Baker Mayfield heads five Sooners named to All-Big 12 Preseason Team
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma two-time Heisman Trophy finalist Baker Mayfield heads a group of five Sooners named to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team, released on Wednesday in advance of the conference’s annual Football Media Days next week in Dallas.
Mayfield was chosen as Offensive Player of the Year in the annual preseason vote by a panel of media representatives who cover the Big 12.
The five Sooner selections, three on offense and two on defense, tied Texas for the most players from one school named to the team.
Joining Mayfield on the preseason All-Big 12 team are offensive tackle Orlando Brown, tight end Mark Andrews, linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and defensive back Jordan Thomas. Brown and Andrews are juniors; Mayfield, Thomas and Okoronkwo are seniors.
In addition to being a two-time Heisman finalist, Mayfield was a finalist last season for the Maxwell Award, which honors college football most outstanding player and is a two-time winner of the Burlsworth Award presented every season to the top college player who began his career as a walk-on. The Sooner quarterback began his college career as a walk-on at Texas Tech, and walked on at OU after transferring to Norman following his freshman season at Tech.
Mayfield is 22-4 as a two-year starter at quarterback for the Sooners and owns the school record for career completion percentage (.695) and pass-efficiency rating (184.3). Last season, he set a new NCAA single-season record with a completion percentage of 196.4.
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Brown was a second-team All-American selection a year ago and the first sophomore to be named Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year after allowing just one quarterback sack in nearly 700 snaps.
Andrews was an All-Big 12 First Team selection last season and finished second among the OU receivers with seven touchdown catches.
On the defensive side of the ball, Okoronkwo delivered a team-high 12 tackles for loss last season and tied the school record for quarterback sacks in a season by a linebacker with nine.
Thomas, another postseason All-Big 12 First Team honoree a year ago, was credited with breaking up 17 passes in 2016 and ranked fifth nationally with 1.5 passes defended per game.
The complete 2017 Preseason All-Big 12 Team
Offense
QB – Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma (Sr)
RB – Justice Hill, Oklahoma State (So)
RB – Justin Crawford, West Virginia (Sr)
FB – Winston, Dimmel, Kansas State (Jr)
WR – James Washington, Oklahoma State (Sr)
WR – Allen Lazard, Iowa State (Sr)
WR – Keke Coutee, Texas Tech (Jr)
TE – Mark Andrews, Oklahoma (Jr)
OL – Orlando Brown, Oklahoma (Jr)
OL – Connor Williams, Texas (Jr)
OL – Dalton Risner, Kansas State (Jr)
OL – Austin Schlottmann, TCU (Sr)
OL – Zach Crabtree, Oklahoma State (Sr)
PK – Clayton Hatfield, Texas Tech (Jr)
KR/PR – KaVontae Turpin, TCU (Jr)
Defense
DL – Dorance Armstrong Jr., Kansas (Jr)
DL – K.J. Smith, Baylor (Sr)
DL – Reggie Walker, Kansas State (So)
DL – Poona Ford, Texas (Sr)
DL – Malcolm Roach, Texas (So)
LB – Travin Howard, TCU (Sr)
LB – Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Oklahoma (Sr)
LB – Malik Jefferson, Texas (Jr)
DB – D.J. Reed, Kansas State (Jr)
DB – Jordan Thomas, Oklahoma (Sr)
DB – Tre Flowers, Oklahoma State (Sr)
DB – Kamari Cotton-Moya, Iowa State (Sr)
DB – Nick Orr, TCU (Sr)
P – Michael Dickson, Texas (Jr)