Five Montana Grizzlies and three Montana State Bobcats have been named to the HERO Sports preseason all-American football teams, the organization announced on Thursday. Three Grizzlies and one Bobcat were tabbed first-team selections.
The news comes one day after HERO Sports selected Montana seventh and Montana State ninth in the first preseason top-25 poll of the year.
Montana receiver Samori Toure was one of three wide receivers named to the first-team offense. Toure hauled in 87 receptions for 1,495 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, averaging 106.8 yards per game. The redshirt senior from Portland, Ore. has 155 career receptions for 2,488 yards and 20 scores.
UM linebacker Jace Lewis, a Townsend product, and defensive back Robby Hauck were selected to the first-team defense. Lewis was second on the team behind Buck Buchanan Award-winner Dante Olson with 132 total tackles, including 12 tackles-for-loss. He also had 4.5 sacks, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
Hauck was third on the Griz defense with 129 tackles. The son of head coach Bobby Hauck had five tackles-for-loss and three sacks last season, also forcing two fumbles for the UM defense.
Running back Marcus Knight was a second-team offensive selection, while Malik Flowers was named third-team special teams for the Grizzlies.
Montana State standout Troy Andersen was the lone first-team selection for the Bobcats, earning the honor at the athlete position. Andersen has played numerous positions during his career at MSU, including quarterback, running back and linebacker. Last fall, the Dillon native rushed for 353 yards and seven touchdowns, threw for one more score and recorded 54 tackles. Andersen had 39 solo stops, 11.5 tackles-for-loss and 6.5 sacks for the Bobcat defense.
MSU teammates Lewis Kidd and Amandre Williams were third-team selections on the offensive and defensive lines, respectively.
Twelve other Big Sky Conference athletes were named to the HERO Sports preseason all-American teams, which can be found below.
HERO Sports FCS preseason all-American teams
FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| QB | Trey Lance | North Dakota State | Soph. |
| QB | Kevin Thomson | Sacramento State | Sr. |
| RB | Karl Mofor | Albany | Sr. |
| RB | Jah-Maine Martin | North Carolina A&T | Sr. |
| RB | Pierre Strong Jr. | South Dakota State | Jr. |
| OL | Drew Himmelman | Illinois State | Sr. |
| OL | Liam Fornadel | James Madison | Sr. |
| OL | PJ Burkhalter | Nicholls | Sr. |
| OL | Dillon Radunz | North Dakota State | Sr. |
| OL | Cordell Volson | North Dakota State | Sr. |
| WR | DeAngelo Wilson | Austin Peay | Sr. |
| WR | Samori Toure | Montana | Sr. |
| WR | Cade Johnson | South Dakota State | Sr. |
| TE | Dalton Kincaid | San Diego | Jr. |
| AP | Shane Simpson | Towson | Sr. |
| ATH | Brandon Rainey | The Citadel | Sr. |
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| DL | Romeo McKnight | Illinois State | Sr. |
| DL | Elerson Smith | Northern Iowa | Sr. |
| DL | Jermaine McDaniel | North Carolina A&T | Jr. |
| DL | Kobie Turner | Richmond | Jr. |
| LB | Bryson Armstrong | Kennesaw State | Sr. |
| LB | Jace Lewis | Montana | Sr. |
| LB | Forrest Rhyne | Villanova | Sr. |
| LB | Ryan Greenhagen | Fordham | Jr. |
| DB | Kordell Jackson | Austin Peay | Sr. |
| DB | Brandon Easterling | Dayton | Sr. |
| DB | Robby Hauck | Montana | Jr. |
| DB | Anthony Adams | Portland State | Jr. |
| DB | Ferlando Jordan | Southeastern Louisiana | Jr. |
| ATH | Troy Andersen | Montana State | Sr. |
FIRST-TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| P | Chris Faddoul | Florida A&M | Sr. |
| PK | Luis Aguilar | Northern Arizona | Sr. |
| LS | Colton Menges | Alcorn State | Sr. |
