Indiana’s Lucas Tabbed All-American, Quartet Honored as All-B1G by Phil Steele

Indiana’s Lucas Tabbed All-American, Quartet Honored as All-B1G by Phil Steele

  Credit Source: Indiana University Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Another All-America honor was handed out on Friday (Dec. 16) as Jaylin Lucas landed on the Phil Steele All-America squad as an honorable mention selection at kick returner. He was also named to the first-team All-Big Ten squad by the publication at the position. Long snapper Sean Wracher was a second-team All-Big Ten pick, while Aaron Casey and Tiawan Mullen each garnered fourth-team honors.

 

Lucas is the first Hoosier to earn All-America honors from the AFCA or the USA Today since Tevin Coleman in 2014. The last Indiana kick returner to garner All-America status was Marcus Thigpen during the 2006 season. He is the first IU return specialist to earn All-Big Ten honors and the first true freshman to win the Rodgers–Dwight Return Specialist of the Year (both began in 2015).

He was a first-team All-American selection by USA Today, Walter Camp, Pro Football Focus and CBSSports.com, the AFCA tabbed him second team and Phil Steele had him as an honorable mention. The Athletic named him as a first-team Freshman All-American. A full list of honors and awards can be found at the bottom of this release.

With two return touchdowns, Lucas is No. 2 on both the IU single season and career charts after one season on campus. He trails Thigpen (2005-08), who returned all three of his career kickoffs for scores during the 2006 campaign. His two kickoff return touchdowns rank tied for No. 7 among active FBS student-athletes, as well.

With 591 kickoff return yards, Lucas finished No. 12 in a single season in program history and led the Big Ten in the category. His 28.1 yards per return rank No. 4 nationally. He added 271 yards rushing and 82 yards receiving to total 994 all-purpose yards on the season to lead the team. That total is the most in a season by an IU player since Whop Philyor (1,094) in 2019.

The Houma, Louisiana, native is the first Hoosier since Coleman in 2014 with three 70-yard scoring plays in a single season. Both of his kickoff return scores covered 80-plus yards and he added a 71-yard rushing touchdown in the season finale versus Purdue as part of his first career 100-yard rushing game.

Casey finished the regular season ranked tied for No. 10 in total tackles among Big Ten defenders and his 50 solo stops were tied for No. 6 in the conference. An honorable mention All-Big Ten honoree from the conference media panel and third team honors from Pro Football Focus, he eclipsed his single-season high for tackles for loss in the first three games of the season and ended the year tied for No. 8 in the Big Ten with 10.5 stops behind the line. The Douglasville, Georgia, native also posted his first four career double-digit tackle games, including a career-high 11 at Rutgers.

Mullen earned the second All-Big Ten honor of his career when the Big Ten coaches and media tabbed him honorable mention this postseason after a career-high 58 tackles in 2022. He came away with a pair of interceptions to push his career total to five and added eight pass breakups to move that career mark to 28. He added one forced fumble on the season to give him 11 takeaways in his career to lead all IU defenders and posted at least four tackles in 10 of 12 starts this season.

 

A semifinalist for the Patrick Mannelly Award, which honors the top long snapper in the nation, Wracher was again on-point for the Hoosiers in 2022. Wracher handled 127 special teams snaps on the season and was on-target for two of the Big Ten’s best in place kicker Charles Campbell and punter James Evans. Evans hit a Big Ten-high 75 punts and finished No. 2 on IU’s single season punting average charts at 44.3 yards per punt, a total that ranked No. 22 nationally.

 

2022 Postseason Honors

Aaron Casey – Third-team All-Big Ten (Pro Football Focus), fourth-team All-Big Ten (Phil Steele), honorable mention All-Big Ten (B1G media), Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

James Evans – Honorable mention All-Big Ten (B1G coaches & media).

Cam Jones – Honorable mention All-Big Ten (B1G coaches & media).

Jaylin Lucas – All-America (AFCA, 2nd; CBS Sports, 1st; Phil Steele, HM; Pro Football Focus, 1st; Walter Camp, 1st; USA Today, 1st), Freshman All-America (The Athletic, 1st), Big Ten’s Rodgers–Dwight Return Specialist of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten (B1G coaches & media, Phil Steele, Pro Football Focus, Associated Press).

Tiawan Mullen – Fourth-team All-Big Ten (Phil Steele), honorable mention All-Big Ten (B1G coaches & media).

Sean Wracher – Second-team All-Big Ten (Phil Steele)