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LSU juniors Derrius Guice and Arden Key have been named first-team pre-season All-Americans by Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports.
Guice led the SEC in rushing as a sophomore, while Key set an LSU record with 12 sacks. The SI team included voters like Bruce Feldman and Andy Staples, so it carries a little more weight for me, personally. It also has some nice blurbs on each player.
As Leonard Fournette limped through his final season in Baton Rouge, Guice took the reins of the Tigers’ offense a year ahead of schedule and punished opposing defenses. New offensive coordinator Matt Canada plans to open up LSU’s attack, but Guice remains the team’s great equalizer with the vaunted defenses looming in SEC play.
Key is listed as a linebacker on both teams.
Ahead of his sophomore season, Key switched from end to linebacker within first-year coordinator Dave Aranda’s defense and responded with a school-record 12 sacks, one shy of the SEC lead. Offseason shoulder surgery has put his status for the start of the 2017 season in doubt, but when he’s on the field he demands that quarterbacks account for him.
Other preseason honors include 247 Sports, Athlon Sports and College Football News.