As we approach the beginning of the 2023 college football season, we want to highlight some of the top players in each conference by announcing our SIS Preseason All-Conference teams. We used our all-encompassing player value stat, Total Points, along with other metrics and our scouting work as leading references in putting together our selections.

You can learn more about Total Points and the statistics referenced here.

Offense

Position Name School
QB Grayson McCall Coastal Carolina
RB Frank Gore Jr. Southern Miss
WR Caulin Lacy South Alabama
WR Tyrone Howell UL-Monroe
TE Clayton Ollendieck Troy
FLEX La’Damian Webb South Alabama
OT Nick Kidwell James Mdison
OT Grant Betts Troy
OG Khalil Crowder Georgia Southern
OG Bucky Williams Appalachian State
OC Bryce Ramsey Southern Miss

Grayson McCall has been a dominant force in the Sun Belt as he has led the conference in both passing total points and overall total points the last 3 seasons and will look to stay on top this season. 

Frank Gore Jr. is the top RB in the conference as his 38 Total Points and his Broken + Missed Tackle % of 32% were both Top-20 in the nation.

La’Damian Webb isn’t too far behind as his 29 Total Points were good enough to crack the Top-25 in the country and his 13 rushing TDs last season were good for 2nd in the conference last season.

Webb’s teammate Caullin Lacy’s On-Target Catch% of 92.5% was good for third in the conference for receivers with a minimum of 75 targets. Tyrone Howell led all receivers in the conference with a minimum of 75 targets with 0.4 Broken & Missed tackles per Reception.

Khalil Crowder had a Blown Block% of 0.9 in almost 1000 snaps and was second last season in Total points for all OL in the conference with 39. Bucky Williams led all OL with a 0.5% Blown Block rate (with a minimum of 500 snaps ). 

Defense

Position Name School
DT James Carpenter James Madison
DT Ja’Quon Griffin Coastal Carolina
EDGE Owen Porter Marshall
EDGE T.J. Jackson Troy
LB Eli Neal Marshall
LB Taurus Jones James Madison
CB Reddy Steward Troy
CB Micah Abraham  Marshall
S Jay Stanley Southern Miss
S Yam Banks South Alabama
FLEX O’shai Fletcher Troy

T.J. Jackson was second team All-SIS last season and a big reason was his 41 total points. He is joined by fellow Troy teammate and All-SIS 2nd teamer from last year, Reddy Steward. His 55 Coverage Total Points was good for 4th in the country last season. James Carpenter led all front 7 players with 28 Total Points against the run. 

Marshall is well represented on the defensive side having 1 representative on each level of the defense. Owen Porter was top-25 in the nation last season with 9.5 sacks and his 27 total points from pass rushing led the conference for front 7 players. Eli Neal was 2nd among LBs in the conference with 24 Total Points against the run. Micah Abraham was 3rd in the conference with 38 Coverage Total Points. Abraham was also tied with South Alabama’s Yam Banks for the conference lead with 6 INTs. Both players tied for 2nd in the nation last season. 

Specialists

Position Name School
K Dominic Zvada Arkansas State
P Ethan Duane Old Dominion
Returner Milan Tucker  Appalachian State

Dominic Zvada went nearly perfect last season going 17-of-18 on FGs and 30-of-31 on XPs. Ethan Duane led the conference with 28 punts inside the 20 and was tied for 3rd in the conference with 10 of them landing inside the 10 yard line. Milan Tucker was 2nd in the conference with 616 KR yards and returned 1 for a TD.