CBS Sports preseason All-America Team, Player of the Year; Browns' Shedeur Sanders hurt


                        CBS Sports preseason All-America Team, Player of the Year; Browns' Shedeur Sanders hurt
By: CBS Sports Posted On: August 14, 2025 View: 1

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???? Good morning to all but especially to ...

THE CBS SPORTS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM AND AWARD WINNERS

Now that the preseason polls (CBS Sports 136 here, AP here, Coaches here) have arrived, we can unveil the individual preseason honors. That means the CBS Sports preseason All-America teams and preseason awards are here.

There's a ton of quarterback turnover among the top teams -- No. 1 Texas' Arch Manning faces as much pressure as ever -- and that's why an experienced veteran earns the nod as our first-team All-America signal caller, Chris Hummer notes.

  • Hummer: "QB: Cade Klubnik, Sr., Clemson -- There was no quarterback in the country last year better at handling pressure. Klubnik led the FBS with an 80.9 PFF grade in those situations while leading Clemson to an ACC championship and a return to the College Football Playoff. He's coming off a 3,639-yard, 36-touchdown season and expectations are even higher in 2025 for the former five-star recruit. He's the triggerman for a Clemson team with resurgent national championship hopes."

Just one player earned unanimous selection: Ohio State superstar sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. He's also our preseason Player of the Year, as Shehan Jeyarajah explains.

  • Jeyarajah: "Smith ranked as the top wide receiver recruit in college football history and immediately translated it to a sensational campaign with 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. ... ... However, the College Football Playoff was truly the moment that Smith announced himself to the world. In his first two games, Smith posted 13 catches for 290 yards and four touchdowns ... Smith now heads into the year as the face of college football with a chance to rewrite college football's record books."

Our preseason Coach of the Year pick might have the most pressure of anyone in the sport (outside Manning), too. After all, he's the only one with three first-team picks on his roster. What a fascinating setup.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the SEC and the Big Ten lead the way, with 11 and eight first-team selections, respectively. Overall, seven teams had multiple first-team selections.

???? Honorable mentions

???? And not such a good morning for ...

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SHEDEUR SANDERS AND THE CLEVELAND BROWNS

After a two-touchdown preseason Week 1, it looked like the Shedeur Sanders hype train had left the station with no brakes. As it turns out, the brakes kicked in just a few days later. The ballyhooed fifth-round pick out of Colorado suffered an oblique injury early in the Browns' joint practice with the Eagles, will not practice today and is considered unlikely to play in Saturday's Week 2 preseason game.

Sanders was just starting to get more practice reps, according to coach Kevin Stefanski, even though he remained fourth on the unofficial depth chart. Cleveland's jumbled quarterback room includes veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett rookies Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, recent veteran addition Tyler Huntley and, technically, holdover Deshaun Watson.

But Pickett and Sanders have both dealt with hamstring injuries, and Sanders has now had arm soreness and an oblique injury. What's in the water in Cleveland?! (Don't answer that.) Gabriel, if deemed healthy enough, is expected to get lots of work this weekend.

It led to an awkward scene at practice, Jeff Kerr writes.

  • Kerr: "The first rep took place, and Flacco was with the first team. No Sanders, no problem. The crowd of reporters figured the 40-year old veteran would get the first look. Then came Gabriel with the second team. ... There went the Sanders hype, along with his chances to further raise his stock in the ever-evolving quarterback competition in Cleveland. ... 'It's kinda tough,' Flacco said. 'We all want to be out there and getting reps. That's what training camp and football is all about, sometimes these things happen. Sometimes you deal with them. It is what it is.'"

???? Not so honorable mentions

⚾ NL West coming down to the wire between Padres, Dodgers

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In case you took a bit of a sports breather over the dog days of summer (hey, I don't blame ya!), you'll be shocked to know who leads the NL West.

Yes, the Padres -- winners of five straight -- have pulled ahead of the Dodgers -- losers of four straight -- after Los Angeles led by nine games in early July.

Since July 3, the Dodgers are 12-21, and the Padres are 23-12. It's the latest into a season the Padres have had the division lead since 2010!

The two teams still face another six times in the next week and a half, with a three-game series opening in Los Angeles tomorrow. Mike Axisa broke down the four biggest factors that could determine the division champ, including ...

  • Axisa: "San Diego's big advantage is the bullpen -- Was trading shortstop Leo De Vriesone of the very best prospects in the sport, for a short reliever in Mason Miller an overpay? To some, yeah, maybe it was, especially since the Padres were not lacking quality relief options. Then again, there is no such thing as too many good relievers, and Miller is not some ordinary reliever. ... I don't think it's a stretch to say the Padres have four relievers (Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Miller, Adrian Morejon) better than the Dodgers' best reliever."

⚽ PSG stuns Tottenham in penalty kicks to win UEFA Super Cup

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After a nearly two-decade trophy drought, Tottenham had its second trophy in just four months well within sight.

Then PSG came to life. And when Les Parisiens come to life, there's not much you can do to stop them. Trailing 2-0 in the 85th minute, PSG scored twice to force penalty kicks and then prevailed once there, 2-2 (4-3), to lift the UEFA Super Cup.

  • Mickey van de Ven pounced on a rebound to put Tottenham ahead 1-0 in the 39th minute, and Cristian Romero doubled the lead in the 48th minute, nodding home after getting free on a free kick.
  • PSG broke through in the 85th minute when substitute Lee Kang-In stroked in an opposite-corner beauty at the top of the box.
  • Then in the 90+4th minute, Ousman Dembele sizzled in a cross that Goncalo Ramos -- also a Luis Enrique substitute -- nodded home.
  • Tottenham took an early lead in penalty kicks, but Lucas Chevalier stopped van de Ven in the third round, and Mathys Tel missed the target in the fourth. Nuno Mendes finished the clincher.

Yes, the old trope is that Tottenham can't win trophies, that they "Spursed" this opportunity away. But Thomas Frank is showing his major managerial impact already, Pardeep Cattry writes.

???? What we're watching Thursday

⚾ We're watching the Little League World Series. Here's how.
Mariners at Orioles, 1:05 p.m. on MLB Network
Diamondbacks at Rockies, 8:40 p.m. on FS1

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