College Football Freshman All-America Team

01/10/2009

116 players nominated for 8th annual team

FWAA NAMES 2008 AON INSURANCE
FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA TEAM

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America and Aon Insurance announced their eighth annual Freshman All-America Team on Thursday morning during the association’s annual awards breakfast. Each member of the team will receive a custom-designed mini helmet courtesy of Schutt Sports, the world’s leading maker of football helmets and faceguards.

The Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Southeastern, Big 12 and Pacific-10 conferences each placed four players on the 27-man team. Conference USA was the only other conference with multiple players on the team with two. Of the 27 players selected, 15 were true freshmen and 12 were redshirt freshmen.

In addition, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson was named the top first-year coach at his school after leading the Yellow Jackets to a 9-4 season and a berth in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

The team and coach are selected by a 11-person panel of writers led by Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News Sentinel. Both true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were considered for the team and are so noted. A total of 116 players were nominated for the team and considered by the committee.

2008 AON INSURANCE FWAA FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA TEAM

OFFENSE

Pos. Player, School Ht. Wt. Hometown
QB Kellen Moore, Boise State 6-0 187 Prosser, Wash.
RB Darren Evans, Virginia Tech 6-0 210 Indianapolis, Ind
RB • Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon State 5-7 193 Richmond, Texas
WR • DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss 6-6 228 Ocean Springs, Miss.
WR • A.J. Green, Georgia 6-4 200 Summerville, S.C.
WR • Julio Jones, Alabama 6-4 210 Foley, Ala.
T • Andrew Datko, Florida State 6-6 276 Weston, Fla.
T Matt Reynolds, BYU 6-6 321 Provo, Utah
G Joel Foreman, Michigan State 6-3 308 Highland, Mich.
G Moe Petrus, Connecticut 6-2 276 St. Laurent, Quebec
C • Michael Brewster, Ohio State 6-5 296 Orlando, Fla.

DEFENSE

Pos. Player, School Ht. Wt. Hometown
DE • Brandon Harold, Kansas State 6-6 264 East St. Louis, Ill.
DE Thomas Keiser, Stanford 6-5 252 Wexford, Pa.
DT • Marcus Forston, Miami 6-2 302 Miami, Fla.
DT • Lawrence Guy, Arizona State 6-5 270 Las Vegas, Nev.
LB • Dont’a Hightower, Alabama 6-4 250 Lewisburg, Tenn.
LB Travis Lewis, Oklahoma 6-2 232 San Antonio, Texas
LB Brandon Maye, Clemson 6-2 215 Mobile, Ala.
CB • Janoris Jenkins, Florida 5-10 185 Pahokee, Fla.
CB • Jordan Mabin, Northwestern 5-11 180 Northfield Center, Ohio
S Sean Baker, Ball State 6-1 205 Canfield, Ohio
S Earl Thomas, Texas 5-10 195 Orange, Texas

SPECIALISTS

Pos. Player, School Ht. Wt. Hometown
P Bryan Anger, California 6-4 196 Camarillo, Calif.
K Philip Welch, Wisconsin 6-3 190 Fort Collins, Colo.
KR • Leonard Johnson, Iowa State 5-10 179 Clearwater, Fla.
PR • T.Y. Hilton, Florida International 5-10 175 Miami, Fla.
ATH • Damaris Johnson, Tulsa 5-8 175 Norco, La.

HEAD COACH
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech

• Denotes true freshman

The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of nearly 1,000 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.

Headquartered in Chicago, Aon Corporation provides more insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage and risk management services than any other company in the world, and is a leader in human capital management consulting. Aon has 36,000 employees in 500 offices in more than 120 countries.