The 2016 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

" honor annually following the conclusion of the fall college football season. The original All-America team was the

1889 College Football All-America Team The 1889 College Football All-America team was the first College Football All-America Team. The team was selected by Caspar Whitney and published in ''This Week's Sports''. The team selected by Whitney in 1889 marked the origin of the "All-Amer ...

selected by

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for '' Harp ...

and

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

. In 1950, the National Collegiate Athletic Bureau, which is the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's (NCAA) service bureau, compiled the first list of All-Americans including first-team selections on teams created for a national audience that received national circulation with the intent of recognizing selections made from viewpoints that were nationwide. Since 1957,

College Sports Information Directors of America College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) is an organization that focuses on professional development and support for sports information directors at all levels. It offers awards, scholarships, and grants in support of SIDs and pro ...

(CoSIDA) has bestowed

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

recognition on male and female athletes in Divisions I, II, and III of the NCAA as well as

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

athletes, covering all NCAA championship sports. The 2016 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following

College Football All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

first teams chosen by the following selector organizations:

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP),

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

(FWAA),

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA),

Walter Camp Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

(WCFF), ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' (''TSN''), ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' (''SI''), ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' (USAT)

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

(CBS), ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis include ...

'' (''CFN''),

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...

, and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

(FOX). Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of

Division I-FBS NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. Players are chosen against other players playing at their position only. To be selected a consensus All-American, players must be chosen to the first team on at least two of the five official selectors as recognized by the NCAA. Second- and third-team honors are used to break ties. Players named first-team to all five selectors are deemed unanimous All-Americans. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, ''TSN'', and the WCFF to determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans. Twenty-seven players were recognized as consensus All-Americans for 2016, 14 of them being unanimous. Unanimous selections are followed by an asterisk (*).

Offense

Quarterback

Lamar Jackson Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Louisville, where he won the Heisman Trophy during his soph ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon)

Running back

Dalvin Cook Dalvin James Cook (born August 10, 1995) is an American football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he finished his career as the school's all-time lea ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon) *

D'Onta Foreman D'Onta Foreman (born April 24, 1996) is an American football running back for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas, and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2017 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon) *

Donnel Pumphrey Donnel Laray Pumphrey Jr. (born December 6, 1994) is a former American football running back. He played college football at San Diego State Aztecs football, San Diego State. Pumphrey is the official all-time leader in rushing yards in NCAA Divis ...

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

(WCFF, SI)

Wide receiver

* Corey Davis,

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pen ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, SI, USAT, FOX, CBS, Athlon) *

Zay Jones Isaiah Avery "Zay" Jones (born March 30, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at East Carolina. Jones is the all-time NCAA Division I career r ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

(WCFF, TSN, ESPN) * John Ross,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(ESPN) *

Dede Westbrook Decrick De'Shawn "Dede" Westbrook (; born November 21, 1993) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma. He was drafted 110th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Jacks ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon)

Tight end

* Jake Butt,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(AFCA, WCFF) *

Evan Engram Evan Michael Engram (born September 2, 1994) is an American football tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and was drafted by the New York Giants with the 23rd pic ...

, Ole Miss (AP, TSN, SI, USAT, CBS, Athlon) *

O. J. Howard O'Terrius Jabari "O. J." Howard (born November 18, 1994) is an American football tight end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fi ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

(FOX) * Michael Roberts, Toledo (FWAA)

Offensive line

* Pat Elflein,

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon) *

Dan Feeney Daniel Feeney (born May 29, 1994) is an American football guard for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Indiana, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in the third round of the 2017 NFL ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

(AP, FOX) * Dorian Johnson,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

(AFCA, TSN, SI, ESPN) * Roderick Johnson,

(WCFF) *

Cody O'Connell Cody O'Connell (born November 25, 1994), nicknamed "The Continent", is an American college football player who was a guard for the Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams ...

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon) *

Ethan Pocic Ethan Pocic ( ) (born August 5, 1995) is an American football center for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU. Pocic has also played the guard position. He was selected by the Seattle Seah ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

(FWAA) * Billy Price,

(AFCA) *

Ryan Ramczyk Ryan Ramczyk ( ; born April 22, 1994) is an American football offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin Badgers football, Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Saints i ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

(AP, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon) *

Cam Robinson Cameron D. Robinson (born October 9, 1995) is an American football offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama. High school career A native of West Monroe, Louisia ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Athlon) * Nico Siragusa,

(USAT) * Connor Williams,

(FWAA, WCFF, USAT, CBS, Athlon)

Defense

Defensive line

Jonathan Allen Jonathan Allen (born January 16, 1995) is an American football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he won several defensive player of the year awards ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) *

Derek Barnett Derek Anthony Barnett (born June 25, 1996) is an American football defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee, and was drafted by the Eagles with the 14th overall pic ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

(AP, WCFF, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) *

Myles Garrett Myles Lorenz Garrett (born December 29, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he received unanimous All-American honors in 2016, ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, FOX) * Carl Lawson,

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

(FWAA) * Ed Oliver,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

(AP, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) * DeMarcus Walker,

(AFCA, WCFF, TSN, USAT) *

Carlos Watkins Carlos Watkins (born December 5, 1993) is an American football defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson. Early years Watkins attended Chase High S ...

