Top award finalists lead FCS All-America Team

The players invited to the unveiling of the Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan awards help headline the 2017 STATS FCS All-America Team, announced Tuesday.

The two most prestigious player awards in the FCS will be announced at the STATS FCS Banquet and Presentation on Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas - the eve of the national championship.

Senior quarterbacks Jeremiah Briscoe of Sam Houston State and Chris Streveler of South Dakota and UC Davis junior wide receiver Keelan Doss will decide the Payton Award. Doss was named a first-team All-American, and the Payton results will determine first-team quarterback between Briscoe and Streveler.

Senior defensive ends Andrew Ankrah of James Madison and Darius Jackson of Jacksonville State and Western Illinois senior linebacker Brett Taylor - who are in the top three of the Buchanan Award voting - also were first-team All-Americans.

The All-America team featured players from 54 schools and all 13 conferences. National semifinalist Sam Houston State had the most selections with five followed by Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State, James Madison, North Dakota State and Weber State with four each. The Missouri Valley Football Conference led all conferences with 17 selections.

Briscoe, the 2016 Payton Award winner, ranks No. 1 in the FCS with 5,003 passing yards and 45 touchdown passes, while Streveler averaged an FCS-best 373.4 yards of total offense per game, accounting for 43 touchdowns. Doss led all FCS receivers in the regular season with 115 receptions and 1,499 receiving yards.

Ankrah hopes to help James Madison win a second straight national title on Jan. 6, adding to his 54 tackles, 15 1/2 tackles for loss and 8 1/2 sacks. Jackson totaled 20 1/2 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 23 quarterback hurries. Taylor's 162 tackles and 13.5 tackles per game lead the nation.

The rest of the first-team offense included running backs Dom Bragalone of Lehigh and Josh Mack of Maine; fullback Cal Daniels of Stony Brook; wide receivers Nathan Stewart of Sam Houston State and Justin Watson of Penn; tight end Dallas Goedert of South Dakota State; and offensive linemen Austin Kuhnert of North Dakota State, Justin Lea of Jacksonville State, Brandon Parker of North Carolina A&T, Skyler Phillips of Idaho State and Aaron Stinnie of James Madison.

On defense, the other first-team selections were defensive linemen P.J. Hall of Sam Houston State and Jonathan Petersen of San Diego; linebackers Nick DeLuca of North Dakota State, Darius Leonard of South Carolina State and Sione Teuhema of Southeastern Louisiana; and defensive backs Mike Basile of Monmouth, Davontae Harris of Illinois State, Taron Johnson of Weber State and Tremon Smith of Central Arkansas.

The first-team special teams selections were Nicholls place-kicker Lorran Fonseca, Incarnate Word punter Joe Zema, North Dakota State long snapper James Fisher, Southeastern Louisiana kick returner Juwan Petit-Frere, Harvard punt returner Justice Shelton-Mosley and Western Carolina all-purpose back Detrez Newsome.

The All-America team included 18 players who were named offensive or defensive player of the year in their conference.

Full list: 

FIRST TEAM

*-To be determined by the winner of the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award on Jan. 5.

OFFENSE

*QB - Jeremiah Briscoe, senior, 6-3, 225, Sam Houston State, or Chris Streveler, senior, 6-3, 220, South Dakota

RB - Dom Bragalone, junior, 5-11, 230, Lehigh

RB - Josh Mack, sophomore, 6-1, 198, Maine

FB - Cal Daniels, junior, 6-2, 255, Stony Brook

WR - Keelan Doss, junior, 6-3, 206, UC Davis

WR - Nathan Stewart, sophomore, 5-11, 175, Sam Houston State

WR - Justin Watson, senior, 6-3, 225, Penn

TE - Dallas Goedert, senior, 6-5, 260, South Dakota State

OL - Austin Kuhnert, senior, 6-4, 304, North Dakota State

OL - Justin Lea, senior, 6-4, 290, Jacksonville State

OL - Brandon Parker, senior, 6-7, 309, North Carolina A&T

OL - Skyler Phillips, senior, 6-2, 315, Idaho State

OL - Aaron Stinnie, senior, 6-5, 309, James Madison

DEFENSE

DL - Andrew Ankrah, senior, 6-4, 248, James Madison

DL - P.J. Hall, senior, 6-1, 305, Sam Houston State

DL - Darius Jackson, senior, 6-3, 242, Jacksonville State

DL - Jonathan Petersen, senior, 6-1, 240, San Diego

LB - Nick DeLuca, senior, 6-3, 245, North Dakota State

LB - Darius Leonard, senior, 6-3, 235, South Carolina State

LB - Brett Taylor, senior, 6-2, 230, Western Illinois

LB - Sione Teuhema, senior, 6-4, 260, Southeastern Louisiana

DB - Mike Basile, senior, 6-1, 200, Monmouth

DB - Davontae Harris, senior, 6-0, 205, Illinois State

DB - Taron Johnson, senior, 6-0, 185, Weber State

DB - Tremon Smith, senior, 6-0, 190, Central Arkansas

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK - Lorran Fonseca, junior, 5-11, 185, Nicholls

