Football Writers Put Out Preseason All-american List

NT80 · June 22, 2007

June 21, 2007

Football Writers put out preseason All-American list

The Football Writers Association of America recently put out its 2007 All-American Checklist, which included seven players from the Sun Belt Conference among 347 total selections.

None of the players are from North Texas.

Defensive back Damon Nickson and offensive lineman Franklin Dunbar of Middle Tennessee made the list and were joined by running back Calvin Dawson and offensive lineman Kyle Cunningham of Louisiana-Monroe, Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook, Arkansas State defensive back Tyrell Johnson and Louisiana-Lafayette running back Tyrell Fenroy.

The list is just one of several that has come out in the last few months naming the top players in the Sun Belt that is short on UNT players.

The lists will be long forgotten in a few months, but they do illustrate just what a tough road Todd Dodge could face in his first season with the Mean Green. When Sun Belt play begins, UNT will be a decided underdog in the race for the league title.

Posted by Brett Vito at 9:52 PM

Got5onIt · June 22, 2007

After the past 2 seasons, are we really shocked??

Jmo is the only player to garner any type of national recognition and we all know what happened there.

medpilot21 · June 22, 2007

After the past 2 seasons, are we really shocked??
Jmo is the only player to garner any type of national recognition and we all know what happened there.

True, the last two seasons have changed how the media sees us... but dont be so fast to give up on our potential stars? Get the offensive numbers up, and guys like Jamario Thomas will still get national recognition, regardless of what happened the year before. J-Mo now has the spread offense to run with. That got Torean Henderson a job in the NFL and on the Pre-season All Conference list for the Big-XII. He also ran from, and caught passes in the spread offense at Texas Tech. I think Dodge's system makes several of our players better, and a couple more could get national recognition.

Brandon Jackson - in this offense he could be huge. Score double-digit receiving TD's in one season and you should get some ESPN time. I watched the SLC offense many times, and the one thing that is obvious is they score. Score a lot of points, plain and simple and people will notice. It probably matters more to ESPN if we score a bunch against OU or Arkansas, but I see B-Jax having a monster year against most of our oppoents.

Danny Meager or Giovanni Vizza - I dont know who will eventually win the job, but one thing is certain. ANY QB who plays in this system is going to throw touchdowns. Todd Dodge has that built into his offense. If Texas Tech can get the national spotlight put on guys like B.J. Symons, and Kliff Kingsbury for throwing touchdowns, then so can NT. Neither of those two guys are burning it up in the NFL, and only Kingsbury made an NFL roster? Symons is playing in the Arena League..(which I happen to like a lot! Arena Football is a blast) The point is the offense Texas Tech still runs under Mike Leach scores points. We will be running a very similar version of the spread, and should score a boat-load of points. THAT gets players national recognition.

Brandon Monroe - There is no substitute for a fast LB that can get to the ball. In the 4-3 Monroe can go full-tilt, after-burners blazing to the ball. I think we have something special in this kid, and we'll get to see it this year. Less complicated, and more aggressive defense... that worked for us in the past. Yes, you still have to have play-makers... well Monroe is one of the several we have.

Wins...THAT gets national recognition for players... no matter what conference they are in. I see a huge jump for NT this year. I think the switch back to the 4-3 helps us, but we have some ground to make up on both sides of the ball. The rest of this discussion is for another thread....

GMG!!!