2023 AP All-America team: LSU QB Jayden Daniels headlines as SEC leads with nine first-team selections

The Associate Press released its 2023 All-America team on Monday, and it includes several high-profile players fresh off fantastic seasons. LSU quarterback and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, who previously took home AP College Football Player of the Year honors, was a shoe-in for the first team. He’s also emblematic of a trend among this year’s selections; all three quarterbacks — Daniels, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix — are in at least their fifth year at the collegiate level. 

Defensively, Alabama has three players on the first team. Two members of the Crimson Tide’s secondary in cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry and defensive back Terrion Arnold made the cut. Texas defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat, who won the Outland Trophy, also stands out on the defensive first team. The SEC leads the way with nine first-team selections, followed by the Big Ten (6), Pac-12 (4) and Big 12 (3). The ACC is the only power conference without more than one player on the first team. 

Here’s a look at the 2023 AP All America teams:

First team

Offense

QB: Jayden Daniels, fifth-year, LSU
RB: Ollie Gordon II, second-year, Oklahoma State
RB: Cody Schrader, sixth-year, Missouri
OT: Olu Fashanu, fourth-year, Penn State
OT: Joe Alt, third-year, Notre Dame
OG: Cooper Beebe, fifth-year, Kansas State
OG: Zak Zinter, fourth-year, Michigan
C: Jackson Powers-Johnson, third-year, Oregon
TE: Brock Bowers, third-year, Georgia
WR: Marvin Harrison Jr., third-year, Ohio State
WR: Malik Nabers, third-year, LSU
WR: Rome Odunze, fourth-year, Washington
AP: Travis Hunter, second-year, Colorado
K: Graham Nicholson, third-year, Miami (OH)

Defense

EDGE: Jalen Green, fifth-year, James Madison
EDGE: Laiatu Latu, fifth-year, UCLA
DT: T’Vondre Sweat, fifth-year, Texas
DT:…