With the 2021 season in the books, our panel of college football experts were faced with plenty of difficult decisions when convening to select the 2021 CBS Sports / 247Sports All-America team. Experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports joined forces once again to honor the players who shined the brightest on the gridiron over the last three months.
There are five unanimous All-America selections with Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III, Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum, Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and San DIego State punter Matt Araiza receiving first-team nods from all voters.
Houston's Marcus Jones picked up three separate All-America selections on his own, placing as a first-team all-purpose player and second-teamer at cornerback and punt returner. Jones and Iowa State RB Breece Hall are returning members of the All-America first team from 2020.
In total, 29 programs are represented across the two teams of 54 selections. Alabama led the way with four first-teamers and five All-America nods overall. Georgia slotted next with three on the first team, while Ohio State posted the second-most overall selections with four. The Big Ten and SEC each had five teams represented among their grand total of 27 selections, which combined makes up exactly half of the entire All-America team.
| Conference | First team | Total selections |
|---|---|---|
| SEC | 9 | 13 |
| Big Ten | 8 | 14 |
| ACC | 3 | 7 |
| Pac-12 | 3 | 4 |
| American | 2 | 6 |
| Big 12 | 1 | 5 |
| Mountain West | 1 | 2 |
| Independent (Notre Dame) | 0 | 1 |
| Conference USA | 0 | 1 |
| Sun Belt | 0 | 1 |
2021 CBS Sports / 247Sports All-America
* unanimous selection | classes listed according to official team rosters
First team
| Offense | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
QB | Bryce Young | Alabama | Sophomore |
RB | Kenneth Walker III * | Michigan State | Junior |
RB | Breece Hall | Iowa State | Junior |
WR | Jameson Williams | Alabama | Junior |
WR | David Bell | Purdue | Junior |
TE | Brock Bowers | Georgia | Freshman |
C | Tyler Linderbaum * | Iowa | Junior |
OL | Darian Kinnard | Kentucky | Senior |
OL | Evan Neal | Alabama | Junior |
OL | Ikem Okwonu | NC State | Sophomore |
OL | Nicholas Petit-Frere | Ohio State | Junior |
| Defense | | | |
| DL | Aidan Hutchinson * | Michigan | Senior |
| DL | Jordan Davis | Georgia | Senior |
DL | Jermaine Johnson II | Florida State | Senior |
DL | DeMarvin Leal | Texas A&M | Junior |
LB | Will Anderson Jr. * | Alabama | Sophomore |
LB | Nakobe Dean | Georgia | Junior |
LB | Devin Lloyd | Utah | Junior |
CB | Ahmad Gardner | Cincinnati | Junior |
CB | Riley Moss | Iowa | Senior |
S | Verone McKinley III | Oregon | Sophomore |
S | Jaquan Brisker | Penn State | Senior |
| Special teams | | | |
K | Jake Moody | Michigan | Senior |
P | Matt Araiza * | San Diego State | Junior |
KR | Zonovan Knight | NC State | Sophomore |
PR | Britain Covey | Utah | Junior |
AP | Marcus Jones | Houston | Senior |
Second team
| Offense | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
QB | Kenny Pickett | Pittsburgh | Senior |
RB | Tyler Badie | Missouri | Senior |
| RB | Sincere McCormick | UTSA | Junior |
WR | Jordan Addison | Pittsburgh | Sophomore |
| WR | Chris Olave | Ohio State | Senior |
TE | Trey McBride | Colorado State | Senior |
C | Alec Lindstrom | Boston College | Senior |
OL | Zion Johnson | Boston College | Graduate |
OL | Kenyon Green | Texas A&M | Junior |
OL | Thayer Munford | Ohio State | Graduate |
OL | Max Mitchell | Louisiana | Junior |
| Defense | | | |
| DL | Kayvon Thibodeaux | Oregon | Junior |
DL | George Karlaftis | Purdue | Junior |
DL | Will McDonald IV | Iowa State | Junior |
DL | Josh Paschal | Kentucky | Senior |
LB | David Ojabo | Michigan | Junior |
LB | Nik Bonitto | Oklahoma | Junior |
LB | Malcolm Rodriguez | Oklahoma State | Senior |
CB | Coby Bryant | Cincinnati | Graduate |
CB | Marcus Jones | Houston | Senior |
S | Kyle Hamilton | Notre Dame | Junior |
S | Jordan Battle | Alabama | Junior |
| Special teams | | | |
K | Noah Ruggles | Ohio State | Graduate |
P | Jordan Stout | Penn State | Senior |
KR | Brian Battie | South Florida | Sophomore |
PR | Marcus Jones | Houston | Senior |
AP | Deuce Vaughn | Kansas State | Sophomore |
The Cover 3 Podcast parses through the 2021 CBS Sports All-America teams, giving their takes on the best players of the season. Subscribe here for the best college football insight and analysis on and off the field.
