Expectations continue to soar for the Oklahoma Sooner football team as 10 players were named to Big 12 Conference preseason honors by a vote of the media.

OU quarterback Spencer Rattler, the preseason pick to win the Heisman Trophy by some pundits, was the selection for the No. 1 Big 12 quarterback.

He led a list of offensive first-team selections, including H-back Jeremiah Hall, receiver Marvin Mims, offensive lineman Marquis Hayes and offensive lineman Wanya Morris.

On defense, the first-team OU players were defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas, defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto.

Oklahoma place kicker Gabe Brkic was named to the first team.

Rattler was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year while junior running back Eric Gray was picked as Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Oklahoma’s five offensive players tied with Iowa State was next with five while no other team had more than two and the Sooners’ three defensive selections were tied with Iowa State for the most.

Rattler was named the 2020 national freshman of the year by CBS Sports. He started all 11 games last season and became just the second OU quarterback to earn FWAA Freshman All-America honors (Sam Bradford was the other). Rattler completed 67.5% of his passes for 3,031 yards and 28 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also rushed for 160 yards and six TDs.

His 92.5 passing grade by PFF was third best nationally and he ranked as the group’s No. 13 player regardless of position. Rattler led the nation’s freshmen in passing TDs, passing offense (275.5 ypg) and total offense (290.1 ypg) and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Championship after completing 22 of 34 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown and rushing for a 9-yard score in a win over No. 8 Iowa State.

Hall was a 2020 first-team All-Big 12 selection and a 2019 second-team All-Big 12 pick as a fullback. Hall had 18 receptions for 218 yards and five touchdowns last season. His five receiving TDs were second most on the team. The three-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 First Team has started 21 of his 25 games the last two years. Hall graduated in July 2020 with a degree in health and exercise science and is on track to earn a master’s in business administration in December.

Mims was the first wide receiver in OU history to earn FWAA Freshman All-America status. Mims was a 2020 second-team All-Big 12 selection by the league’s head coaches and media. He led the Sooners with 610 yards and nine touchdowns on 37 receptions (16.5 average). His nine TD catches tied for the Big 12 lead and established an OU freshman record and four of his nine scores covered at least 45 yards (45, 50, 58 and 61). Mims doubled as OU’s primary punt returner, ranking eighth nationally with his 12.5 yards per return (162 yards on 13 attempts).

Hayes has started all 24 of OU’s games the last two seasons at left guard. According to PFF, he only allowed two sacks on 416 pass-blocking plays last season and recorded the second-best run-blocking grade of his career (79.8). He allowed zero sacks, hurries, hits or pressures in the passing game in OU’s 55-20 Cotton Bowl victory over No. 10 Florida.

Morris, a former five-star recruit who transferred to OU from Tennessee earlier this year, started 19 games over the last two seasons with the Volunteers (17 at left tackle). In 2019, he earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors and was a member of the 247Sports True Freshman All-America Team after starting 12 of 13 games, including each of the final six contests (all wins).

Thomas earned second-team All-Big 12 honors by league coaches and media after starting all 11 games and registering 32 tackles and team highs of 8.5 sacks (for 60 yards) and 13.0 tackles for loss (totaling 74 yards). He was also credited with two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, eight QB hurries and two pass breakups.

A 2020 second-team All-Big 12 selection by the league’s head coaches, Winfrey finished the season with 19 tackles (nine solo) with 6 tackles for loss and three pass breakups. He was rated the No. 1 junior college recruit in the country in the 2020 class by 247Sports and ESPN, as well as No. 6 by Rivals.

A 2020 first-team PFF and second-team AP All-American last season, Bonitto had 32 tackles (18 solo), 10.5 tackles for loss (for 56 yards), 8 sacks (for 44 yards), two pass breakups and a team-high 10 QB hurries. He was credited by PFF with the nation’s top pressure rate (25.7%; the next highest nationally was 22.3%) and ranked first nationally per PFF among 257 edge rushers in pass-rush grade (93.5) and pass-rush win rate (28.5%).

Placekicker Gabe Brkic has had one of the most successful two-year kicking stretches in OU history. The 2020 first-team All-Big 12 selection was also a first-team All-American by CBS Sports as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He has made 37 of 43 field goal attempts in his career, and his 86.0% conversion rate ranks No. 1 in school annals. He is also 102 for 102 on career PAT attempts. In 2020, Brkic registered eight multi-field goal games to rank second in school single-season history. He connected on four field goals from at least 50 yards.

A transfer from Tennessee, Gray played in 22 games the last two seasons and last year when he ran for 772 yards (4.9 per carry) and four touchdowns and caught 30 passes for 254 yards and two more scores. He led the Volunteers in rushing in seven games and ran for a season-high 173 yards on 22 carries vs. No. 23 Auburn (also had 49 receiving yards). Gray has 1,311 rushing yards and 11 total TDs (eight rushing) in his two seasons.