Cincinnati Football: Bearcats land AAC-best 20 players on preseason team

Athlon Sports recently released their 2022 All-AAC Preseason Teams and Cincinnati had a conference-high 20 players including seven first team selections. The Bearcats are bringing back 12 starters from last season and are expected to compete for a third consecutive conference championship.

Cincinnati Football: Bearcats land AAC-best 20 players on preseason team

Despite losing several defensive players to the NFL Draft, Cincinnati shouldn’t have a significant drop off on that side of the ball. Senior defensive back Arquon Bush, senior defensive end Malik Vann and junior linebacker Deshawn Pace were each named to the All-AAC Preseason First Team.

The Bearcats had three offensive players earn first team recognition as senior guard Lorenz Metz, senior tackle Dylan O’Quinn and junior center Jake Renfro are projected to have big years. Ryan Montgomery, senior running back and punt returner, was also named to the first team as a specialist.

All three aforementioned offensive lineman earned All-AAC honors in 2021, helping the Bearcats set school records with 70 touchdowns and 510 points scored. Meanwhile, Bush and Vann are returning for their fifth seasons at Cincinnati with hopes of leading a dominant defense to another championship run.

The All-AAC second team also acknowledged tight end Josh Whyle and defensive tackle Jowon Briggs, while running back Corey Kiner and five seniors were named to the third team including safety Ja’Von Hicks, defensive lineman Jabari Taylor, wide receiver Tre Tucker, left tackle James Tunstall and linebacker Ty Van Fossen.

Finally, the fourth team consisted of right guard Jeremy Cooper, tight end Leonard Taylor, wide receiver Tyler Scott and punter Mason Fletcher. The entire preseason team is available on Athlon Sports as UCF (15), Houston (14), East Carolina (13) and Tulane (13) also had more than a dozen players mentioned.