2021 College Football All-Americans & Players of the Year | Action Network
Getty Images. Pictured, from left: Jordan Addison (3) of the Pitt Panthers, Kenneth Walker (9) of the Michigan State Spartans, Bryce Love (9) of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Aidan Hutchinson (97) of the Michigan Wolverines.
Below, you will find The Action Network’s inaugural consensus first- and second-team All-Americans, along with our Players of the Year.
Collin Wilson, Stuckey, and I came up with these using an iterative process after first selecting our own individual teams and then coming together to discuss where we had differences.
We relied on basic statistics, advanced metrics, our own player ratings, and of course, the good ol’ eye test, while taking into account number of snaps and level of competition.
We had plenty of tough decisions in front of us, which will surely make for a few disagreements — but that’s what makes these lists fun.
In all, 39 schools were represented among our 52 first- and second-team All-Americans. Ten schools had multiple players: Alabama (4), Iowa (3), Cincinnati (2), Georgia (2), Michigan (2), Ohio State (2), Purdue (2), San Diego State (2), Utah (2) and Wisconsin (2).
Among the conferences, the Big Ten led with 15 selections, followed by the SEC (12), Pac-12 (5), AAC (4) and ACC (4).
Without further ado, The Action Network’s 2021 college football All-Americans and Players of the Year:

Action Network All-Americans
1st Team OffenseQB
![]() Bryce Young
Alabama · Sophomore
RB
![]() Kenneth Walker III
Michigan State · Junior
WR
![]() Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Ohio State · Sophomore
WR
![]() Jordan Addison
Pitt · Sophomore
WR
![]() David Bell
Purdue · Junior
TE
![]() Trey McBride
Colorado State · Senior
OT
![]() Darian Kinnard
Kentucky · Senior
OG
![]() Zion Johnson
Boston College · Senior
C
![]() Tyler Linderbaum
Iowa · Junior
OG
![]() TJ Bass
Oregon · Junior
OT
![]() Ikem Ekwonu
NC State · Sophomore
|
1st Team DefenseDE
![]() Aidan Hutchinson
Michigan · Senior
DE
![]() Will Anderson Jr.
Alabama · Sophomore
DT
![]() Jonah Tavai
San Diego State · Senior
LB
![]() Devin Lloyd
Utah · Junior
LB
![]() Malcolm Rodriguez
Oklahoma State · Senior
LB
![]() Nakobe Dean
Georgia · Junior
CB
![]() Ahmad Gardner
Cincinnati · Junior
CB
![]() Antonio Johnson
Texas A&M · Sophomore
S
![]() Jordan Battle
Alabama · Junior
S
![]() Jaquan Brisker
Penn State · Senior
DB
![]() Jalen Pitre
Baylor · Senior
|
1st Team Special TeamsK
![]() Harrison Mevis
Missouri · Sophomore
P
![]() Matt Araiza
San Diego State · Junior
RET
![]() Marcus Jones
Houston · Senior
AP
![]() Brian Battie
South Florida · Sophomore
|
2nd Team OffenseQB
![]() C.J. Stroud
Ohio State · Freshman
RB
![]() Braelon Allen
Wisconsin · Freshman
WR
![]() Skyy Moore
Western Michigan · Sophomore
WR
![]() Jerreth Sterns
Western Kentucky · Junior
WR
![]() Jameson Williams
Alabama · Junior
TE
![]() Isaiah Likely
Coastal Carolina · Senior
OT
![]() Abraham Lucas
Washington State · Senior
OG
![]() Clark Barrington
BYU · Sophomore
C
![]() Olusegun Oluwatimi
Virginia · Senior
OG
![]() Blaise Andries
Minnesota · Senior
OT
![]() Charles Cross
Mississippi State · Sophomore
|
2nd Team DefenseDE
![]() George Karlaftis
Purdue · Junior
DE
![]() Nik Bonitto
Oklahoma · Junior
DT
![]() Zi’Yon Hill
Louisiana · Junior
LB
![]() Darrian Beavers
Cincinnati · Senior
LB
![]() Ivan Pace Jr.
Miami Ohio · Sophomore
LB
![]() Leo Chenal
Wisconsin · Junior
CB
![]() Roger McCreary
Auburn · Senior
CB
![]() Riley Moss
Iowa · Senior
S
![]() Brad Hawkins
Michigan · Senior
S
![]() Lewis Cine
Georgia · Junior
DB
![]() Kyler Gordon
Washington · Junior
|
2nd Team Special TeamsK
![]() Caleb Shudak
Iowa · Senior
P
![]() Adam Korsak
Rutgers · Senior
RET
![]() Velus Jones Jr.
Tennessee · Senior
AP
![]() Britain Covey
Utah · Junior
|
Players of the Year
Offensive Player of the Year

Bryce Young, Alabama
Defensive Player of the Year

Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
Special Teams Player of the Year

Matt Araiza, San Diego State
How would you rate this article?