ESPN names three Michigan players on its preseason 2024 All-America team

The Wolverines have three players listed on ESPN's All-America team

Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta (84) and Michigan defensive back Will Johnson (2) react as a penalty is called on Iowa during a NCAA Big Ten Conference college football game, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. 221001 Mich Iowa Fb 047 Jpg / Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

ESPN released its preseason 2024 All-America team on Wednesday and three Wolverines found their way onto the first team. Even after losing a ton of talent from last season's national championship, Michigan still enters the season ranked in the top 10 and the Wolverines return a ton of playmakers on both sides of the football.

All three Wolverines who made ESPN's All-America team are juniors and all are projected as first-round draft picks in next April's 2025 NFL Draft. Here are the three Wolverines are made the ESPN's list.

TE Colston Loveland

Now that Brock Bowers is playing in the NFL, Loveland takes his rightful place as the premier tight end in college football, especially with his skills as both a receiver and blocker. The 6-5, 245-pound junior is incredibly athletic and finished third on Michigan's national championship team last season with 45 catches, averaging 14.4 yards per catch. He pulled in four touchdown receptions and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.

- ESPN

Loveland is the unquestioned top target on the Michigan roster this season. He's a wide receiver in a tight ends body -- who is skillful at blocking as well. Loveland has unique hands that can catch anything around him. Even with Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson on the team last season, Loveland became McCarthy's safety valve, and now he enters the 2024 season with a huge ceiling.

DL Mason Graham

Get ready for a fight on every snap with the 6-3, 320-pound Graham, who also wrestled four years in high school. He's a disrupter in the middle of the Michigan defensive line whether he's smothering ball carriers or chasing down quarterbacks. Graham, who played with a broken thumb through much of last season, was named the Rose Bowl MVP in the playoff semifinal win over Alabama. He's the complete package as an interior defensive lineman.

- ESPN

Graham has been projected as the top draft pick next season by multiple draft sites. It might sound strange that a defensive lineman could go No. 1 overall, but that's just how good the junior is. Graham is a force for the Michigan defense and when he teams up with Kenneth Grant in 2024, that duo will be looked at as one of the best in the country -- if not the best.

CB Will Johnson

Johnson specializes in taking away opponents' best receiver. He allowed a 29.1 passer rating into his coverage last season, according to Pro Football Focus, fifth best among all cornerbacks in college football. The 6-2, 202-pound junior locked down both Marvin Harrison Jr. and Rome Odunze last season and was named the defensive MVP in the national championship game. He's a likely top-five pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

- ESPN

Like Mason Graham, Will Johnson is the best at his position. Johnson can cover anyone and in any way. He's great in zone and a menace when he plays man coverage. Johnson has the ability to attack the ball carrier and get off the line. He's the total package and entering the 2024 season as a junior, NFL teams will be watching his every move in hopes of landing him.

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