D3football.com Release
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University senior quarterback
Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) and senior offensive lineman
Dan Greenheck (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) were named to the D3football.com Preseason All-America first team on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Both were named preseason All-Americans by
Lindy's and
Street & Smith's magazines earlier this summer and were consensus All-Americans (AFCA, AP, D3football.com) last fall.
Erdmann won the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy as the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III and was named the D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year. He played only five of the 13 games to completion and led NCAA Division III in three statistical categories: passing efficiency (189.8), passing touchdowns (47) and points responsible for (290). He also finished third in yards per pass attempt (10.03), fourth in passing yardage (3,450) and ninth in yards per completion (15.40).
The 2018 MIAC Most Valuable Player, Erdmann set single-game program records last fall for passing yards (470 on Oct. 13 vs. St. Thomas) and passing touchdowns (7 on Nov. 10 vs. Thomas More). Erdmann also set a single-season school record for passing touchdowns and fell 39 passing yards short of Tom Linnemann's '00 school record of 3,489 set in 2000 (15 games).
A two-time All-American, Greenheck has started each of the Johnnies' last 24 games at right guard. SJU averaged 47.5 points per game and SJU's offense averaged 491.8 yards per contest (192.2 rushing and 299.5 passing) last fall. The 491.8 yards per game were the second-most in an SJU season (495.2 average in 1993) and the 299.5 passing yards per game were the most since the school record set in 1994 (314.5 avg.).
SJU (12-1, 8-0 MIAC) won its MIAC-record 33rd conference title and made its 29th postseason appearance (25th in Division III), advancing to the national quarterfinals, last fall. The Johnnies ended the 2018 season ranked in the NCAA Division III's top 10 in nine statistical categories: first in team passing efficiency (186.59), third in both fumble recoveries (17) and takeaways (35), fourth in least tackles for loss allowed per game (3.69), fifth in scoring offense (47.5 ppg.), sixth in turnover margin (+1.38 tpg), seventh in first downs (295), ninth in scoring defense (11.1 ppg.) and 10th in total offense (491.8 ypg.).
The third-ranked Johnnies open the 2019 season with a 1 p.m. kickoff Sept. 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis. SJU's first of five regular-season home games is also Family Weekend, Sept. 21 vs. Gustavus Adolphus.
