Joseph/Northwestern
3RD
TEAM 4TH TEAM
DE Ronnie
Perkins/Oklahoma DE Cade
Hall/San Jose State
DT Dante
Stills/West Virginia DT Jermayne Lole/Arizona St
DT Milton
Williams/Louisiana Tech DT Bobby Brown III/Texas A&M
DE Quincy
Roche/Miami Fla
DE Patrick Jones
II/Pittsburgh
LB Mike
Rose/Iowa State LB Jon Rhattigan/Army
LB Devin
Lloyd/Utah LB Jack Sanborn/Wisconsin
LB Justin
Rice/Arkansas State LB Isaiah
McDuffie/Boston College
LB Mike
Jones Jr/Clemson LB Carlton
Martial/Troy
CB Elijah
Molden/Washington CB Shakur Brown/Michigan State
CB
Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson/TCU CB Asante Samuel/Florida State
S Jaquan Brisker/Penn State S Rashad Wisdom/UTSA
S Tariq Thompson/San Diego State S Trevon Moehrig/TCU
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Zaven Collins
NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR: Jamey Chadwell/Coastal Carolina
SPECIALISTS
1ST TEAM 2ND TEAM
K Cade York/LSU
K Jose Borregales/Miami Fla
P Kirk Christodoulou/Pittsburgh P Jake Camarda/Georgia
RS Avery
Wiliams/Boise State RS Jeremiah Haydel/Texas State
3RD
TEAM 4TH
TEAM
K Hunter
Duplessis/UTSA K Will
Reichard/Alabama
P Lou
Hedley/Miami Fla P Adam Korsak/Rutgers
RS Trestan
Ebner/Baylor RS Britain Covey/Utah