P - Joe Zema, grad, 6-2, 210, Incarnate Word

LS - James Fisher, senior, 6-2, 225, North Dakota State

KR - Juwan Petit-Frere, sophomore, 5-7, 170, Southeastern Louisiana

PR - Justice Shelton-Mosley, junior, 5-10, 195, Harvard

AP - Detrez Newsome, senior, 5-10, 210, Western Carolina

SECOND TEAM

OFFENSE

*QB - Jeremiah Briscoe, senior, 6-3, 225, Sam Houston State, or Chris Streveler, senior, 6-3, 220, South Dakota

RB - Roc Thomas, senior, 5-11, 193, Jacksonville State

RB - De'Lance Turner, senior, 6-1, 214, Alcorn State

FB - Andre Stoddard, junior, 5-10, 230, Wofford

WR - Jaelon Acklin, senior, 6-2, 190, Western Illinois

WR - Neil O'Connor, junior, 5-11, 190, New Hampshire

WR - Troy Pelletier, senior, 6-3, 210, Lehigh

TE - Andrew Vollert, senior, 6-5, 245, Weber State

OL - John Cook, junior, 6-4, 325, Central Arkansas

OL - Jamil Demby, senior, 6-5, 335, Maine

OL - Jacob Ohnesorge, senior, 6-3, 295, South Dakota State

OL - Timon Parris, senior, 6-5, 320, Stony Brook

OL - Matthew Schmidt, senior, 6-3, 290, Furman

DEFENSE

DL - Anthony Ellis, senior, 6-1, 245, Charleston Southern

DL - Ahmad Gooden, junior, 6-1, 240, Samford

DL - Dalton Keene, senior, 6-4, 275, Illinois State

DL - Chris Terrell, sophomore, 6-3, 266, Central Arkansas

LB - Garrett Dolan, senior, 6-2, 240, Houston Baptist

LB - Jared Farley, senior, 5-11, 224, Northern Iowa

LB - Warren Messer, junior, 5-11, 229, Elon

LB - Christian Rozeboom, sophomore, 6-2, 225, South Dakota State

DB - Elijah Campbell, senior, 5-11, 193, Northern Iowa

DB - Raven Greene, senior, 6-0, 190, James Madison

DB - Robbie Grimsley, junior, 6-0, 191, North Dakota State

DB - George Odum, senior, 6-2, 187, Central Arkansas

DB - D'Montre Wade, senior, 6-0, 200, Murray State

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK - Trey Tuttle, freshman, 5-9, 190, Weber State

P - Keith Wrzuszczak, senior, 5-11, 212, Eastern Kentucky

LS - Hunter Winstead, senior, 6-0, 240, Liberty

KR - Desmond Hite, sophomore, 5-9, 178, Incarnate Word

PR - Xequille Harry, senior, 5-11, 160, Weber State

AP - Davion Davis, junior, 5-11, 180, Sam Houston State

THIRD TEAM

OFFENSE

QB - Kyle Lauletta, senior, 6-3, 215, Richmond

RB - Corey Avery, senior, 5-10, 195, Sam Houston State

RB - Zane Dudek, freshman, 5-9, 190, Yale

FB - Jared Mohamed, senior, 6-0, 227, Cal Poly

WR - Elijah Marks, senior, 6-1, 175, Northern Arizona

WR - Kelvin McKnight, junior, 5-9, 188, Samford

WR - Jesper Horsted, junior, 6-4, 215, Princeton

TE - Ross Dwelley, senior, 6-5, 240, San Diego

OL - Ben Huss, senior, 6-2, 310, Duquesne

OL - Jacob Judd, senior, 6-3, 300, Western Illinois

OL - Brody Kern, senior, 6-2, 285, Delaware

OL - Zach Larsen, sophomore, 6-1, 300, Southern Utah

OL - Mitchell Sweigart, senior, 6-5, 290, Princeton

OL - Alex Thompson, senior, 6-4, 300, Monmouth

DEFENSE

DL - Abdullah Anderson, senior, 6-4, 295, Bucknell

DL - Miles Brown, junior, 6-2, 320, Wofford

DL - Andrew Clyde, junior, 6-3, 275, Richmond

DL - Darin Greenfield, sophomore, 6-3, 235, South Dakota

DL - Jaison Williams, sophomore, 6-1, 225, Austin Peay

LB - Bryson Armstrong, freshman, 5-11, 201, Kennesaw State

LB - Brandon Bryant, senior, 5-11, 225, Lafayette

LB - De'Arius Christmas, senior, 5-10, 220, Grambling State

LB - Mario Jenkins, senior, 6-1, 245, Idaho State

LB - Shaheed Salmon, senior, 6-2, 232, Samford

DB - Marlon Bridges, sophomore, 6-0, 200, Jacksonville State

DB - Malik Duncan, senior, 5-10, 205, Saint Francis

DB - Danny Johnson, senior, 5-10, 194, Southern

DB - Rashad Robinson, junior, 5-11, 182, James Madison

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK - Marc Orozco, junior, 5-9, 170, Grambling State

P - Alex Pechin, junior, 6-0, 185, Bucknell

LS - Brandon Godsey, senior, 6-0, 220, South Dakota

KR - Jean Constant, sophomore, 5-9, 168, Bryant

PR - Khris Gardin, senior, 5-7, 180, North Carolina A&T

AP - John Santiago, junior, 5-9, 180, North Dakota