CONFERENCE USA 2020 ALL-LEAGUE SELECTIONS

 

The end of the college football season is a sad time, because it means that we are almost finished withfootball, and have a long cold winter (and spring) ahead of us.

But it's also a time for passing out hardware, in the form of all-league teams. 

Plenty of players had the spotlight shining on them, so it was admittedly tricky trying to find the best of the best in each league. But through careful research, and all night film sessions, our committee of three came up with what we thought were the best choices in each conference. 

These selections may not match the ones unveiled by the conferences, but that's because much of that is name recognition more than stellar play. Digging deep behind the numbers is what's needed, and that's precisely what we have done here. 

Today we feature Conference USA, the league that is often forgotten in the grand scheme but one that turns out a bunch of pros. The league has some real DUDES on defense, guys you will be seeing on Sundays over the next few seasons. One of them is defensive player of the DeAngelo Malone from Western Kentucky. The guy has great get off and is a physical force, and should be a star at the next level. North Texas wideout Jaelon Darden is one of those guys who will take a back seat in the draft process yet will outperform many of the bigger names taken ahead of him. It's hard enough seeing the field as a freshman, but to do it at quarterback? Marshall has a star in the making in rocket-armed Grant Wells. There was some skepticism when Jeff Traylor was named coach at UTSA, mainly because of his predominantly high school background. The Roadrunners went from four wins in 2019 to seven this year, and Traylor has recruited at a level that assures his team will be in the mix for quite some time. 

1^ST TEAM OFFENSE                                                                                   2^ND TEAM OFFENSE

QB Grant Wells/Marshall                                                                     QB Asher O’Hara/Middle Tennessee

RB Sincere McCormick/UTSA                                                             RB Spencer Brown/UAB

RB Brenden Knox/Marshall                                                                 RB D’vonte Price/FIU

WR Jaelon Darden/North Texas                                                          WR Jacob Cowing/UTEP

WR Zakhari Franklin/UTSA                                                                   WR Jason Brownlee/Southern Miss

WR Austin Trammell/Rice                                                                    WR Adrian Hardy/Louisiana Tech

TE Xavier Gaines/Marshall                                                                  TE Joshua Simon/Western Kentucky

OT Arvin Fletcher/Southern Miss                                                      OT Josh Ball/Marshall

OT Spencer Burford/UTSA                                                                  OT Cole Brown/North Texas

OG Cain Madden/Marshall                                                                  OG Kevin Davis/UTSA

OG Colby Ragland/UAB                                                                         OG Desmond Noel/Florida Atlantic

 C Manase Mose/North Texas                                                             C Shane McGough/FIU                                   

1^ST TEAM DEFENSE                                                                                 2^ND TEAM DEFENSE

DE Darius Hodge/Marshall                                                                   DE Praise Amaewhule/UTEP

DT Milton Williams/Louisiana Tech                                                   DT Jaylon Haynes/UTSA

DT Keenan Stewart/UTEP                                                                    DT Dion Novil/North Texas

DE DeAngelo Malone/Western Kentucky                                         DE Jaylen Joyner/Florida Atlantic

LB Kyle Bailey/Western Kentucky                                                     LB Tyler Grubbs/Louisiana Tech

LB Jamal Ligon/UTSA                                                                          LB Hayes Maples/Southern Miss

LB Trey Baldwin/Louisiana Tech                                                       LB KD Davis/North Texas

LB Kristopher Moll/UAB                                                                      LB Tavante Beckett/Marshall

CB Dionte Ruffin/Western Kentucky                                                CB Corey Mayfield Jr/UTSA

CB Brontae Harris/UAB                                                                        CB Cedric Woods/Louisiana Tech

 S Rashad Wisdom/UTSA                                                                       S Devon Key/Western Kentucky

 S Gregory Grate Jr/Middle Tennessee                                             S Ky’el Hemby/Southern Miss

1^ST TEAM SPECIALISTS                                                                         2^ND TEAM SPECIALISTS

 K Hunter Duplessis/UTSA                                                                    K Braden Narveson/Western Kentucky

 P Tommy Heatherly/FIU                                                                        P Charlie Mendes/Rice

RS LaJohntay Wester/Florida Atlantic                                              RS Deion Hair-Griffin/North Texas

 

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jaelon Darden/North Texas               

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: DeAngelo Malone/Western Kentucky            

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Grant Wells/Marshall

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jeff Traylor/UTSA