So these lists have been out for a week or so but they are still interesting conversation pieces to see where Phil Steele had Buffs placed and whether or not you agree with where Steele had the rest of the Big12 at. First off, here is the offensive teams. Not a lot of Buffs on them and I can't fault Steele for it. That is what you get when you are dead last in the conference in all most major offensive categories.
| 1st Team Offense | 2nd Team Offense | 3rd Team Offense | |
| QB | Colt McCoy Texas | Chase Daniel, Mizzou | Sam Bradford, Oklahoma |
| RB | Kendall Hunter, OSU | Rodney Stewart, Colorado | Keith Toston, OSU |
| RB | Derrick Washington, Mizzou | DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma | Mike Goodson, A&M |
| WR | Michael Crabtree, TT | Kerry Meier, Kansas | Quan Cosby, Texas |
| WR | Dez Bryant, OSU | Brandon Banks, Kansas St. | Jordan Shipley, Texas |
| WR | Jeremy Maclin, Mizzou | Manuel Johnson, Oklahoma | Juaquin Iglesias, Oklahoma |
| TE | Chase Coffman, Mizzou | Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma | Ryan Tannehill, A&M |
| C | Jon Cooper, Oklahoma | Daniel Sanders, Colorado | David Washington, OSU |
| OG | Duke Robinson, Oklahoma | Cedric Dockery, Texas | Adrian Mayes, Kansas |
| OG | Brandon Carter, TT | Louis Vasquez, TT | Matt Slauson, Nebraska |
| OT | Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma | Lydon Murtha, Nebraska | Rylan Reed, TT |
| OT | Russell Okung, OSU | Adam Ulatoski, Texas | Colin Brown, Missouri |
| KR | Perrish Cox, OSU | Josh Smith, Colorado | Niles Paul, Nebraksa |
| PR | Dez Bryant, OSU | Eric Morris, TT | Deon Murphy, Kansas St |
Commentary on Steele's picks after the jump...
In case you aren't a believer in the Big 12 and the quarterbacks that are in it, Steele's three Big 12 teams should change that. Sam Bradford on the third team! Sam Bradford on the third team! He won't be on the third team when it is all said and done but that is amazing. Graham Harrell was Steele's 3rd team (b) choice but I left him off because this is for three quarterbacks only. It is so hard to evaluate the Big 12 quarterbacks and separate the top 3. For example, below is a ranking based on passing efficiency. Five of the Big 12 quarterbacks are in the top 10 nationally in passer rating and I would put Todd Reesing stat's against Sam Bradford's any day which he is only lacking in touchdown passes. And look at Colt McCoy's completion percentage. Baffling. I think you move Bradford to second team for now and Harrell to third team but it is hard to keep Chase Daniel and Reesing out of the list. And then there is Zach Robinson. What do you do with him? He is averaging the most yards/attempt of any Big 12 quarterback and is right behind Bradford in second for quarterback rating. Unbelievable.
| Rank | Player | Cl | Patt | Pcomp | CompPct | Int | PYds | YdsAtt | TDs | Rating | Natl |
| Rank | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sam Bradford, OU | SO | 238 | 170 | 71.43 | 5 | 2,520 | 10.59 | 26 | 192.22 | 2 |
| 2 | Zac Robinson, OSU | JR | 134 | 94 | 70.15 | 4 | 1,488 | 11.1 | 14 | 191.93 | 3 |
| 3 | Colt McCoy, Texas | JR | 197 | 160 | 81.22 | 3 | 1,894 | 9.61 | 19 | 190.76 | 4 |
| 4 | Chase Daniel, Missouri | SR | 249 | 189 | 75.9 | 5 | 2,373 | 9.53 | 18 | 175.8 | 5 |
| 5 | Graham Harrell, Tec | SR | 318 | 222 | 69.81 | 5 | 2,761 | 8.68 | 23 | 163.47 | 8 |
| 6 | Joe Ganz, Nebraska | SR | 224 | 157 | 70.09 | 6 | 1,967 | 8.78 | 12 | 156.17 | 12 |
| 7 | Todd Reesing, Kansas | JR | 280 | 195 | 69.64 | 5 | 2,322 | 8.29 | 17 | 155.77 | 15 |
| 8 | Josh Freeman, KSU | JR | 210 | 131 | 62.38 | 2 | 1,746 | 8.31 | 12 | 149.17 | 21 |
| 9 | Robert Griffin, Baylor | FR | 155 | 94 | 60.65 | 0 | 1,271 | 8.2 | 9 | 148.69 | 22 |
| 10 | Jerrod Johnson, A&M | JR | 184 | 114 | 61.96 | 4 | 1,372 | 7.46 | 11 | 139.97 | 34 |
| 11 | Austen Arnaud, Iowa St. | SO | 198 | 118 | 59.6 | 4 | 1,200 | 6.06 | 8 | 119.8 | 65 |
| 12 | Cody Hawkins, Colorado | SO | 202 | 114 | 56.44 | 6 | 1,051 | 5.2 | 11 | 112.17 | 89 |
As for the Running back position, Rodney Stewart has a great chance to be first team in my opinion. With the down years of DeMarco Murray and Marlon Lucky, Stewart currently ranks second in yards/game and total rushing yards in the Big 12. Only if he had more touchdowns to get closer to Missouri's Derrick Washington (12 touchdowns), then he would be on the first team. One thing also going against Stewart is that he is only averaging 6.4 yards/game receiving. The Buffs need to get the ball in his hands on screen passes and quick flips out of the backfield to stretch what feels like a constrained offense. I am shocked how little the Buffs feature the running backs in the passing game.
At wide receiver, Kansas WR Dezmon Briscoe will challenge for first team after his game against Oklahoma. He is not even in the top 9 WR's in Steele's list. Hard to argue with any of the WR selections other than adding Briscoe. Do you know that Josh Smith is the #29 ranked WR in the Big 12 when evaluated based on yards per game? 29th! 40.4 yards/game. That is how bad the Buffs' offense has been this year.
On the offensive line, I think it is time to drop Oklahoma tackle Phil Loadholt off the first team. That OU line isn't functioning like the top offensive line it was billed to be in the preseason. Texas DE Brian Orakpo wreaked havoc against OU and the running game hasn't gotten going as much as they would have liked. Good to see Daniel Sanders of the Buffs get some love on the second team. It is going to be hard to pass OU center Jon Cooper to get to first team. Lineman don't usually move much from their preseason ranking. Sanders has consistently graded out as the Buffs best offensive lineman.
As for special teams, it is hard to take either Dez Bryant or Perrish Cox from OSU off the first team as they have been big impact players but a couple good games here and there, I could see Josh Smith moving to the first team. Smith currently ranks 3rd in the Big 12 and 17th in the nation in All Purpose yards average 160 yards/game. Just think if he actually played instead of sitting on the bench most of the game on offense. That being said he is still the Buffs leading wide receiver. Next year, we could be looking at a national top 10 all purpose player in Smith.
What are your thoughts on Steele's offensive teams? Hard to find a lot to disapprove of in my opinion.