The All-Big 12 team honors are in before the start of the season as we project who should have the most dominant fall in the conference. Ahead of the 2022 college football season, Pro Football Network is proud to debut our All-Conference honors for each of the 10 conferences and the FBS Independents.
Detailing out our projected top players, units, and teams ahead of the action, PFN’s team of draft evaluators and national college football analysts looked at who they each thought would be the conference’s best in 2022. The results are in, and here is the cream of the crop heading into the fall.
Follow along with all of our All-Conference Awards this preseason: AAC | ACC | B1G | C-USA | MAC | Mountain West | SEC | Sun Belt | FBS Independent
Preseason All-Big 12 football team honors for 2022
It’s important to note that these are awards and honors from Pro Football Network for each individual’s expected prowess on the field this season. This is in no way a projection of their NFL draft status nor a report on the specific conference awards given this preseason. These honors are from Pro Football Network, as judged by our team of college football analysts and draft evaluators projecting their success on the field in 2022.
- Big 12 Player of the Year
Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas - Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year
Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas - Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
Felix Anudike-Uzomah, EDGE, Kansas State - Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
Jaxon Player, Baylor
Though some remain bullish on Quinn Ewers at Texas, the truth of the fact remains: Ewers has to prove he isn’t only the second-best player in his own backfield this fall. That should spark the nation’s top running back in Bijan Robinson. A dynamic athlete with the ball in his hands, Robinson accelerates through his breaks and constantly looks for the next man to make miss. He’s got a terrific combination of field vision, speed, strength, and contact balance, as it’s nearly impossible to bring him down with just one defender.
Felix Anudike-Uzomah is the rightful owner of the most sacks in a single game, even if that record was written away due to a technicality. Anudike-Uzomah is a true game wrecker off the edge, bringing power and speed in one swift motion.
The edge for top newcomer goes to Baylor’s Jaxsn Player as the big man from Tulsa is one of the hardest players to block anywhere in the country. Again, Ewers has to prove he can read defenses and show the skill he had in high school early on in Texas before we crown him with anything. Player, on the other hand, was ridiculous as recent as last November for the Golden Hurricane. Thus, he gets the edge here as he partners with the best interior defender in the conference: Siaki Ika.
Offensive All-Big 12 team and player honors
- Big 12 QB of the Year
Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma - Big 12 RB of the Year
Bijan Robinson, Texas - Big 12 WR of the Year
Quentin Johnston, TCU - Big 12 TE of the Year
Ben Sims, Baylor - Big 12 Offensive Line of the Year
Baylor Bears - Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year
Connor Galvin, OT, Baylor
Fellow newcomer Dillon Gabriel earns the top quarterback award as there is no one better throwing deep than Gabriel this season. He’ll have a top target in Marvin Mims, who also excels downfield and averaged over 20 yards a catch last year. This combination could break Big 12 records if all goes to plan.
Fellow pass catchers Quentin Johnston and Ben Sims are every bit as dominant as athletes and should be household names by the end of the season. Johnston is a massive man who moves effortlessly around the field, while Sims is a true three-down tight end.
The Baylor Bears have the top offensive line not only in the Big 12 but in the entire country as Connor Galvin anchors the unit from his left tackle spot. They return four starters and a star in the making at left guard as Micah Mazzccua takes over for Xavier Newman-Johnson. Any five of their starters could start at any other school across the country and serve as an upgrade to their specific unit.
Defensive All-Big 12 team and player honors
- Big 12 Defensive Line of the Year
Baylor Bears - Big 12 DL of the Year
Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State - Big 12 LB of the Year
Dillon Doyle, Baylor - Big 12 Secondary of the Year
Oklahoma Sooners - Big 12 CB of the Year
Al Walcott, Baylor - Big 12 S of the Year
Kenny Logan Jr., Kansas
The Baylor Bears should dominate the trenches this season as they present the country’s top interior one-two punch in Ika and Player. Expect big things from Garmon Randolph off the edge and Gabe Hall from wherever he lines up as opposing offenses will have to double the interior combo of Ika and Player on nearly every down.
Baylor also has the conference’s top cornerback in the extremely gifted Al Walcott. Standing at a massive 6’2″, 218 pounds, Walcott should not be able to move as well as he does in coverage. Walcott is the new prototypical NFL cornerback with size and speed as an unstoppable combination.
Kenny Logan Jr. flies around the field and led the Kansas Jayhawks in tackles last year with well over 100. He returns as the Big 12’s top safety while the best secondary as a whole belongs in Norman under Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Special teams All-Big 12 team and player honors
- Big 12 K of the Year
Isaiah Hankins, Baylor - Big 12 P of the Year
Michael Turk, Oklahoma - Big 12 Specialist of the Year
Malik Knowles, PR/KR, Kansas State