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With the 2012 NCAA football season fast approaching, SB Nation reached out to its college blogs to vote on the top players in the nation and name the 2012 SB Nation Preseason All-American Team. It's a fun way of building a great fake team, and they started today by naming the defensive and offensive linemen that make up the best fake offensive and defensive lines in the country.
LSU's monster defensive end Sam Montgomery was the highlight of today's announcement, with And The Valley Shook's Billy Gomila waxing poetic over one of the top overall players in the country.
With 19.5 tackles for loss, including 11 sacks, in 19 games the last two seasons, "Sonic" Sam Montgomery (a known gamer, said to be obsessed with the Sega character) may be the premier defensive end in college football. After a torn ACL ended 2010 after five games, Montgomery took up where he left off with an all-conference 2011, and is poised for even bigger things this season. His first step can get him by most offensive linemen (he even had two sacks matched up on Alabama's Barrett Jones last November), but if that's not enough he has fantastic technique and hustle that has also made him an excellent run defender. And his 2012 can be even better -- he's continued to add muscle (up to 260 pounds, reportedly), and might even gain a little more explosion another year removed from the knee injury.
Alex Okafor from Texas and fellow defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat were also named as honorable mentions in the vote.
For more on Tigers football, visit LSU blog And The Valley Shook, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills.