15 Football Players Named All-SoCon by Phil Steele
12/9/2022 11:06:00 AM | Football
8 Bears named to offensive team, 7 named to defensive team
MACON, Ga. -Â Nationally respected college football insider Phil Steele released his All-SoCon teams on Friday, which included 15Â Mercer players.
Eight Bears on offense made the list and seven defensive players were named All-SoCon. Devron Harper was named Special Teams Player of the Year.
Mercer had three players named First Team All-SoCon: Devron Harper, Ty James and John Thomas. Harper was named First Team All-SoCon as a wide receiver, punt returner, kick returner and all-purpose player.
The Second Team included: Fred Payton, Drake Starks, and Riley Adcock on the offensive team, and Solomon Zubairu, and Isaac Dowling were selected to the Second Team defense.
Three defensive players were named to the Third Team: Chris Hill, Ken Standley, and TJ Moore.Â
On the Fourth Team were: Austin Douglas, Tyzen Wilkerson, Savio Frazier, and Lance Wise.Â
WR, PR, KR, All-Purpose Devron Harper | First Team
Harper had a record-breaking season for the Bears, adding six school records to his resume. Harper finished the season with a conference-leading 16 total touchdowns including 10 receiving, four rushing touchdowns, one kickoff return for a touchdown, and one punt return for a touchdown. Across 11 games, Harper averaged 12.7 yards per catch and 89.7 yards per game. He finished with 987 receiving yards. His 1,878 all-purpose yards this season set a school record and ranked fourth in the country.
WR Ty James | First Team
James finished the regular season in style, with eight receiving touchdowns over the final five games of the season. That included a record-breaking performance in the final regular season game at Samford as James caught a personal best 13 receptions for a SoCon single game record 351 receiving yards along with two receiving touchdowns. For the season James caught 52 passes for a school record 1,105 yards and led the SoCon with 13 receiving touchdowns.
OL John Thomas | First TeamÂ
Thomas played both left and right tackle for the Bears and was part of an offensive line that did a tremendous job all season of protecting quarterback Fred Payton. Thomas and the offensive line gave up a conference low 10 sacks all season. The Bears finished third in the conference in rushing yards per game at 187.8 yards per game.
LB Isaac Dowling | Second Team
A team captain as a sophomore, Dowling built off his superb All-Freshman season with a team-high 99 tackles on the season which ranked second in the conference. He had nine tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and a forced fumble during the 2022 season. Dowling finished with 10 or more tackles in four games. He tied his career-high with 17 tackles against The Citadel. Dowling was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week after his two interception game against Western Carolina.
QB Fred Payton | Second Team
Payton statistically had the best season of any quarterback in Mercer history. He set the school record for single-season passing yards (3,019), passing yards in a game (514), single season passing touchdowns (32), and passing touchdowns in a game (5). Payton threw for at least two touchdowns in all 11 games this season. Payton had thrown 20 passing touchdowns before he threw his first interception of the season. He led the conference and finished fifth in the FCS in passing efficiency with a 172.1 rating. Payton's 32 passing touchdowns were fourth most in the FCS.
TE Drake Starks | Second Team
Starks was a key part of both the Mercer run and pass game. He finished the season with 14 catches for 135 yards with 4 of those receptions for touchdowns. He caught two of Fred Payton's five touchdown passes in Mercer's 55-point showing at home against ETSU.
DL Solomon Zubairu | Second Team
Zubairu had the most tackles among Mercer defensive lineman the season with 35 tackles including six for loss which was third most on the team. He led the Bears with three sacks on the season. Zubairu also forced a fumble in the regular season finale against Samford.
OL Riley Adcock | Second Team
Adcock was part of a Mercer offensive line that did a tremendous job all season of protecting quarterback Fred Payton. Adcock and the offensive line gave up a conference low 10 sacks all season. The Bears finished third in the conference in rushing yards per game at 187.8 yards per game and led the conference and finished seventh in the FCS in scoring offense, averaging 38.2 points per game.
DL Chris Hill | Third Team
Hill was one of the anchors on the interior of the defensive line for the Bears. The Mercer defense went a stretch of five consecutive games without allowing an opponent to rush for 100 yards on them. Hill finished the season with 22 tackles including five for loss and a sack.
DB TJ Moore | Third Team
Moore led the Bears with three interceptions with his first of the season coming at Auburn. Moore was part of a Mercer secondary that led the FCS in interceptions with 17. The Bears gave up a conference low 12 passing touchdowns to opponents. He finished the season with 48 tackles including 1.5 for loss. He also had one fumble recovery.
LB Ken Standley | Third Team
Standley finished second on the team with 85 tackles. He had seven tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble.
DB Lance Wise | Fourth Team
Wise is a two-time team captain and one of the leaders of the Mercer secondary. Wise finished with 58 tackles including 26 solo. He also had two interceptions and 3.5 tackles for loss.
RB Austin Douglas | Fourth Team
Douglas led all Mercer running backs with an average 6.9 yards per carry despite having his season ended early due to injury in the seventh game of the season against ETSU. He had 58 carries for 403 yards and five rushing touchowns through the first seven games.
OL Tyzen Wilkerson | Fourth Team
Wilkerson was part of a Mercer offensive line that did a tremendous job all season of protecting quarterback Fred Payton. Wilkerson and the offensive line gave up a conference low 10 sacks all season. The Bears finished third in the conference in rushing yards per game at 187.8 yards per game and led the conference and finished seventh in the FCS in scoring offense, averaging 38.2 points per game.
