Michigan football players well represented on latest All-Big Ten teams: Here's how I voted

Postseason awards continue to roll in for Michigan football, which had 14 members named to the Associated Press' All-Big Ten team Wednesday afternoon.

The Wolverines had nine representatives on offense (four first team, five second team) and five on defense (two first team, three second team), compared to my ballot which had 11 Wolverines (seven offense, four defense) in total.

ROSES: Michigan football welcomes CFP matchup with behemoth Alabama ‘I would want no other team’

On offense, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum and center Drake Nugent were all named first-team, while Zak Zinter was one of three players at any position in the conference (OSU wide receiver Marvin Harrison and Iowa punter Tory Taylor) to be a unanimous selection.

All four were on my first team ballot, as were wide receiver Roman Wilson and tight end Colston Loveland, who were named second team on the official team. Offensive guard Trevor Keegan was on both second-team ballots, while the final ballot also had Ladarius Henderson.

On defense, graduate defensive back Mike Sainristil and senior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins were the first-team representatives, while defensive lineman Mason Graham, defensive back Will Johnson, linebacker Junior Colson and kicker James Turner were named second-team overall.

I chose Sainristil and Colson for first team, with Graham and Jaylen Harrell on the second team.

HARDWOOD TEST: Michigan basketball focused on defense ahead of Big Ten opener vs. Indiana

McCarthy beat out Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa for the top-team honor, as U-M's quarterback completed 213-of-287 passes (74.2% completions) for 2,630 yards, 19 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also ran 57 times for 146 yards and three scores.

His top pass catchers were Wilson (41 catches, 662 yards, 11 touchdowns) and Loveland (40 catches, 572 yards, four touchdowns), which helped U-M's offense score 30 points or more in all but two games this season.

Corum wasn't unanimous in his selection like a season ago, but his historic year earned him more recognition all the same. The senior ran 218 times for, 1,028 yards (4.7 yards per attempt) and a Michigan single-season record 24 touchdowns. That put him into a tie for first place in program history with Anthony Thomas (1997-2000) with 55 scores.

MICHIGAN FOOTBALL VS. ALABAMA: 'Blue blood' matchup in iconic setting with superstar coaches

Nugent and Zinter, perhaps U-M's two most consistent offensive linemen − though Karsen Barnhart excelled while moving from left tackle to right tackle to right guard and was left off entirely − paved the way for McCarthy and Corum.

Nugent was flagged just once in 729 plays and only allowed one sack in 336 pass block attempts as he graded out as the seventh-best blocking center in the country out of 128 players with 490 snaps or more per Pro Football Focus.

Zinter, meanwhile, was unanimous, which may have happened even before he snapped both his tibia and fibula in heartbreaking fashion on senior night during the third quarter of U-M's 30-24 victory against Ohio State. U-M's graduate right guard played 649 snaps, didn't allow a single sack or quarterback hit in his 287 dropbacks, and graded out No. 13 (77.8) among 246 interior linemen in blocking for the season.

For Jesse Minter's unit, Sainristil emerged as one of the best defensive backs in the nation. The former receiver-turned-defender primarily played nickel back, but proved versatile and capable enough to move out wide to cornerback as he had 29 tackles, six pass breakups, five interceptions, two forced fumbles, two sacks and scored three defensive touchdowns.

Colson had a team-high 79 tackles, Harrell had 28 tackles, a team-high 6½ sacks, and two forced fumbles and Mason Graham had 28 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery.

Also, it's worth mentioning, U-M's defense was so talented, it cannibalized itself in some ways in my ballot.

Will Johnson, Kenneth Grant, Michael Barrett and Rod Moore are all without question All-Big Ten talents and will play at the next level (some will star) but there are only 22 spots on defense for players on 14 teams. It fills up a lot faster than one might think when looking at numbers around the league, even if U-M's players have more than passed the eye test.

My final ballot is below:

First team offense

WR - Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State

WR - Roman Wilson, Michigan

T - Olu Fashanu, Penn State

T - Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota

G - Zak Zinter, Michigan

G - Connor Colby, Iowa

C - Drake Nugent, Michigan

TE - Colston Loveland, Michigan

QB - J.J. McCarthy, Michigan

RB - Blake Corum, Michigan

RB - TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

PK - Dragan Kesich, Minnesota

All-Purpose - Kaytron Allen, Penn State

First team defense

DE − Adisa Isaac, Penn State

DE − JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State

DT − Jer’Zhan Newton, Illinois

DT − Tyleik Williams, Ohio State

LB - Jay Higgins, Iowa

LB - Nic Scourton, Purdue

LB - Junior Colson, Michigan

CB - Tarheeb Still, Maryland

CB - Mike Sainristil, Michigan

S - Sebastian Castro, Iowa

S - Tyler Nubin, Minnesota

P - Tory Taylor, Iowa

Second team offense

WR - Isaiah Williams, Illinois

WR - Daniel Jackson, Minnesota

T - Donovan Jackson, Ohio State

T - Jack Nelson, Wisconsin

G - Trevor Keegan, Michigan

G - Josh Fryar, Ohio State

C - Caleb Murphy, Indiana

TE - Cade Stover, Ohio State

QB - Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

RB - Kyle Monangai, Rutgers

RB - Braelon Allen, Wisconsin

K − Alex Felkins, Penn State

All-Purpose - Tyrone Tracy, Purdue

Second team defense

DE − Jaylen Harrell, Michigan

DE − Joe Evans, Iowa

DT − Mason Graham, Michigan

DT − Simeon Barrow, Michigan State

LB - Bryce Gallagher, Northwestern

LB - Aaron Casey, Indiana

LB - Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State

CB - Dillon Thieneman, Purdue

CB - Ricardo Hallman, Wisconsin

S - Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin

S - Isaac Gifford, Nebraska

P - Ryan Eckley, Michigan State

Offensive Player of the Year - Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State

Defensive Player of the Year - Jay Higgins, Iowa

Coach of the Year - David Braun, Northwestern

Newcomer of the Year - Kaden Prather, Maryland

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football players well represented on latest All-Big Ten teams