| PR | Montrell Washington | Samford | Sr. |
| KR | Lonnie Moore IV | Monmouth | Sr. |
| ST | D’Angelo Amos | James Madison | Sr. |
SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| QB | Jeff Undercuffler | Albany | Soph. |
| QB | Eric Barriere | Eastern Washington | Sr. |
| QB | Bailey Zappe | Houston Baptist | Sr. |
| RB | Percy Agyei-Obese | James Madison | Sr. |
| RB | Marcus Knight | Montana | Jr. |
| RB | Josh Davis | Weber State | Jr. |
| OL | J'Von Brown | Central Connecticut | Sr. |
| OL | Paul Grattan | Villanova | Sr. |
| OL | Ty Whitworth | Weber State | Sr. |
| OL | Nash Jensen | North Dakota State | Jr. |
| OL | Kyle Nunez | Stony Brook | Jr. |
| WR | Changa Hodge | Villanova | Sr. |
| WR | Xavier Smith | Florida A&M | Jr. |
| WR | Isaiah Weston | Northern Iowa | Jr. |
| TE | Colton Dowell | UT Martin | Jr. |
| AP | Elijah Dotson | Sacramento State | Sr. |
| ATH | Daniel Smith | Villanova | Sr. |
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| DL | Mike Greene | James Madison | Sr. |
| DL | Jared Brinkman | Northern Iowa | Sr. |
| DL | Trace Mascorro | Sam Houston State | Sr. |
| DL | Roderick Perry | South Carolina State | Sr. |
| LB | Levi Metheny | Albany | Sr. |
| LB | Deshawn Stevens | Maine | Sr. |
| LB | Colby Campbell | Presbyterian | Sr. |
| LB | Adrian Hope | Furman | Jr. |
| DB | Robert Rochell | Central Arkansas | Sr. |
| DB | Devin Taylor | Illinois State | Sr. |
| DB | Michael Tutsie | North Dakota State | Jr. |
| DB | Kedrick Whitehead | Delaware | Jr. |
SECOND-TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| P | DJ Arnson | Northern Arizona | Sr. |
| PK | Trey Tuttle | Weber State | Sr. |
| LS | Bradey Sorenson | South Dakota State | Sr. |
| PR | Mike Roussos | Columbia | Jr. |
| KR | Quay Holmes | ETSU | Jr. |
| ST | Elijah Solomon | Villanova | Soph. |
THIRD-TEAM OFFENSE
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| QB | Felix Harper | Alcorn State | Sr. |
| QB | Breylin Smith | Central Arkansas | Jr. |
| FB | Clint Ratkovich | Western Illinois | Sr. |
| RB | Wesley Dugger | Davidson | Sr. |
| RB | Devin Wynn | Furman | Sr. |
| RB | Julius Chestnut | Sacred Heart | Jr. |
| OL | Blake Mitchell | Austin Peay | Sr. |
| OL | Keenan Forbes | Florida A&M | Sr. |
| OL | Liam Dobson | Maine | Sr. |
| OL | Spencer Brown | Northern Iowa | Sr. |
| OL | Colby Thomas | Sam Houston State | Sr. |
| OL | Lewis Kidd | Montana State | Sr. |
| WR | Lujuan Winningham | Central Arkansas | Jr. |
| WR | Izaiah Gathings | Gardner-Webb | Jr. |
| WR | Brandon Porter | Northern Arizona | Jr. |
| WR | Pierre Williams | Sacramento State | Jr. |
| TE | Chris James | Chattanooga | Sr. |
| AP | Alex Ramsey | The Citadel | Sr. |
| ATH | EJ Perry | Brown | Sr. |
THIRD-TEAM DEFENSE
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| DL | Josephus Smith | Austin Peay | Sr. |
| DL | Amandre Williams | Montana State | Sr. |
| DL | Shaundre Mims | Charleston Southern | Jr. |
| DL | DJ Coleman | Jacksonville State | Jr. |
| DL | Malik Hamm | Lafayette | Jr. |
| LB | Chris Ojoh | Eastern Washington | Sr. |
| LB | Glenn Cunningham | Fordham | Sr. |
| LB | Willie Eubanks III | The Citadel | Sr. |
| LB | Keonte Hampton | Jackson State | Jr. |
| DB | Shawn Steele | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | Sr. |
| DB | Christian Uphoff | Illinois State | Sr. |
| DB | Darion Dunn | McNeese | Sr. |
| DB | Xavior Williams | Northern Iowa | Sr. |
| DB | Jaquan Amos | Villanova | Sr. |
THIRD-TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR |
| P | Brady Schutt | South Dakota | Sr. |
| PK | Ethan Ratke | James Madison | Sr. |
| LS | Robert Soderholm | VMI | Jr. |
| KR | Malik Flowers | Montana | Jr. |
| ST | Bronson Yoder | William & Mary | Soph. |
