Mercer Trio Earns Freshman All-America Laurels
12/8/2025 6:50:00 PM | Football
MACON – Postseason accolades continued to trickle in for the nationally-ranked Mercer football team late Monday evening when three rookies – quarterback Braden Atkinson, center Gavin Marks and defensive end Kobe McInnis – were all lauded with freshman all-American honors from FCS Football Central.
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Monday's announcement marked the fourth time in the last five years that the Bears have had at least one student-athlete recognized on a freshman all-America squad. A total of 62 players from 46 programs were mentioned in the announcement. UTRGV led all teams with four selections, ranking just ahead of Mercer and North Dakota State with three selections.
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Atkinson, who became the first player in Southern Conference history to claim Jerry Rice Award accolades last week as the national freshman player of the year in college football's Division I FCS subdivision, headlined Monday's release from FCS Football Central. The Rolesville, N.C., product completed 66.0 percent (268-for-406) of his pass attempts this season and broke school single-season records for passing completions, attempts, yards (3,596) and touchdowns (34).
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Marks, a Rolesville native as well who has played alongside Atkinson for the better part of a decade, started each of Mercer's last 10 games and did not yield a sack in 634 offensive snaps for the Orange & Black. He graded out north of 80 percent on pass blocking in seven contests, and graded out near 80 percent overall in MU's win at Princeton in Week 7.
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A product of Marietta, McInnis played in 11 games (7 starts) for the Bears and amassed 25 tackles (8 solo), including 5-1/2 tackles for loss (-47 yards) and a quintet of sacks. He also turned in four quarterback hurries, a pass break-up and two forced fumbles. McInnis got in the sack column in four consecutive contests (Weeks 5-10), including a season-best 2-1/2 quarterback drops in the home win over Samford.
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The Bears (9-3) snapped the lid on another historical season on Saturday, registering nine wins for the third-straight season on the way to making its third appearance in the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Along the way, Mercer strung together a school-record nine-game win streak on the way to becoming the first team in 16 years to stake claim to back-to-back outright Southern Conference championships.
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Monday's announcement marked the fourth time in the last five years that the Bears have had at least one student-athlete recognized on a freshman all-America squad. A total of 62 players from 46 programs were mentioned in the announcement. UTRGV led all teams with four selections, ranking just ahead of Mercer and North Dakota State with three selections.
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Atkinson, who became the first player in Southern Conference history to claim Jerry Rice Award accolades last week as the national freshman player of the year in college football's Division I FCS subdivision, headlined Monday's release from FCS Football Central. The Rolesville, N.C., product completed 66.0 percent (268-for-406) of his pass attempts this season and broke school single-season records for passing completions, attempts, yards (3,596) and touchdowns (34).
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Marks, a Rolesville native as well who has played alongside Atkinson for the better part of a decade, started each of Mercer's last 10 games and did not yield a sack in 634 offensive snaps for the Orange & Black. He graded out north of 80 percent on pass blocking in seven contests, and graded out near 80 percent overall in MU's win at Princeton in Week 7.
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A product of Marietta, McInnis played in 11 games (7 starts) for the Bears and amassed 25 tackles (8 solo), including 5-1/2 tackles for loss (-47 yards) and a quintet of sacks. He also turned in four quarterback hurries, a pass break-up and two forced fumbles. McInnis got in the sack column in four consecutive contests (Weeks 5-10), including a season-best 2-1/2 quarterback drops in the home win over Samford.
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The Bears (9-3) snapped the lid on another historical season on Saturday, registering nine wins for the third-straight season on the way to making its third appearance in the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Along the way, Mercer strung together a school-record nine-game win streak on the way to becoming the first team in 16 years to stake claim to back-to-back outright Southern Conference championships.
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