Way Too Early 2022 All-America Team Offense

The college football offseason is here, and with that comes earlybird all-offense predictions for the coming fall. With Heisman Trophy futures out as well as the early Championship odds, let’s take a look at the best offensive players expected to lead their teams next season:

QB – Bryce Young, Alabama

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner was very good this past season. Yet, he has a high ceiling with so much more room to grow. Alabama’s offense had some hiccups at times in 2021, but on most days, it roared to life. The Tide were able to get to the national championship game last season. Next season, they will be favored to win the national title. One thing Bryce Young didn’t do a lot of last year was run for big yardage. The Alabama coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, didn’t use him much as a runner. There was a sense that in Young’s freshman season, the Alabama staff didn’t want to give him too many responsibilities or too much information. Getting the ball out quickly in a read-and-throw style simplified the task for Young. In his sophomore season, with a lot more experience under his belt, you should see Young run a lot more and be willing to leave the pocket when he sees a running lane open up. 

RB – TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

C.J. Stroud will be the leading Heisman Trophy candidate on the Buckeyes, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will also get a lot of hype, but since the Ohio State passing game and offensive line will both be very strong in 2022, the running game is in a position to take off and perform at a higher level than what we saw in 2021. Henderson could be the beneficiary of that dynamic, taking his game to a place where he will be one of the two best running backs in the country. Braelon Allen of Wisconsin will give him plenty of competition in the battle for the best running back in the Big Ten, but Henderson is not to be underestimated this coming season.

RB – Bijan Robinson, Texas

The most electric talent in the country is probably Robinson. That is not a hyperbolic statement. He made Oklahoma look silly when Texas played the Sooners in the 2021 season. Robinson rushed for over 1,100 yards even though Texas did not have an elite offensive line, and despite the fact that since Texas’ defense was so bad, the Longhorns had to throw the ball a lot in second halves of games since they frequently trailed in a season in which they lost seven games. When a running back is the best player on a team which loses seven games, that tells you how much talent he has. Running backs generally aren’t supposed to produce statistically prolific seasons when their teammates aren’t very good.

WR – Jordan Addison, Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Panthers won the ACC championship and nearly won the Peach Bowl, a New Year’s Six bowl game, last season, in large part due to Addison’s prolific production. Now they have him back for another season. It’s true that quarterback Kenny Pickett, a Heisman Trophy finalist, is off to the NFL, but new quarterback Kedon Slovis, a transfer from USC, should still be able to find Addison on a regular basis and give Pitt the continued passing production it needs to remain a frontline contender in the ACC. Addison will make the transition a smooth one for Slovis, providing stability for the Pitt offense in 2022.

WR – Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State

The 347-yard performance by Smith-Njigba in the Rose Bowl against Utah was the best individual performance by a receiver in a single game in the entire 2021 college football season. No one had a better game than that one. Smith-Njigba’s performance was made even more impressive by the fact that he did what he did with Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, the team’s two best receivers, both out of the lineup due to opting out of the Rose Bowl game in order to prepare for the NFL scouting combine and the 2022 draft. If Smith-Njigba could dominate without Wilson or Olave on the field alongside him, that alone speaks to the enormity of his upside.

TE – Brock Bowers, Georgia

The freshman was the best offensive player for Georgia on its path to the national championship. No defense could contain Bowers. Not Alabama, not Michigan, not the best teams Georgia faced in the College Football Playoff. Bowers is a freak athlete marrying speed and power. He is going to be an elite pro if he doesn’t get hit hard by injuries. He’s as much of a sure-thing prospect among tight ends since Kyle Pitts of the Atlanta Falcons (formerly of the Florida Gators in college).

OT – Dawand Jones, Ohio State

The 360-pound hulk will be the anchor of a heralded offensive line and an offense which is supposed to be highly formidable in 2022. Ohio State has two other players on this all-offense team, and that doesn’t happen without an elite offensive lineman who will protect the quarterback and open holes for the running back. Jones is that guy for Ohio State.

OG – Caleb Chandler, Louisville

The 313-pounder is the main reason Louisville has a realistic aspiration to rise up the standings in the ACC Atlantic Division in 2022. The Cardinals have a lot of questions on defense, but they have fewer questions on offense precisely because Chandler is there to lend stability to the offensive line.

C – Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan

The 310-pound quarterback of the Michigan offensive line is a central reason the Wolverines made the College Football Playoff and won the Big Ten championship in 2021. He’s back in 2022 and should continue to make the UM offensive line good enough to compete with Ohio State. Michigan hammered OSU in November because of what Oluwatimi did up front.

OG – O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida

The 335-pound guard will be needed to give the Gators a boost in year one of Billy Napier’s coaching tenure in Gainesville. Florida faces a lot of questions in 2022, but this isn’t one of them. The Gators have a solid guard they don’t have to worry about.

OT – Peter Skoronski, Northwestern The 6-4, 294-pound tackle is a saving grace on an offense which struggled in 2021, but the NU offense was bad because of the quarterback and the receivers, much more than the offensive line. Skoronski  gives Northwestern a real chance to impro