Austin Peay lands two preseason All-Americans in Sales and Parson

Austin Peay picked up another preseason national honor on July 22 when Sales Jr. and Chris Parson were named Preseason All-Americans by FCS Football Central. The double selection matters because it shows the Governors are being viewed as more than a one-star team entering 2026, with two of their best players landing on the same national list before a snap is played.

That kind of recognition carries extra weight in an FCS preseason landscape crowded with talent. Stats Perform’s 2026 preseason All-America team included 101 players from 53 schools across all 13 FCS conferences, and Austin Peay had already broken through that field on July 13 when Parson and Sales Jr. were named preseason All-Americans there too. When the same two players keep showing up across separate national lists, the message is simple: the outside evaluation of Austin Peay is not built on hype alone.

Parson’s profile climbed again on July 14, when he was named to the Walter Payton Award preseason watch list. A week later, the United Athletic Conference put him at the center of its own summer honors by naming him preseason offensive player of the year, while four Governors earned preseason All-UAC recognition. That is a strong preseason footprint for a roster that needs its top-end talent to hold up once conference games begin.

Austin Peay’s recent results help explain why the attention is landing now. The Governors closed the 2025 regular season with a 45-44 overtime loss to No. 5 Tarleton State, a game that showed they could play at the level of one of the subdivision’s best teams. Parson’s honors since then have only sharpened the spotlight on a quarterback whose name is already tied to the Walter Payton conversation and to the conference’s preseason offensive award.

For Austin Peay, the value of having both Sales Jr. and Parson on preseason All-America lists is not just cosmetic. It changes how the Governors are discussed in the FCS pecking order, and it gives the program a national case for being more than a feel-good story out of Clarksville. The ceiling is higher when the best players are getting this kind of recognition, and Austin Peay has earned that right before camp even begins.