The Big Ten preseason player rankings, based on past performance and 2010 potential, continue with ...

No. 11: Gabe Carimi, LT, Wisconsin, 6-7, 315

2009 numbers: Earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the media after starting all 13 games at left tackle; anchored a line that helped Wisconsin lead the Big Ten in rushing (203.8 ypg), scoring (31.8 ppg) and total offense (416.9 ypg).

Most recent ranking: Unranked in the 2009 postseason player rankings.

Making the case for Carimi: The Big Ten needs a premier left tackle after Bryan Bulaga's early departure to the NFL draft, and Carimi certainly is capable of filling the role. He has started 36 games for the Badgers; two stretches of 18 consecutive starts broken up by a three-game stretch on the sideline because of a knee injury in 2008. After earning All-Big Ten honors as a junior, Carimi has been named to the Rotary Lombardi Award preseason watch list and is listed as a preseason All-American by Phil Steele and several other outlets. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projects Carimi as the nation's No. 2 tackle for the 2011 NFL draft, and several others have him as the first Big Ten offensive lineman selected in April. Carimi has all the tools -- size, strength, intelligence -- to be special, and he'll lead a veteran Badgers line that will block for Heisman Trophy candidate John Clay this season.

The rundown

• No. 25: Wisconsin DE J.J. Watt

• No. 24: Illinois RB Mikel LeShoure

• No. 23: Iowa DT Karl Klug

• No. 22: Northwestern LB Quentin Davie

• No. 21: Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins

• No. 20: Ohio State LB Brian Rolle

• No. 19: Wisconsin QB Scott Tolzien

• No. 18: Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi

• No. 17: Ohio State WR DeVier Posey

• No. 16: Wisconsin LB Chris Borland

• No. 15: Wisconsin G/C John Moffitt

• No. 14: Indiana WR Tandon Doss

• No. 13: Purdue WR Keith Smith

• No. 12: Ohio State LB Ross Homan