Texas CB Duke Thomas is only Longhorns player on Preseason All-Big 12 team

The Big 12 Conference released the annual Preseason All-Big 12 list on Wednesday and senior cornerback Duke Thomas was the only Texas Longhorns player to make the team.

Thomas started 10 games in 2014 and finished with three interceptions and 10 pass break ups, but also suffered from inconsistency and gave up several crucial plays, including the game-winning pass by UCLA.

The list provides yet another indication of the talent drain from the 2014 team in terms of proven players since there aren't many other candidates to make this list.

Junior defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway probably has the best argument -- he produced better numbers than TCU's Davion Pierson last year -- he had more tackles, more tackles for loss, and more sacks. It's possible that senior offensive guard Sedrick Flowers could emerge as an All-Big 12 candidate, but he would need to significantly raise his level of play to do so.

So Texas ranks No. 8 among Big 12 teams on this list, ahead of only Iowa State and Kansas, both of which failed to place a single player on the list. Baylor leads the way with seven selections, followed by TCU (five), Oklahoma (five), Oklahoma State (three), Kansas State (three), West Virginia (three), and Texas Tech (three).

So even the Red Raiders have more proven players than the Longhorns coming off a dismal season.

The league's sportswriters chose TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin as the Offensive Player of the Year, while Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman is the Defensive Player of the Year. Oklahoma State running back Chris Carson, the consensus No. 3 junior college running back, earned the nod as the Newcomer of the Year.