INDIANAPOLIS – The Big Ten does not release preseason conference teams to kick off the season and has instead moved to a list of 10 players, five from the East and five from the West as “players to watch” and needless to say, the Buckeyes have taken more than their own fair share of the spots.
Three of the five players from the East are members of the Buckeyes with CJ Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TreVeyon Henderson.
Shockingly enough, those three players have found themselves on a number of preseason watch lists for national awards, so it should have come as little surprise that these three players would be singled out by the conference as top players going into the 2022 season, a season that gets underway for Ohio State with a September 3rd game against Notre Dame under the lights to kick things off.
Joining the trio of Buckeyes are Michigan running back Blake Corum and Michigan State wide receiver Jayden Reed. Stroud was the only unanimous selection for either the West or the East.
In the West, Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell, Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski, Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell, Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen and linebacker Nick Herbig all made the cut.
The Big Ten will have a postseason list but that is still months away, other conferences prefer to do a preseason list.
Seven of the 10 players who made the list will be part of the annual Big Ten Media Days, slated to start on Tuesday morning from the field of Lucas Oil Stadium.