The 2017 season is less than three weeks away but that has not stopped the preseason accolades from rolling in for Notre Dame senior guard Quenton Nelson. His latest comes from Sports Illustrated, who named Nelson a unanimous All-American by the panel of eight voters.
Nelson was named the No. 27 player in the country by the same publication earlier in the summer, and he was the only unanimous choice along the offensive line. In fact, Nelson was one of only three total players on either side of the ball to be on the first team on every ballot. The other two unanimous picks were Penn State junior running back Saquon Barkley and Houston sophomore defensive tackle Ed Oliver.
Sports Illustrated had this to say about Nelson:
"After deferring his NFL future for one final year in South Bend, Nelson was SI’s only unanimous first-teamer on the offensive line. With he and tackle Mike McGlinchey manning the left side, it should be no secret where the Irish would prefer to direct their run game."
Notre Dame senior left tackle Mike McGlinchey was named to the second-team by SI, making the Irish the only team in the country to have two All-American offensive linemen.
Five Notre Dame opponents made one of the two All-America teams.
USC junior linebacker Cameron Smith was named to the first-team and redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold made the second-team list.
NC State also had two players named. Do-it-all senior Jaylen Samuels was named to the first-team list as an all-purpose player. Standout senior end Bradley Chubb was named to the second-team defense.
Boston College senior end Harold Landry was named a first-team defensive lineman.
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