2023 College Football Preseason Group of Five All-Americans & Players of the Year

The Power Five tends to get more shine in college football, but there are still plenty of phenomenal student-athletes plying their trade at the Group of Five level.

The level of quarterback play this season in G5-Land is absolutely outrageous. Thanks to bonus COVID-19 years, we have a handful of passers entering their seventh seasons.

That includes (Dr.) Frank Harris from UTSA, Northern Illinois’ Rocky Lombardi, Jacksonville State’s Zion Webb and a few sixth-year wonders in James Madison’s Jordan McCloud, Rice’s JT Daniels, San Jose State’s Chevan Cordeiro and Western Kentucky’s Austin Reed.

This collective experience should translate to high-quality quarterback play and hopefully a handful of upsets for G5 teams in “paycheck games.”

Who could forget sixth-year senior Chase Brice helping App State upset Texas A&M last season in College Station? The Mountaineers were paid $1.5 million to hand the Aggies that L. More of that, please.

Outside of veteran quarterback play, the G5 ranks are filled with dynamic skill-position talent.

Rasheen Ali returns to the forefront of the sport after an injury-plagued 2022 season. In 2021, he posted eight multi-touchdown games and finished with 1,401 yards on the ground. He’s healthy once again and ready to dominate in the Sun Belt.

Our All-American selections at receiver were hotly debated. Malachi Corley has the potential to approach 100/1,500/15 numbers this fall, while Colorado State’s Tory Horton and UTEP’s Tyrin Smith have a chance to play their way into second-round grades in next spring’s NFL Draft.

All-purpose superstars, including Southern Miss’ Frank Gore Jr and UAB’s Jermaine Brown Jr., mean everything to their teams. Gore will likely be one of the few players in the country to score three different ways this fall — rushing, receiving and passing — while Brown will chip in on special teams for the Blazers.

Speaking of special teams, Louisiana Tech’s Smoke Harris and Wyoming’s John Hoyland could help swing a game or two for their respective teams, which could be the difference between sitting at home for the holidays and making a minor bowl game in 2023.

The trenches on both sides of the ball feature future pros like NIU’s Nolan Potter and UAB’s Fish McWilliams. UConn’s Christian Haynes and Tulane’s Sincere Haynesworth are special interior linemen, and edge terrors like UTEP’s Praise Amaewhule and Marshall’s Owen Porter could flirt with 20 tackles for loss.

From a statistical standpoint, our first-team linebacking corps should surpass their Power Five competition. Jason Henderson returns to Old Dominion after making 186 (!!) tackles in 12 games last fall. That was 39 more than any other player in the country.

UConn’s Jackson Mitchell and Temple’s Layton Jordan are ball-hawking playmakers who also made the first team.

In the secondary, we have some of the most prolific defensive backs in the game. Buffalo’s Marcus Fuqua led the nation in interceptions and Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell took a pair of interceptions to the house while breaking up more passes than anyone in the country.

Outside of the receiver selections, this was the most difficult group to separate in terms of first- and second-team consideration.

Here’s the full rundown of Action Network’s Group of Five All-Americans.

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* 2023 FBS Action Network All-American

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* 2023 FBS Action Network All-American

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