As we approach the start of the college football season we will be releasing our 2022 Preseason All-American team. Our two safeties and two honorable mentions were selected and discussed.
Check out our other selections in these links.
The safeties selected are…
S Jordan Battle – Alabama
S Brandon Joseph – Notre Dame
Battle, who could’ve left for the NFL after last season, is returning to Alabama for his senior season. He is coming off a year in which he was named All-SEC First Team by both the coaches and the AP. He had 3 interceptions, 4 pass deflections, 1 touchdown and 50 tackles.
Battle is also near the top of the SEC and the entire country in several advanced stats.
- 29.5 Passer Rating Against (3rd in FBS)
- -20.8 EPA (2nd)
- 0.1 Yards Per Coverage Snap (lowest)
- 37.6 Coverage Total Points (1st for safeties)
- 14.1 Total Points vs the run (Top 10 for safeties)
Joseph transferred to Notre Dame after spending the previous three seasons at Northwestern. While at Northwestern, Joseph was named to the AP First Team, AP All-Big Ten First Team, and AP Newcomer of the Year in 2020. He was also named as an All-Big Ten honorable mention by coaches in 2021.
Joseph has been a ballhawk in the secondary the past two years. In 2020, he had 6 interceptions despite only 17 targets. In 2021, Joseph was targeted only 23 times in 376 coverage snaps but still finished with 3 interceptions and 3 pass deflections.
His 40.8 Coverage Total Points in 2020 led the FBS among safeties and his Points Above Average was 2nd best. In 2021, he finished second in the Big Ten with 36.2 Coverage Total Points.
Honorable Mentions
S Jalen Catalon – Arkansas
S JL Skinner – Boise State
Coming off an All-SEC First Team (AP) selection, Catalan played in only 6 games in 2021 before suffering a season-ending injury. In those 6 games, he had 2 interceptions and 4 pass deflections. His 20.7 Pass Coverage Total Points in those games was 4th in the entire country among safeties.
Skinner is returning to Boise State after his All-Mountain West 2nd Team selection in 2021. He had 2 interceptions and 6 pass deflections, with 90 combined tackles which ranked 3rd among Mountain West safeties. His 27.2 Total Points against the run in 2021 was 5th in the country at the position.
