While pre-season speculation and expectations are not everything, it’s always great to be recognized and be a name to look at come week one.
The Pac-12 announced its 2023 All-Pac-12 honors as voted on by members of the media, and the Cougs got a number of nods.
The Cougs matched their total pre-season All-Pac-12 recipients from a year ago with seven. Last year the recipients saw plenty of success come their way in the regular season.
Honorable mention Daiyan Henley won Pac-12 Linebacker of the Year and was an All-Pac-12 First-Team selection and a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Fellow honorable mention Nick Haberer received another honorable mention after the season as well.
Defensive back Armani Marsh, another 2022 preseason honorable mention, found himself in that same spot on the postseason All-Pac-12 team. However, he also found himself with an NFL contract from the Tennessee Titans in May.
The 2023 preseason All-Pac-12 team features four returning Cougs in edge rushers Ron Stone Jr and Brennan Jackson, as well as punter Haberer and kicker Dean Janikowski. The three newcomers are running back Nakia Watson and defensive backs Chau Smith-Wade and Jaden Hicks.
Stone was a preseason All-Pac-12 first-team selection in 2022 after being named to the All-Pac-12 first team following his 2021 campaign where he recorded a career-high five sacks. Stone recorded 34 total tackles and two sacks in 2022 and is returning for a sixth year on the Palouse as a preseason All-Pac-12 second-team selection.
Like Stone, Jackson was also named to the All-Pac-12 second-team following a career-high six-sack season in 2022 and is returning for his sixth season. Jackson also received 2023 preseason All-Pac-12 second-team honors.
Haberer was a second-team selection taking a step up from both his preseason and postseason honorable mentions in 2022. He set a career-high in punts landed inside the 20-yard-line percentage at 5.09 and recorded a new career-high 41.1 net yards per punt in 2022.
KickerJanikowski was a first-team selection following the 2021 season and naturally was also a 2022 pre-season first-team selection. However, Janikowski was not selected to the All-Pac-12 team following the 2022 season and now heads into 2023 as an honorable mention looking for another First-Team level season.
This is Watson’s first time on the preseason All-Pac-12 team, being named an honorable mention. However, he was a 2022 postseason honorable mention following a season where he recorded three 100+ yard rushing games and was third in the Pac-12 with ten 20+ yard runs.
Defensive back Hicks may have not made the All-Pac-12 team in 2022, but he was named a Third-Team Freshman All-American. He now enters 2023 with a preseason All-Pac-12 honorable mention after leading Pac-12 freshmen in tackles in 2023 while recording an interception and six pass breakups.
Last but not least, fellow defensive back Smith-Wade broke onto the scene in 2022 with eight pass breakups and two interceptions earning the fourth-best defensive grade and coverage grade in the Pac-12. After not cracking the 2022 preseason All-Pac-12 team, he finds himself on the second-team this year.
Some could say quarterback Cam Ward was snubbed following a 2022 postseason honorable mention, but it’s tough to do in an extremely deep Pac-12 quarterback class.
All eyes will surely be watching the seven Cougs selected this season, but also to see who will rise up out of the unrecognized and make their name known.
The season begins at Colorado State on Sept. 2nd at 4 p.m., where the Cougs will hope to start the season strong with a second win against Colorado State in two years.
