Five Buckeyes make Walter Camp preseason All-American list
COVER PHOTO: Senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka makes a clutch 21-yard, fourth quarter catch at the 1-yard line on 3rd-and-19 against Notre Dame in their 2023 game that would lead to the Buckeyes winning the game three plays later with one second remaining. Picture by Mac Connor/Columbus Wired.
Five Ohio State Buckeyes were named to the 2024 Walter Camp Preseason All-America teams, which were announced on Monday afternoon. Getting first-team early season honors are senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and senior defensive lineman Tyliek Williams. Garnering second-team looks are senior cornerback Denzel Burke, newly transferred sophomore safety Caleb Downs and maybe the most questionable/eye popping/head scratching of all, another transfer, junior running back Quinshon Judkins.
The Buckeyes’ five honorees are the most of any team in the country. Alabama and Notre Dame had four selections while Georgia and Michigan checked in with three.
Egbuka comes into his final season needing only 78 receptions to break K.J. Hill's single-season school record of 201, which Hill set between 2016-19. Egbuka also needs 1,041 receiving yards to break the all-time OSU record of 2,898 yards currently held by Michael Jenkins (2000-03). His career numbers entering 2024 include 124 career receptions for 1,857 yards and 14 touchdowns. Despite missing three full games last season, he still managed to snag 41 balls for 515 yards and scored a total of four touchdowns.
Burke has started all 35 games he has played in the past three years and is looking to eclipse William White for the school record for starts by a cornerback as long as he starts in 12 games this year. White holds the record with 46 from 1984-87. Burke enters his senior campaign with 28 total passes defended with 26 of those being break-ups and two being interceptions. The 26 PBUs ranks sixth all-time in school history. He needs 11 more PBU’s to take over the top spot which is held by Bradley Roby (2011-13) with 36.
Williams seems to be a good preseason, first-team choice, considering he made Walter Camp’s second-team at the end of last year after coming off a solid season. He was the top tackling D-lineman on the team and sixth overall with 53 tackles and tied for the lead in tackles-for-loss with 10. His five pass breakups ranked third last season for the Scarlet and Gray.
Judkins was a standout in the backfield for Ole Miss the last two seasons, rushing for 2,725 yards and 31 touchdowns in 26 games for the Rebels. A two-time, first-team All-SEC back, he was also the SEC's Freshman of the Year two seasons ago. However, this could be a perplexing pick given his load could be cut in half compared to what he was used to because he's expected to be the 1-B to senior TreVeyon Henderson's 1-A status. Even still, they're being expected to form one of the most explosive rushing attacks in the country this fall and if the Buckeyes make a serious run into the newly formed 12-team playoff, then he could still see serious totes of the rock like head coach Ryan Day has said is hoping to happen. Judkins and Henderson have a combined 5,470 career rushing yards and 81 touchdowns scored.
Downs, who spent his freshman season at Alabama, was the Shaun Alexander national freshman of the year for the Tide when he became the first player in school history to lead the team in tackles, totaling 107 stops with 3.5 tackles-for-loss, two interceptions, five passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.