Evan Engram, Gary Wunderlich named AP All-Americans

Published 2:30 pm Monday, December 12, 2016

A pair of Ole Miss players were recognized among the nation’s best Monday.

Senior tight end Evan Engram and junior kicker Gary Wunderlich were selected as All-Americans by The Associated Press. Engram was a first-team selection while Wunderlich was selected to the third team.

It’s the third straight season the Rebels have had multiple AP All-Americans.

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The All-America nod is the latest postseason accolade for Engram, a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection who won the Conerly Trophy last month as the best college football player in Mississippi and the Ozzie Newsome Award as the nation’s best tight end. Engram led Ole Miss in receptions (65), receiving yards (926) and touchdown catches (8) in 11 games this season and is tops among tight ends nationally with 5.9 catches per game and 84.2 receiving yards a game.

A four-year starter, Engram has set or tied the school record for catches, yards and touchdown receptions for a tight end in a season and a career.

Engram has also been tabbed as an All-American by Sports Illustrated, Sporting News and USA Today and is the school’s first first-team AP All-American since Senquez Golson in 2014. Robert Nkemdiche (second team), Trae Elston (second team) and Laquon Treadwell (third team) were All-America selections a season ago while Cody Prewitt (second team) and Nkemdiche (second team) joined Golson as All-America choices two years ago.

Wunderlich converted 95.7 percent (22 of 23) of his field goal attempts, the best clip nationally, with his lone miss coming from 55 yards. His 8.9 points per game rank 27th nationally. The second-team All-SEC selection also averaged 43.7 yards per punt.

Southeastern Conference teams placed eight players on the first team with Alabama accounting for half of them, the most of any school. Heisman Trophy winner and Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson was a first-team selection as were two other finalists for the trophy, Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers and Oklahoma receiver Dede Westbook.

Alabama and Ohio State tied for the most selections overall on the three teams with six apiece.

The complete AP All-America teams are below.

FIRST TEAM

Offense

QB — Lamar Jackson, sophomore, 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Louisville

RB — D’Onta Foreman, junior, 6-2, 249, Texas; Dalvin Cook, junior, 5-11, 213, Florida State

T— Cam Robinson, junior, 6-6, 310, Alabama; Ryan Ramczyk, junior, 6-6, 314, Wisconsin

G — Cody O’Connell, junior, 6-8, 354, Washington State; Dan Feeney, senior, 6-4, 305, Indiana.

C — Pat Elflein, senior, 6-3, 300, Ohio State

TE — Evan Engram, senior, 6-3, 235, Ole Miss

WR — Dede Westbrook, senior, 6-0, 176, Oklahoma; Corey Davis, senior, 6-3, 213, Western Michigan

All-purpose — Curtis Samuel, junior, 5-11 197, Ohio State

K — Zane Gonzalez, senior, 6-1, 195, Arizona State

Defense

DE — Myles Garrett, junior, 6-5, 270, Texas A&M; Derek Barnett, junior, 6-3, 265, Tennessee

T — Jonathan Allen, junior, 6-3, 290, Alabama; Ed Oliver, freshman, 6-2, 290, Houston

LB — Reuben Foster, senior, 6-1, 228, Alabama; Zach Cunningham, junior, 6-2, 230, Vanderbilt; Jabrill Peppers, junior, 6-1, 205, Michigan

CB — Jourdan Lewis, senior, 5-11, 186, Michigan; Adoree’ Jackson, junior, 5-11, 185, Southern California

S — Malik Hooker, sophomore, 6-2, 205, Ohio State; Minkah Fitzpatrick, sophomore, 6-1, 200, Alabama

P — Mitch Wishnowsky, sophomore, 6-2, 220, Utah

SECOND TEAM

Offense

QB — Deshaun Watson, junior, Clemson

RB — Donnel Pumphrey, senior, San Diego State; Christian McCaffrey, junior, Stanford

T — Connor Williams, sophomore, Texas; Orlando Brown, sophomore, Oklahoma

G — Billy Price, junior, Ohio State; Will Hernandez, junior, UTEP

C — Tyler Orlovsky, senior, West Virginia

TE — Jake Butt, senior, Michigan

WR — Zay Jones, senior, East Carolina; John Ross, junior, Washington

All-purpose — Quadree Henderson, sophomore, Pitt

K — Daniel Carlson, junior, Auburn

Defense

DE — DeMarcus Walker, senior, Florida State; Harold Landry, junior, Boston College

DT — Carlos Watkins, senior, Clemson; Montravius Adams, senior, Auburn

LB — Raekwon McMillan, junior, Ohio State; T.J. Watt, junior, Wisconsin; Tim Williams, senior, Alabama

CB — Rasul Douglas, senior, West Virginia; Desmond King, senior, Iowa

S — Budda Baker, junior, Washington; Jamal Adams, junior, LSU

P — Cameron Johnston, senior, Ohio State

THIRD TEAM

Offense

QB — Baker Mayfield, junior, Oklahoma

RB — Saquon Barkley, sophomore, Penn State; Aaron Jones, junior, UTEP

T — Mike McGlinchey, senior, Notre Dame; Forrest Lamp, senior, Western Kentucky

G — Nico Siragusa, senior, San Diego State; Quenton Nelson, junior, Notre Dame

C — Ethan Pocic, senior, LSU

TE — O.J. Howard, senior, Alabama

WR — Amba Etta-Tawo, senior, Syracuse; Austin Carr, senior, Northwestern

All-purpose — Christian Kirk, sophomore, Texas A&M

K — Gary Wunderlich, junior, Ole Miss

Defense

DE — Hunter Dimick, senior, Utah; Jordan Willis, senior, Kansas State

T — Christian Wilkins, sophomore, Clemson; Solomon Thomas, junior, Stanford

LB — Kendell Beckwith, senior, LSU; Jimmie Gilbert, senior, Colorado; Ben Boulware, senior, Clemson

CB — Teez Tabor, junior, Florida; Cordrea Tankersley, senior, Clemson

S — Nathan Gerry, senior, Nebraska; Weston Steelhammer, senior, Air Force

P — Michael Dickson, sophomore, Texas