Eight Tabbed Athlon Preseason All-Mountain West
Complete 2019 Athlon Sports Preseason Mountain West Team
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico football team picked up a host of preseason honors as eight players were named to the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Mountain West team, four on the third team and four on the fourth team. The eight overall was tied for the sixth-most in the Mountain West.
Earning third team honors were a pair of Albuquerque-area residents in tight end Marcus Williams, who played locally at Cleveland High School, and offensive lineman Teton Saltes, who prepped at Valley. Also making the third team was defensive lineman Aaron Blackwell and punt Tyson Dyer. Earning fourth team accolades was another local player in kicker Andrew Shelley. Joining him was Elijah Lilly at kick returner, Alex Hart at linebacker and Kyle Stapley at center.
Overall, Boise State led the way with 17 honorees, followed by Fresno State with 14 and Utah State with 13. UNM was tied with a pair of 2018 bowl teams in Nevada and San Diego State.
Stapley and Saltes are two of UNM’s four returning offensive line starters (out of eight returning starters on offense). Stapley was in his first year in 2018 as a center and graded out nearly perfect on over 800 shotgun snaps, and he did not commit a penalty. Saltes was UNM’s top lineman for combined run-blocking and pass blocking. The other offensive honoree Marcus Williams was fifth on the team with 13 receptions and he was third with three touchdown receptions.
On defense, Aaron Blackwell brings with his the third-highest amount of tackles, 29, among all returning defensive players. He added 4.0 TFLs and 2.0 sacks along with a pair of hurries. Joining him as a defensive honoree is Alex Hart, who started the first three games last year before an injury ended his season, earning him a redshirt. Hart was third on the 2017 team with 58 tackles with 5.5 TFLs, five quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
UNM picked up three special teams honorees with returning punter Tyson Dyer and placekicker Andrew Shelley and kick returner Elijah Lilly. Dyer turned in one of the top seasons in UNM history for a sophomore, belting an 84-yard punt, the longest in school history. Overall he averaged 44.3 per kick, good for 17th in the NCAA, with 19 punts inside the 20 and 19 punts of 50 yards or more.
Shelley was nearly perfect on field goals, going 7-for-8 on the season, earning a scholarship after starting the season as a walk-on. Shelley also hammered a 53-yard field goal at Utah State, tying for the second-longest field goal in UNM history. He was the leading scorer on the team last year with 55 points.
Lilly averaged 17.6 yards per return last year on 14 returns, and has two career kickoff return touchdowns to his credit.
UNM opens the 2019 season on August 31 at Dreamstyle Stadium against Sam Houston State. Season tickets are on sale now by calling 505-925-LOBO of visiting www.golobos.com/tickets