, Clemson, (CBS) *

Christian Wilkins Christian Wilkins (born December 20, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Miami Dolphins of National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Dolphins in the first round of the 2019 NF ...

, Clemson (AFCA, FWAA)

Linebacker

Zach Cunningham Zachary Daniel Cunningham (born December 2, 1994) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Vanderbilt and was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. He also played ...

, Vanderbilt (AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) *

Reuben Foster Reuben Foster (born April 4, 1994) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. A consensus All-American in high school, Foster was regarded as the best linebacker prospect of his class before committing to Alabama, where he played ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) *

Jabrill Peppers Jabrill Ahmad Peppers (born October 4, 1995) is an American football strong safety for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first r ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) *

T. J. Watt Trent Jordan Watt (born October 11, 1994) is an American football outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Steelers in the first roun ...

(SI, ESPN)

Defensive back

* Jamal Adams,

(USAT, CBS) *

Budda Baker Bishard "Budda" Baker (born January 10, 1996) is an American football safety for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington, and was selected by the Cardinals in the second round of th ...

(FWAA, TSN, SI, ESPN, FOX) *

Minkah Fitzpatrick Minkah Annane Fitzpatrick Jr. (born November 17, 1996) is an American football free safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama, and was drafted by ...

(AFCA, AP, ESPN) *

Malik Hooker Malik Hooker (born April 2, 1996) is an American football safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick in the ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS) *

Marlon Humphrey Marlon N. Humphrey (born July 8, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He attended Hoover High School, where he was named to the USA Today All-USA high school football team in ...

(FWAA) *

Adoree' Jackson Adoree' K. Jackson (born September 18, 1995) is an American football cornerback and return specialist for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

(AP, WCFF, TSN, FOX, CBS) * Desmond King,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

(SI, USAT, FOX) *

Jourdan Lewis Jourdan Julian Lewis (born August 31, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan, where he was named First-team All-American and First-team All ...

(AFCA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, ESPN, CBS) *

Tarvarus McFadden Tarvarus McFadden (born January 28, 1997) is a gridiron football cornerback for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Florida State Seminoles football, Florida State, and was signed by the San ...

(FWAA) *

Cordrea Tankersley Cordrea Tankersley (born November 19, 1993) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He has played for the Miami Dolphins and the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson an ...

, Clemson (USAT) * Tre'Davious White,

(AFCA, WCFF)

Special teams

Kicker

Zane Gonzalez Holden Fortunato Gonzalez (born May 7, 1995) is an American football placekicker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State University and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX, CBS)

Punter

* Johnny Townsend,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(CBS) *

Mitch Wishnowsky Mitchell Wishnowsky (born 3 March 1992) is an Australian professional American football punter for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft after a college caree ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

(AFCA, FWAA, AP, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, ESPN, FOX)

All-purpose / return specialist

Quadree Henderson Quadree Khalid Henderson (born September 12, 1996) is a former American football wide receiver and return specialist. He played college football at the University of Pittsburgh. College career A consensus All-American in 2016, Henderson lead t ...

(FWAA, WCFF, TSN, SI, USAT, FOX, CBS) *

(AFCA, FWAA, TSN, SI, ESPN, CBS) *

Christian McCaffrey Christian Jackson McCaffrey (born June 7, 1996) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers eighth overa ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

(FOX) *

(CBS) *

Curtis Samuel Curtis Samuel (born August 11, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a member of the team that won the 2015 Colle ...

(AP, TSN)

Footnotes

References

Football Writers Association of America All-America TeamAssociated Press All-America Team

Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America TeamSporting News All-America TeamSports Illustrated All-America TeamUSA Today All-America TeamESPN All-America TeamFOX Sports All-America TeamCBS Sports All-America TeamAthlon Sports All-America Team
{{2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season navbox

All-America Team The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

College Football All-America Teams

Offense

Quarterback

Running back

Wide receiver

Tight end

Offensive line

Defense

Defensive line

Linebacker

Defensive back

Special teams

Kicker

Punter

All-purpose / return specialist

See also

Footnotes

References