The Walter Camp Football Foundation on Monday announced its preseason All-America teams, recognizing three Michigan Wolverines ahead of their national championship defence in 2024.
Cornerback Will Johnson and tight end Colston Loveland each earned a spot on the first team, while defensive tackle Mason Graham was named to the second team. All three have also been recognized by Pro Football Focus as the top returning players at their positions ahead of the 2024 season.
Loveland, who amassed 45 receptions for 649 yards and four touchdowns in 2023, should remain a focal point on a Michigan offence that is replacing its top two wide receivers. The 6-foot-5 junior creates mismatch problems for defences due to his receiver-like hands and body control at his size. As PFF wrote:
Loveland went from a promising freshman to one of the nation’s best tight ends as a sophomore. He finished as the fourth-most valuable FBS tight end this past season according to PFF’s wins above average metric and was fifth among them in receiving yards (649).Â
Loveland’s elite athleticism at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds makes him nearly unguardable. His 88.7% open-target rate in 2023 placed him in the 97th percentile for all tight ends in the country.Â
A Freshman All-American in 2022 and First Team All-American in 2023, Johnson will headline a defence hoping to maintain its elite level this fall. PFF wrote that Johnson could have been the first cornerback taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, had he been eligible:
Johnson immediately lived up to his five-star billing, posting a 91.1 grade in man coverage as a true freshman in 2022 to lead all Power Five cornerbacks.
He has all the physical traits you’d want in a cornerback at 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds with excellent speed, footwork and ball skills for the position. If he was eligible to be selected in 2024, he’d be the first corner of the board. He would’ve been the first one taken in 2023, as well. Johnson has the makings of a special cornerback prospect who’ll likely be a top-five pick next April.
And PFF lauded both Graham (No. 1) and Michigan’s Kenneth Grant (No. 6) in its ranking of returning defensive tackles:
Graham was excellent in his first year at Ann Arbor, leading all FBS true freshmen interior defensive linemen with an 80.3 PFF grade. He took his game to a whole new level as a sophomore. According to PFF’s wins above average metric, he was the fourth-most valuable defensive tackle in the nation and was sixth in that same group with a 15.9% pass-rush win rate. Graham was one of only two interior defensive linemen in the country to finish with top-10 grades as both a pass rusher and run defender. The other was Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat.
The rising junior has a relentless motor to combine with ridiculous agility that makes him nearly unblockable. Even if an offensive lineman gets a clean shot on him, he has great power at 6-foot-3, 318 pounds to shed the block and find the ball carrier. Graham’s a nearly complete defensive tackle who’ll continue terrorizing Big Ten offences on his way to likely becoming a high selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. If he was eligible for the 2024 draft, he’d likely be the first defensive tackle off the board.
The Wolverines will begin their national championship defence on August 31 against Fresno State at the Big House.