DL Savio Frazier | Fourth Team
Frazier played in all 11 games and finished the season with 27 tackles including 3.5 for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He had a career-high 10 tackles against The Citadel.
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Eight Bears on offense made the list and seven defensive players were named All-SoCon. Devron Harper was named Special Teams Player of the Year.
Mercer had three players named First Team All-SoCon: Devron Harper, Ty James and John Thomas. Harper was named First Team All-SoCon as a wide receiver, punt returner, kick returner and all-purpose player.
The Second Team included: Fred Payton, Drake Starks, and Riley Adcock on the offensive team, and Solomon Zubairu, and Isaac Dowling were selected to the Second Team defense.
Three defensive players were named to the Third Team: Chris Hill, Ken Standley, and TJ Moore.Â
On the Fourth Team were: Austin Douglas, Tyzen Wilkerson, Savio Frazier, and Lance Wise.Â
WR, PR, KR, All-Purpose Devron Harper | First Team
Harper had a record-breaking season for the Bears, adding six school records to his resume. Harper finished the season with a conference-leading 16 total touchdowns including 10 receiving, four rushing touchdowns, one kickoff return for a touchdown, and one punt return for a touchdown. Across 11 games, Harper averaged 12.7 yards per catch and 89.7 yards per game. He finished with 987 receiving yards. His 1,878 all-purpose yards this season set a school record and ranked fourth in the country.
WR Ty James | First Team
James finished the regular season in style, with eight receiving touchdowns over the final five games of the season. That included a record-breaking performance in the final regular season game at Samford as James caught a personal best 13 receptions for a SoCon single game record 351 receiving yards along with two receiving touchdowns. For the season James caught 52 passes for a school record 1,105 yards and led the SoCon with 13 receiving touchdowns.
OL John Thomas | First TeamÂ
Thomas played both left and right tackle for the Bears and was part of an offensive line that did a tremendous job all season of protecting quarterback Fred Payton. Thomas and the offensive line gave up a conference low 10 sacks all season. The Bears finished third in the conference in rushing yards per game at 187.8 yards per game.
LB Isaac Dowling | Second Team
A team captain as a sophomore, Dowling built off his superb All-Freshman season with a team-high 99 tackles on the season which ranked second in the conference. He had nine tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and a forced fumble during the 2022 season. Dowling finished with 10 or more tackles in four games. He tied his career-high with 17 tackles against The Citadel. Dowling was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week after his two interception game against Western Carolina.
QB Fred Payton | Second Team
Payton statistically had the best season of any quarterback in Mercer history. He set the school record for single-season passing yards (3,019), passing yards in a game (514), single season passing touchdowns (32), and passing touchdowns in a game (5). Payton threw for at least two touchdowns in all 11 games this season. Payton had thrown 20 passing touchdowns before he threw his first interception of the season. He led the conference and finished fifth in the FCS in passing efficiency with a 172.1 rating. Payton's 32 passing touchdowns were fourth most in the FCS.
TE Drake Starks | Second Team
Starks was a key part of both the Mercer run and pass game. He finished the season with 14 catches for 135 yards with 4 of those receptions for touchdowns. He caught two of Fred Payton's five touchdown passes in Mercer's 55-point showing at home against ETSU.
DL Solomon Zubairu | Second Team
Zubairu had the most tackles among Mercer defensive lineman the season with 35 tackles including six for loss which was third most on the team. He led the Bears with three sacks on the season. Zubairu also forced a fumble in the regular season finale against Samford.
OL Riley Adcock | Second Team
Adcock was part of a Mercer offensive line that did a tremendous job all season of protecting quarterback Fred Payton. Adcock and the offensive line gave up a conference low 10 sacks all season. The Bears finished third in the conference in rushing yards per game at 187.8 yards per game and led the conference and finished seventh in the FCS in scoring offense, averaging 38.2 points per game.
DL Chris Hill | Third Team
Hill was one of the anchors on the interior of the defensive line for the Bears. The Mercer defense went a stretch of five consecutive games without allowing an opponent to rush for 100 yards on them. Hill finished the season with 22 tackles including five for loss and a sack.
DB TJ Moore | Third Team
Moore led the Bears with three interceptions with his first of the season coming at Auburn. Moore was part of a Mercer secondary that led the FCS in interceptions with 17. The Bears gave up a conference low 12 passing touchdowns to opponents. He finished the season with 48 tackles including 1.5 for loss. He also had one fumble recovery.
LB Ken Standley | Third Team
Standley finished second on the team with 85 tackles. He had seven tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble.
DB Lance Wise | Fourth Team
Wise is a two-time team captain and one of the leaders of the Mercer secondary. Wise finished with 58 tackles including 26 solo. He also had two interceptions and 3.5 tackles for loss.
RB Austin Douglas | Fourth Team
Douglas led all Mercer running backs with an average 6.9 yards per carry despite having his season ended early due to injury in the seventh game of the season against ETSU. He had 58 carries for 403 yards and five rushing touchowns through the first seven games.
OL Tyzen Wilkerson | Fourth Team
Wilkerson was part of a Mercer offensive line that did a tremendous job all season of protecting quarterback Fred Payton. Wilkerson and the offensive line gave up a conference low 10 sacks all season. The Bears finished third in the conference in rushing yards per game at 187.8 yards per game and led the conference and finished seventh in the FCS in scoring offense, averaging 38.2 points per game.
DL Savio Frazier | Fourth Team
Frazier played in all 11 games and finished the season with 27 tackles including 3.5 for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He had a career-high 10 tackles against The Citadel.
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