Ohio State’s Dre’Mont Jones Earns 1st Team All-Big Ten Honors; Chase Young, Jordan Fuller, Drue Chrisman Make 2nd Team

The Ohio State football team is set to fight for a Big Ten championship on Saturday, and three Buckeye defenders will be arriving in Indianapolis with conference accolades in tow.

Ohio State junior defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones was named first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and second-team by the media on Tuesday night, while sophomore defensive end Chase Young was a third-team selection by the media and second-team by the coaches. Junior safety Jordan Fuller, a team captain, earned second team honors from the media.

Ohio State sophomore punter Drue Chrisman earned a second-team nod from the coaches and the media alike.

Jones, a fourth-year junior who is widely expected to enter the NFL draft at season’s end, led the Buckeyes in sacks (7.5) and tackles for loss (12) during the regular season while posting 36 total tackles. The Cleveland St. Ignatius product also had five quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, three fumble receivers (the most in the conference), two pass breakups and an interception which he returned for a touchdown against TCU. Jones is seventh in the Big Ten in sacks and 10th in tackles for loss.

Jones was a third-team All-Big Ten selection last year in addition to being an OSU Scholar-Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree. He was an FWAA freshman All-American and OSU Scholar-Athlete in 2016.

Young, from Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, took over as a starter against Tulane after Nick Bosa suffered what ended up being a season-ending injury vs. TCU. He finished second behind Jones in sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (11.5) during the regular season, totaling 29 tackles. He also leads the team with nine quarterback hurries to go with a forced fumble and five pass breakups. Young ranks 12th in the conference in sacks and 11th in tackles for loss.

Fuller, a second-year starter from Norwood (N.J.) Old Tappan, is second on the team with 63 total tackles to go with 1.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, a fumble recovery and an interception. He was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree last year in addition to being a Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholar, second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, Academic All-Big Ten honoree and an OSU Scholar-Athlete. He was an OSU Scholar-Athlete in 2016 as well.

Chrisman, a Cincinnati LaSalle product, has punted 49 times with an average of 42.3. Twenty-five of those punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line while 10 have traveled 50 yards or more.

The honorable mention honorees from Ohio State were junior defensive end Jonathon Cooper, junior defensive tackle Robert Landers, sophomore linebacker Tuf Borland, junior linebacker Malik Harrison, sophomore linebacker Damon Arnette, junior cornerback Damon Arnette, sophomore cornerback Jeffrey Okudah and junior cornerback Kendall Sheffield.

Bosa, who left the team in order to focus on his rehabilitation ahead of the 2019 NFL draft, also earned enough votes to make the honorable mention list despite playing in just three games.

Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald was the unanimous Big Ten Coach of the Year, earning the Hayes-Schembechler Award from the coaches and the Dave McClain Award from the media.

Michigan State’s Kenny Willekes was the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year, Iowa’s Amani Hooker was the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year and Michigan’s Devin Bush was the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year and the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year.

Illinois’ Chase McLaughlin was the Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year, Michigan’s Will Hart was the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year and Iowa’s Ihmir Smith-Marsette was the Rodger-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year.

The offensive all-conference teams and individual awards will be announced Wednesday night starting at 5 p.m. on B1G Football & Beyond on the Big Ten Network. Conference Freshman of the Year will be announced Wednesday as well.

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