The Big 12 Conference announced the individual award winners and all-Big 12 football team via press release on Thursday, with selections made by league coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Among the list of individual awards and first-teamers were the obvious choices, like Sheduer Sanders for the first-team quarterback and Travis Hunter as a first-teamer on offense and defense.
However, there were several players that were left out of the individual awards or off the first-team list that have more than a fair argument that they should be there.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest snubs of the 2024 All-Big 12 Football Awards.
Cam Skattebo: Offensive Player of the Year
I’m not going to sit here and suggest that Shedeur Sanders wasn’t deserving of the OPOY award. He threw for nearly 4,000 yards and had a 35:8 touchdown-to-interception ratio. That’s more than good enough to win the award.
But is there any arguing that Cam Skattebo is the most valuable offensive player in the Big 12? He leads all Big 12 players with yards from scrimmage (1,866) with 169.6 yards per game, ranks second in touchdowns (19) and is the main driving force for Arizona State — a team that was picked to finish 16th in the Big 12 — is the one-seed in the Big 12 Championship.
Tahj Brooks: First-Team Running Back
Cam Skattebo and RJ Harvey were the two names listed at running back and both of them are more than deserving of being there. If you go up and down the statistic sheet, they rank first and second more often than not.
However, the name atop the list of rushing yards per game — which is still the main job of a running back — is Tahj Brooks, with 136.8 rush yards per game. Brooks rushed for over 100 yards in every game he played this season and averaged 5.26 per carry. He also led the league in attempts per game (26.0) and was tied for second in rushing touchdowns. Brooks probably would’ve been a first-team running back in any other conference this season, but not in the Big 12.
Jayden Higgins, Jack Bech: First-Team Wide Recievers
As it turns out, 80 catches for over 1,000 yards isn’t good enough to land you on the first-team ballot in the Big 12. Tetairoa McMillan ranked third nationally with 1,319 receiving yards. Travis Hunter was sixth with 1,152, and Jordan Tyson was 11th with 1,101. Those are your three first-teamers.
Iowa State’s Jayden Higgens was 12th nationally with 80 receptions for 1,068 yards and nine touchdowns, but he was a second-teamer. TCU’s Jack Bech was 15th nationally with 62 catches, 1,034 yards, and nine touchdowns, and led all Big 12 receivers with 1,000 yards in average per reception (16.7) — second-teamer. Ouch.
Jacob Rodriguez: Defensive Player of the Year
Yep. I said it.
I’m fully aware that Travis Hunter is probably going to win a Heisman, and he deserves it without a doubt. He’s the best overall player in college football. If there was a Most Valuable Player award in the Big 12, it would be his.
But if I’m Jacob Rodriguez, I’m feeling slighted right now. He led the Big 12 in tackles with 118, 11 more than second-place, ranked second in forced fumbles (3), and was top ten in both sacks (5.0) and tackles for loss (9.5).
Josh Cameron: Special Teams Players of the Year
I’m no special teams expert, but I’m decent enough at math to know that Josh Cameron had a better year as a returner than Jaylin Noel did. In the same number of games, Cameron had six 20+ yard returns to Noel’s four, and two that went over 50 yards, including a 73-yarder, while Noel’s longest of the year was 36 yards.
Noel had 13 punt returns and three kick returns on the year, while Cameron had 14 punt returns and one kick return. Even the averages play in Cameron’s favor, as he averaged 20.7 yards per return while Noel averaged 15.3. In fact, Cameron’s 20.7 average wasn’t just the best in the Big 12, it was the best in the country.
Make it make sense.
